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Blonde

A Novel

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Blonde

By: Joyce Carol Oates
Narrated by: Jayne Atkinson
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Summary

The National Book Award finalist and national bestseller exploring the life and legend of Marilyn Monroe

Soon to be a Netflix Film starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson

In one of her most ambitious works, Joyce Carol 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 a voice startlingly intimate and rich, Norma Jeane tells her own story of an emblematic American artist—intensely conflicted and driven—who had lost her way. A powerful portrait of Hollywood’s myth and an extraordinary woman’s heartbreaking reality, Blonde is a sweeping epic that pays tribute to the elusive magic and devastation behind the creation of the great 20th-century American star.

Biographical Fiction Fantasy Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Biography Fiction Heartfelt Mythology Celebrity
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Sadly this is an abridged version which is not noted in the description.
The narrator and content are excellent, but I returned it as I wish to read the full text.
Audible should make it clear upon purchase if a text is abridged.

Abridged version

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The more you know about Marilyn the more fascinating she becomes. I knew a lot of the information in this novel but Joyce Carol Oates has created an absorbing, disturbing and compelling piece of work. It is beautifully narrated too.

Totally absorbing

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Extremely well told, the husky voice of the narrator really added character and back bone to the book and opened my eyes. Wasn't sure at first about the book in the first 30 minutes but glad i stuck with it.

Liked it

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Enjoyed this very much (though there was some peculiar phrasing by the narrator at times) but was disappointed to find it was an abridged version, given that this isn't mentioned anywhere that I can see on the Audible app (a scene was mentioned in the author interview at the end which hadn't been in the audio book, and that got me googling).

Abridged

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Truly gripping performance of a great work of imaginative literature. Brings alive the period and the extraordinary unsung genius of Marilyn Monroe. If an audio book can be unputdownable this was it. Bravo Jayne Atkinson!

Brilliant performance of an astonishing narrative.

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