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A hundred years after her birth, Marilyn Monroe remains an obsession. To celebrate the centenary, this vibrant collection of essays, interviews, personal reflections, poems, photographs, and Monroe’s own words explores why her influence still endures.
Introduced by Lucy Bolton
With an illuminating introduction by Lucy Bolton and contributions from over twenty voices, the book captures the many aspects of Marilyn Monroe: star, symbol, icon, and radiant cultural force.
Lucy Bolton (author of introduction), George Melnyk (author of contributions), Scott Fortner (interviewee), Isabella Bliss (author of contributions), Cathy Lomax (author of contributions), Summer Anne Lee (author of contributions), Sarah Tucker (author of contributions), Genevieve Gaunt (interviewee), Guy Masterson (interviewee), Greg Schreiner (author of contributions)
Publisher: Aurora Metro Publications
Format: Paperback 20 June 2026
My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invite and to the publisher for providing an extract. I’ve always had an interest in Marilyn Monroe and am delighted to take part in this virtual book tour.
EXTRACT
In Marilyn Monroe’s first major starring role in 1953’s Niagara, the film that established her as a star, we first see her as Rose Loomis lying in bed in a darkened room, her eyes half-closed as she smokes a cigarette. When her husband’s key turns in the lock, Rose turns on her side and closes her eyes to feign sleep. In the languorous eight-second close-up that follows we are afforded the opportunity to examine and evaluate Rose/Marilyn’s meticulously made-up face. The preternatural perfection of this makeup gives the duplicitous sleeper an uncanny appearance, so far removed from that of a woman we might see every day, that she could be a mannequin or a painting.
Aside from her striking appearance, this depiction of Marilyn is also of interest because she is ‘sleeping’. This is not because it is an isolated image of the sleeping star; in fact the very opposite is true as she is ‘asleep’ in many of her films and with surprising regularity in still images (both staged and candid). In some of these images, such as the sequence in Niagara, there is a strong suggestion that she is naked beneath the sheets, an element of titillation which, in conjunction with the childlike innocence of a sleeping beauty, is indicative of the innocent/sexy dichotomy that characterises Marilyn’s star image. These sleeping images seem to show the star at her most vulnerable, and even when we know, or suspect, that the sleeping is staged, they have the intimacy of a private moment, and so our looking becomes voyeuristic. This monitored and disempowered sleeping. woman might be considered emblematic of the patronisation and objectification of women in the 1950s and 1960s, but it also foreshadows the increasing sexualisation of women on screen in the post-studio Hollywood of the later 60s and 70s, where, as Molly Haskell notes, the only roles available were:
‘Whores, quasi-whores, jilted mistresses, emotional cripples, drunks. Daffy ingénues, Lolitas, kooks, sex-starved spinsters, psychotics. Icebergs, zombies, and ballbreakers There were no working women on the screen, no sassy or smart talking women, no mature women.’
The sleeping images also reveal the division between Marilyn’s star image and her life/career. Because alongside the celebration of her as the embodiment of frothy sexual pleasure (‘the sweet angel of sex’ as Norman Mailer has it), she struggled to build on the hard-won control she negotiated in her career, had a succession of disappointing relationships, and was troubled by health problems. Maybe the most glaring schism between the woman and the images of the carefree star frolicking under the sheets or sleeping peacefully, is that she was a chronic insomniac, and the sleeping pills she used in increasing quantities to manage this condition led directly to her untimely death.
Purchase/Pre-order Links:
Encounters with Marilyn Monroe – Aurora Metro Books
Encounters with Marilyn Monroe – Bookshop.org UK
Amazon UK link
About the author and contributors:
Lucy Bolton is a prominent academic and author in the field of film philosophy. She is the Professor of Film Philosophy at Queen Mary University of London, UK. Her academic contributions include: Contemporary Cinema and the Philosophy of Iris Murdoch (2019); Film and Female Consciousness: Irigaray, Cinema and Thinking Women (2011); Lasting Screen Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure (co-editor); Feminist Film Philosophy (editor of an anthology); Sex Story: Fifty Shades of Grey (self-authored); Feminist Film Philosophy Reader (editor of an anthology). Lucy Bolton’s work has been recognized for its scholarly judgment and contribution to the field of film studies. Her research and publications have been influential in exploring the intersection of film, philosophy, and gender.
Scott is a life-long Marilyn Monroe fan, enthusiast, and collector. Considered an authority on the star, he is often called upon by major news outlets, including People.com, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Yahoo News and CNN, to comment on Marilyn topics. He made global headlines for exposing the damage to Marilyn’s famous “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress due to owners Ripley’s Believe It Or Not loaning the garment to Kim Kardashian for the 2022 Met Gala.
Greg Schreiner owns a comprehensive collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, encompassing furniture items from Marilyn’s final home, autographs, cancelled bank checks, including a check to Eunice Murray dated August 4, 1962, film scripts, documents and original costume sketches. Mr. Schreiner also possesses one of the largest private collections of Marilyn Monroe screen worn and publicity gowns.
In 2006, items from his personal collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, including nine gowns, original costume sketches and custom dolls toured the world, with stops in the US and Japan. In 2007, the Texas State Fair was proud to exhibit nine Marilyn Monroe gowns from the collection. The display was the most diverse exhibit of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia ever to be showcased in one place. To view Greg being interviewed at the exhibit, please click here. The Hollywood Museum showcased Greg’s collection in 2008 and 2009.
Mr. Schreiner is the President and a founding member of the longest running fan club in existence today, Marilyn Remembered. Each year since 1982, Greg has arranged and facilitated the Marilyn Monroe Memorial Service, held on August 5 at Westwood Memorial Park, Marilyn’s resting place.
He is also the pianist, narrator and producer of “Hollywood Revisited,” a cabaret style extravaganza allowing audience members to experience what it’s like to watch celebrities walk the red carpet as their favorite Tinseltown classics come to life. This stunning musical revue showcases a truly dazzling lineup of costumes actually worn by the stars in the original Hollywood films. Set to the music that defined the times, this show leaves viewers in awe as they learn about and come close enough to touch these historic original masterpieces of old-time Hollywood.
Mr. Schreiner has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Concert Orchestra, Santa Monica College Symphony, UCLA Symphony, Cypress Pops Orchestra and performed on the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics. In addition to having several recordings in release, he performed the Shostakovitch and Piano Concerto for the PBS series In Search Of Wisdom and was the composer/performer for the educational series Masters Of The Silent Screen. He is on the piano faculty of Cerritos College and is the accompanist for the Mansfield Chamber Singers.
