Blonde : a novelbyJoyce Carol Oates

Blonde (2000) is a bestselling historical novel by Joyce Carol Oates. In the novel Oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker - the child, the woman, the fated celebrity and idolized blonde the world came to know as Marilyn Monroe. In the story Norma Jeane tells her own story of an emblematic American artist -intensely conflicted and driven - who had lost her way. It is often considered to be one Oates's finest works, and Oates herself has said that Blonde is one of the two books (along with 1969's them) for which she thinks she will be remembered.

In 2001, the novel was adapted into a CBS mini-series of the same name, which followed the novel closely; The New York Times reported that "Often the director read the scene in the novel just before shooting it." The mini-series departed from the novel in that it does not address the idea (which Oates discusses at length) that Monroe may have been assassinated.

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Names
Although many notable names are changed, Oates sometimes uses recognisable initials such as "C"- a male co-star of Some Like it Hot (presumably Tony Curtis) and more controversially, "R.F"- the commander of the Sharpshooter sent to eliminate Monroe. Many conspiracy theories have Robert Francis Kennedy, United States Attorney General and brother of President John F. Kennedy, involved in Monroe's silencing, following her alleged affairs with both brothers. Only a relationship with the President is explored in the novel.

In Blonde, Monroe's husbands Joe di Maggio and Arthur Miller are referred to as the Ex-athlete and the Playwright respectively, with their real names never mentioned. James Dougherty, Monroe's first husband, appears under the pseudonym Bucky Glazer.

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Length and editing
At over 700 pages, Blonde is Oates' longest work of fiction. In an interview she said, "I intended it to be a novella, somewhere around 175 pages, and the last words would have been 'Marilyn Monroe.' But over time, I got so caught up in her world that I couldn't stop there. The final result was this book. The first draft was, originally, longer than the version that was finally published. Some sections were shortened while others had to be surgically removed from the book. Those sections will be published separately."

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Product Description - from Celestial Timepiece
"A lush-bodied girl in the prime of her physical beauty. In an ivory georgette crepe sundress with a halter top that gathers her breasts up in soft undulating folds of the fabric. She's standing with bare legs apart on a New York subway grating. her blond head is thrown rapturously back as an updraft lifts her full, flaring skirt, exposing white cotton panties. White cotton! The ivory-crepe sundress is floating and filmy as magic. The dress is magic. Without the dress the girl would be female meat, raw and exposed."

She was an all-American girl who became a legend of unparalleled stature. She inspired the adoration of millions, and her life has beguiled generations of fans and fellow artists. The story of Norma Jeane Baker—beter known by her studio name "Marilyn Monroe"—has been dissected for more than three decades, but never has it been captured in a narrative as breathtaking and transforming as Blonde.

In her most ambitious work to date, Joyce Carol Oates, one of America's most distinguished writers, reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker—the child, the woman, the fated celebrity—and tells the story in Norma Jeane's own voice: startling, rich, and shattering. This most intimate portrait of Norma Jeane reveals a fragile, idiosyncratically gifted young woman who makes and remakes her identity, ever managing to survive against crushing odds to become the definition of stardom. Bit by bit, she tells her own epic story of how an emblematic American artist—perpetually conflicted and intensely driven—lost her way.

Drawing on biographical and historical sources, Joyce Carol Oates evokes the distinct consciousness of the woman and the unsparing reflection of the myth, writing as she has never written before—ecstatic, completely absorbed, inhabited as if by the spirit of her extraordinary subject. Rich with psychological insight and disturbing irony, this mesmerizing narrative illumines Norma Jeane's lonely childhood, wrenching adolescence, and the creation of "Marilyn Monroe."

Distorted and misunderstood, the muted voice of Norma Jeane and the grand legacy of Marilyn Monroe are also a looking glass into the shadow-world of Hollywood. While paying tribute to the elusive art of acting and moviemaking, Joyce Carol Oates depicts the chilling panorama of an industry that nourishes and devours the "pure products" of America.

Blonde offers astonishing—and often disturbing—portraits of the powerful men in Norma Jeane's life: the Ex-Athlete, the Playwright, the President, the Dark Prince.

With fresh insights into the heart of a celebrity culture hypnotized by its own myths, Blonde is a sweeping novel about the elusive magic of a woman, the lasting legacy of a star, and the heartbreak behind the creation of the most evocative icon of the twentieth century.