Synopses & Reviews
After sitting in storage since his death in 1985, André de Dienes's complete Marilyn archives have finally been gathered together for this exclusive publication!
Photographer André de Dienes's life was changed forever one day in 1945 when he met an aspiring young model named Norma Jeane Baker. They immediately took off on the road together so that André could photograph her in natural settings across the West; during their travels, they fell in love and were briefly engaged. After their romance ended, they remained friends and de Dienes continued to photograph her. His unique, loving photographs of Norma Jeane helped to launch her model career and, a few years later, the film career that was to make her a legend. His entire relationship with the star, including many private moments never before revealed, is detailed in de Dienes's memoirs, which were written shortly before his death in 1985.
Recently uncovered and published here for the first time, these unknown memoirs tell a bittersweet story of love and friendship, tracing the evolution of a sensitive, ambitious girl into a deeply troubled megastar. From their trip to see Norma Jeane's mother in an Oregon mental hospital to Marilyn's visit to his home the year before her death, de Dienes recounts all of the emotional moments they shared.
This special edition, combining de Dienes's memoirs and photographs, is at once a touching autobiography and an exclusive personal exploration into the psychology, history, and iconography of Marilyn Monroe.
Review
"Art book publisher Taschen creates books so sensual and lavish that when you are finished reading them you feel, whether you are married or not, as though you had just cheated on your spouse. When the book happens to be Taschen's latest offering Marilyn, that feeling is not so irrational." Variety
Review
"A must for any fan with sufficient resources....This Taschen two-volume collection which contains Dienes's memoirs, a selection of his photographs and a thousand contact-sized prints supplies both the missing chapter and the last word on the cinema's greatest female icon." The Independent, London
Review
"The tome comes in one of the best cases we've seen..." New York Magazine
Review
"Norma Jean looks impossibly unspoiled in Andre de Dienes' sumptuous collection." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"It's a triumph of design." Newsweek