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Fictional account of Marilyn Monroe. It makes me want to know more about her life.

I re-read this in May, 2013 for my book group, more than 10 years after reading it the first time. Some of the women in my book group are not crazy about Oates. The only other book of hers we've read in the past 19 years (NINETEEN YEARS! HOLY COW!) was "We Were the Mulvaneys."

So I recommended this to book group, I believe it to be accessible and certainly one of one of Oates' strongest works.

I am again stunned by Oates' writing and research. Though this is written as fiction, I am pretty sure Marilyn Monroe spent time in foster homes, did not know her father, was married to "an ex-athelete" and "A playwright" as Oates calls DiMaggio and Miller.

The whole scene with President Kennedy was depressing as hell, and I really hope it did not go down that way. Yes, the "go down" part was intentional.

Other actor/lovers are referred to as "C" and "Z" and I rarely had a good idea who they were supposed to be in real life. Again, I want to know more about Norma Jean/ Marilyn and what made her tick. Truly a candle in the wind, as Sir Elton wrote of her later.