Books 1/13/05

I’m still reading Successful Large Account Management, but took a little break today to read My Story by Marilyn Monroe. It’s a short read, and ends in the midst of Marilyn’s marriage to Joe DiMaggio. I knew that Marilyn was a smart woman, so I wasn’t suprised by her intelligence and insight- what suprised me was just how sad her life was. As a child she grew up in poverty, moved from one foster family to another, able to count her happy experiences on one hand. Her sense of causality in her life is incredible, it’s obvious that she spent a lot of time in introspection. She had the ability to see herself from outside herself, and was very realistic about what she saw. Andrea Dworkin wrote the introduction to this edition, and I have to agree with her statement that she wished Marilyn had been born more recently so she would have had the chance to become the serious actress she always wanted to be, and might have been able to get the help she so desperately needed to cope in this world. I can’t wait to read the other biography I have of her, to get a fuller scope of her entire life.

Last year I made a point of noticing the connections between the books I read, this year I’ve noticed that there’s been something in each book that I can learn. From As We Remember Her it was to be genuinely present in each interaction I have. The Everlasting made me remember that it’s more important to deal with what’s going on than look at the past. My Story was all about determination for me, and having hope despite circumstance. Who knows if the rest of the books I read this year will have such lessons, maybe this is just the connecting thread between these books. We shall see.

Current Total: 3
Just Finished: My Story by Marilyn Monroe
Currently Reading: Large Account Management by Heiman, Miller and Tuleja

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