i´ll post some links to books i own and like a lot,since they all show totally different sides of marilyn and one can get totally absorbed in these pictures,the woman herself and the notions and glimpses of her real self.
the famous last sitting book by bert stern.finally someone who could acknowledge and show marilyn´s pensive,refined and sophisticated side.a far away from the "dumb blonde" image as you can get.the pics were shotted for vogue
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Monroe-Complete-Last-Sitting/dp/3888141915/ref=pd_sim_b_4
milton greene´s pictures.imo he managed to show and visualize the essence of this woman.it was all there in his pictures and it still is.almost creepy like crawling into her skin sometimes:
http://www.amazon.com/Miltons-Maril...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236378700&sr=1-1
also a very good book and a classic: gloria steinem´s and george barris´ marilyn.george barris made some of the last pictures of marilyn before her death.most of them alone on a beach.in a very playful mood totally uninhibited,bare and pure and sometimes looking like a little child,with her wild ,uncombed hair and her wool-jacket.steinem gives a good insight into marilyn´s life and tries to understand and explain at least some of her problems,also from a woman´s point of view,struggling in a male dominated environment..after all the 50s were a social golden cage
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Glori...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236378927&sr=1-3
contains all of george barris´pictures .he met her the last time only 24 hours before her death.in this book he is publishing for the first time the beginnings of an autobio he and marilyn were allegedly going to write together.she talks about her youth,love,marriage,children etc.i´m just not 100 % convinced if it´s really true that she told him all that and really wanted to publish an autobio...and then again ,even if these are marilyn´s own words one has to ttake them with a grain of salt,since she was often ...umm.....telling legends rather than facts.still worth buying and reading if only for the pictures or the discrepancies with other bios
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Monroe-Complete-Last-Sitting/dp/3888141915/ref=pd_sim_b_4
probably a classic among marilyn-photobooks.a nice overview over her life in pictures of high quality...and a foreword by jane russell who was very fond of marilyn and an interesting interview with journalist georges belmont.
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Monro...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236380223&sr=1-1
sam shaw the photographer and norman rosten the author were very close friends of marilyn....thepics are beautful because they let you look behind the curtain of the shooting of the seven year itch and then above all ,what makes this book so precious are the pictures of arthur miller and marilyn right at the beginning when they were both very much in love and doing ordinary things like eating an hamburger etc.very intimate
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Among-Friends-Sam-Shaw/dp/1854223003/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in
and then eve arnold,a photographer who accompanied the troubled shooting of the misfits.there are also other pics included from different occassions...the misfits shooting includes many behind the scenes pictures....some of them are absolutely famous, showing a forlorn ,sad marilyn..and then tender moments of monty clift and marilyn,who liked and understood each other a lot..i have an older edition ,meanwhile a newer one is available that contains even more pics
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Monroe-Eve-Arnold/dp/081095933X/ref=pd_sim_b_4
some of the earliest portriats of norma jeane/marilyn.from the innocent natural young girl to her beginnings as a stalet.contains some really nice pictures especially of marilyn on the beach....but i´m not a huge fan of the early marilyn in general...depends on personal taste.still a good book and should be in every marilyn collection
http://www.amazon.com/Andre-Dienes-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236381643&sr=1-1
one of my absolut favourites.marilyn from a-z.they don´t miss a thing.everything you ever wanted to know about her ,you´ll find it here without reading a whole bio...includes many great photos as well
http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Encyc...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236381867&sr=1-1
marilyn as captivatibg as always in front of the camera.lying in a bed ,covered only with a sheet of silk,she flirted heavily with the young photographer....perhaps that´s the reason why some of the pics have such a bad technical quality,grainy etc

....still nice to look at.
http://www.amazon.com/Evening-Maril...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236382237&sr=1-3
this is really a special book.replicas of a letter by marilyn to her sister.the message to the strasbergs when she got locked up in the mental hospital,birth certificates etc.it´s really wonderland for any marilyn fan.i got it for christmas.it´s quite expensive,but i´d say worth the prize.
http://www.amazon.com/Evening-Maril...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236382237&sr=1-3
these are all i own but there are a lot more.anyway,i hope i could help a little

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