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Maf the Dog at Southbank Centre

Artwork by Robin Davey

Prizewinning novelist Andrew O’Hagan’s The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe is a literary comedy full of philosophy, comedy and heartbreak.

‘The book is a miracle,’ wrote Edna O’Brien, ‘and already a classic’.

For this special event, Andrew O’Hagan leads an ensemble reading of Maf the Dog with some of Britain’s leading actors, including Ian MacDiarmid (Six Characters in Search of an Author, Star Wars) and Suzanne Bertish (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Hunger.)

Sunday 18 July 2010, 7:45pm

Southbank Centre, London

Ticket information here

Read my review of Maf the Dog, here

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‘The Mmm Girl’ Speaks

“Considering the difficulty of Marilyn’s life, almost from the beginning, and her deep insecurities, it’s all the more remarkable to me that she never became really bitter or cynical, and that she was so brave and generous in the way she lived.”

An interview with Tara Hanks (alias Marina72, aka moi) on my novel The Mmm Girl, Marilyn and more, over at Moon in the Gutter

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Marilyn Collectors Sought By Author

Marilyn at home by John Florea, 1952 (Colourised)

ES member MMcamera tells us there is a new Marilyn book in the works, similar to Jenna Glatzer’s Marilyn Monroe Treasures, which included facsimiles of original documents and memorabilia, and was released through Barnes & Noble in 2008.

Carlton Books are looking for fans who would be willing to share any items connected with Marilyn such as letters, receipts, notes, etc. Basically anything that could be reproduced.

If you or someone you know can help please contact:

Jennifer Barr
Project Editor
Carlton Publishing Group
20 Mortimer Street
London
W1T 3JW

Email: jbarr@carltonbooks.co.uk
Telephone: 0207 6120477

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The Meaning of Marilyn

Philippe Halsman, 1952

Dr Lois Banner, professor of History and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California, considers three recent MM biographies in this month’s Women’s Review of Books, and discusses the difficulty of ‘deconstructing Marilyn’.

Banner is currently writing a scholarly study of Monroe for Bloomsbury Press, An Uncommon Woman: Marilyn Monroe as an American Icon of Passion and Power.

Dr Banner at USC

Lois Banner on Amazon

My own reviews of recent Monroe literature can be found here

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‘Marilyn Remembered’ at the Hollywood Museum

A new exhibition devoted entirely to Marilyn Monroe opened at the Hollywood Museum on June 1st, which also marked the 84th anniversary of Marilyn’s birth in Los Angeles. The exhibit combines the collections of Scott Fortner, and Greg Schreiner (president of the L.A.-based Marilyn Remembered fanclub.)

Some of the highlights are listed here

Scott Fortner talks about his collection here

Exhibition catalogues can be previewed and ordered here

‘Marilyn Remembered: An Intimate Look at the Legend’ continues until August 31st.

WHERE: The Hollywood Museum, 1660 N. Highland Avenue, Hollywood
WHEN: 10 am to 5 pm Thursday through Sunday
PRICE: $15 for adults; $12 for seniors and children under 12.
Public Info: (323) 464-7776

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Sarah Churchwell’s Birthday Blog for Marilyn

The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, a critical analysis of Monroe’s treatment at the hands of her myth-makers, has joined the blogosphere with two posts about MM since yesterday.

The first piece, biographical in tone, focuses on some of the popular misconceptions about Marilyn; while the latter post, intriguingly, refers to the eagerly-awaited collection of Marilyn’s writings, Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters.

“Marilyn: Fragments is due for publication in October; I will have more to say about it then. But I will say this: many books (many books) have purported to be ‘in her own words’ since she died. This claim has been everything from highly arguable (such as her ghost-written ‘autobiography,’ My Story, which was co-authored by at least two writers, and probably ghost-revised after her death; it was certainly ghost-edited after her death) to the outright nonsensical (everything else). This book actually is Marilyn’s own words–it reproduces notebook pages, in her handwriting, and then transcribes them. That alone makes it worth reading.”