Biographies on Marilyn Monroe

Hi everyone,

Anyone out there who could recommend a really good biography on the life and times of Marilyn Monroe? I recently read Joyce Carol Oates novel Blonde. I didn't care one bit about Monroe before reading Blone, now I wanna know more.

The one I have on my shelf is by Donald Spoto, Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, published in 1993. I also read the novel by Oates, and I got this biography because I wanted to know what was "true" and what had been fictionalized by Oates. I only read to about halfway, but it was because I had a project that needed to be finished, not because I didn't like the biog. I plan to pick it up again. The back cover says that Spoto had access to "previously sealed documents"--but that could mean something big, or not, who knows. From what I remember, it's very comprehensive a pretty well-written.

Thanks for your reply. I'll add Spoto's book to my reading list.