Goddess cover art

Goddess

The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Goddess

By: Anthony Summers
Narrated by: Donna Postel
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £28.99

Buy Now for £28.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Marilyn Monroe, born to deprivation and a series of foster homes, became an acting legend of the 20th century. She married famous men, Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, and her many lovers included President John F. Kennedy. Her death, at 36, is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.

Anthony Summers interviewed 600 people for this book, which reveals unknown truths, some funny, some very sad, about this brilliant but troubled woman. First to gain access to the files of Monroe's last psychiatrist, he throws light on Monroe's troubled psyche and her addiction to medications. He establishes once and for all that she was intimately involved with John and Robert Kennedy, who probably covered up the circumstances of her death.

©1985 Anthony Summers (P)2017 Tantor
Entertainment & Celebrities Film & TV Women Celebrity Funny Thought-Provoking
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Marilyn Monroe cover art
Sinatra cover art
The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield cover art
My Story cover art
The Murder of Marilyn Monroe cover art
The Lonely Life cover art
Elvis and Me cover art
Bette & Joan cover art
Past Imperfect cover art
Baby, Let's Play House cover art
Natalie Wood cover art
Half Past cover art
Frank & Ava cover art
Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin cover art
Jackie, Ethel, Joan cover art
Josephine cover art

Critic reviews

“A remarkable performance…. The ghost of Marilyn Monroe cries out in these pages." ( New York Times)

What listeners say about Goddess

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    97
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    81
  • 4 Stars
    36
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    85
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The definite book on Marilyn Monroe

This is genuinely the only book you’ll ever need to read or listen to on the icon. It covers her early life and later years in great detail and has been updated since publication to reflect the recent (at the time) news items about her. It flew by.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

A very interesting story which gives you an insight as to how insecure and naive Marilyn was. On the politics side so much treachery with drink and drugs and secrecy thrown in. Marylyn was on a downward slope from day one. So sad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Insightful

Lots of detail confirming what is already in the public domain. This poor lady and her life were a hot mess. Some weird pronunciations of commonplace words by the narrator which are mildly irritating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it! A must

Great performance, great story and perfect for any fans! Learnt so much and would definitely recommend for any Hollywood fans

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking story

The story of a woman who we all think we knew. But thin book is an eye opener. The poor girl never reached her full potential. was used by men right up to the last few hours of her life. Excellent listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Goddess! Yes she was....

Goddess is an amazing book as it details, pretty much, Marilyn's entire life. The undoubted desire to become a star and a much loved star at that. The thirst for knowledge and learning, I believe Marilyn was way more intelligent and had so much more to offer, above and beyond most people's interpretation which is as a blond bimbo sex goddess. The portrayal of the rich and famous, the powerful and almighty, shown to be what they are still today and have been since the day dot.... nothing more than self entitled, sanctimonious, corrupt individuals in positions of power and wealth, that use and abuse each and every one of us in some way, shape or form, within the playground of life!

The book is slow and hard in some places but no different to any other book or film, you have to set the characters in their correct place and position so as to understand the bigger picture in this game of chess that we call life.

The narration was fantastic, clear and concise and it enables the reader/listener to go along with Marilyn for the ride. To feel her happiness, her pain, her frustration and to a certain degree her own self entitlement.

All in all, I massively enjoyed this portrayal of Marilyn Monroes life and unfortunately, just like the JFK assassination or Jack The Ripper, we will never ever get to the absolute concrete truth of things, only speculation and conspiracy theory. I guess that is some of the attraction.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Meh…

A long winded way to come to the conclusion that politicians have affairs with famous people, lie and hangout with gangsters who manipulate them to their own ends.
Who’d thought it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Illuminating and Sad

Poor Marilyn. Starting life damaged but able and willing to use her charms to achieve greatness, her end was that of every woman who has been used and reduced by men. Some of the scenes painted by the author are really sad and disturbing. It’s interesting to learn what a degraded figure she ended up as, but it’s not gratifying. Thank goodness her public persona shines on in the public’s collective hearts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A truly stunning account Marilyn Monroe

Anthony Summers is by far the best investigative biographer - he leaves no stone unturned in the story of Marilyn.
I bought the original book in 1986 and this version jettisons the tragedy bang up to date!
Why this icon has not received justice is a disgrace and the new information points the destruction of her in only one direction. I hope that when Judith Campbell’s files became public in 2025, the authorities have a fresh investigation. An absolutely brilliant biography dedicated to finding out the truth.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

it's great

Very credible, well documented. I love the tone, which is never patronising or judgemental.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!