Forever Marilyn: Story of an Icon is a new, 224 pp book by Valeria Arnaldi, published in Italy in December 2022, and also available via Kindle. (Coincidentally, an exhibition of the same name was held in Turin last summer – see here.) The cover image is based on a 1955 photograph by Milton Greene, and the publisher’s description reads, in part:
“Marilyn Monroe is the queen of the imagination of several generations: the flesh and blood version of a modern Venus, capable of becoming a muse – as she was for Andy Warhol … A journey to rediscover the icon Marilyn, between history and creation, films, loves, torments, the mystery of her death and the tributes of art, to investigate the secrets that have consecrated her as a star in the collective imagination.”
Gianandrea Colombo has reviewed Forever Marilyn on his Facebook group, Marilyn Monroe – Italia:
“Not really a biography, I would rather call it an attempt to understand the Monroe phenomenon … Starting from her life, career and loves, the journey winds up to more recent dynamics that link Marilyn to the contemporary. Like her influence on art in its various forms, like street art. The graphics are delightful … It’s just a pity that perhaps Arnaldi’s attempted investigation remains superficial. In any case, it’s a pleasant book that I recommend especially to those less familiar with Marilyn.”
The Marilyn Report 