book review: Misfit by Adam Braver
The basics: In Misfit, Adam Braver imagines the life of Marilyn Monroe, from childhood until her death, in brief vignettes. My thoughts: Reading this novel, I learned how little I knew about Marilyn Monroe's life. This novel isn't a comprehensive novel of her life, but Braver offered fascinating possible insights into certain moments, some quite well known and some that were not known to me. From the beginning, the focus is on the end of Marilyn's life. Braver intersperses more detailed events of the weeks before Monroe's death with a chronological narrative. The effect was at times sad, at times downright morbid, but mostly fascinating. This novel doesn't have much plot. For someone more familiar with Ms. Monroe's life, there would likely be no plot. For me, however, there were enough surprises added in with the known facts to provide a haunting context to a fascinating woman. What struck me as most impressive in this novel was not how well Braver got into ...