ICON: THE LIFE, TIMES, & FILMS OF MARILYN MONROE (SECOND EDITION) (hardback)
An interview with Gary Vitacco-Robles is now on line:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lights-camera-author/episodes/Lights--Camera--Author---Gary-Vitacco-Robles-e233gai
Goddess . . . legend . . . icon. You thought you knew her, but never before like this.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) survived a childhood marked by abuse, neglect, and chaos to become a psychological, cultural, and spiritual phenomenon of the twentieth century. Her remarkable life, brilliant film career, and posthumous legend have been deconstructed in over 600 biographies.
Psychotherapist and author Gary Vitacco-Robles reframes and redefines the fascinating woman behind the iconic image through an analysis of her psyche and an appreciation of her film and stage performances. After a decade of meticulous research, Vitacco-Robles offers a treasure trove of facts comprehensively documenting each year of Monroe's inspiring life within the context of her tumultuous times and through her relationships with literary, entertainment, and political figures.
Monroe is resurrected a half-century after her tragic death in this detailed and sensitive biography which intelligently explores her passionate desires: to be loved, become a serious actress, and have a family.
Based upon interviews, diaries, and personal files, and void of sensationalism, this biography dispels many myths and reveals the ultimate truth about Hollywood's most charismatic, beloved, and enduring star.
Robles brings a unique perspective to his biography of Monroe with the extensively detailed account of not only her fascinating and tumultuous life but by presenting a psychological perspective of the many facets of her personality. What sets this book apart is his ability to shed a new light on her humanity and psyche to bring forth a balanced view of the person inside. “Icon” is tribute to the reality of her work, heartache and strengths that coincide with the wonder and complexity of the truly iconic star. Available now.
-- Rage Magazine, May 2014
While 600 books have been published about the actress, Gary Vitacco-Robles’ biography, Icon: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe, is a prodigious achievement that could easily doom the efforts of all others to obscurity.
Meticulously researched, Vitacco-Robles digs for all the details...
The result is that the reader experiences Monroe almost as if she draws breath, steps out of the pages and comes into the house to chat.
With a sturdy, straightforward prose style, the author takes a balanced, compassionate, approach to his subject. She was, and often still is, seen only as a dumb blond, a sex symbol, but the author breaks through this stereotyping to depict Marilyn Monroe as an incomparable artist.
Vitacco-Robles has written a monumental, definitive work on one of greatest actresses and enduring public personalities of all time.
-- John J. Hohn
"A must read for her legion of fans... and highly recommended for community library, 20th Century American, Biography, academic library, Cinematic Studies collections... impressively detailed."
-- Midwest Book Review
"The culmination of a decade of research, Gary Vitacco-Robles’s two volume biography of Marilyn Monroe is meticulously researched, extremely detailed and refresh-ingly non-sensationalist. Volume I covers her life from birth to her marriage to Arthur Miller, with Volume II picking up the tale, stretching beyond her sad demise to the lasting impact of her short life, what happened to those she left behind, murder conspiracies, and much more."
- Mad About Marilyn
Listen to the Icon podcast here