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Marilyn Monroe and the Life of the Mind

Marilyn Monroe and the Life of the Mind

Last updated on: June 10, 2026 at 8:09 am by Michael Jimenez

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Marilyn Monroe and the Life of the Mind 2026-06-10T08:09:07-04:00 Michael Jimenez

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“Home is the cats, my books, and my work never done.” Patti Smith (M Train, 251)

When June rolls along it usually means a time of transitions from the weekly planning of the school semester. The fact that I am currently working on a summer research project with two students, Abigail and Nora, has thrown off the typical transition. This project does not end till late July. Still there is more time to read than usual. In fact, I already conquered Hanya Yanagihara’s 800 page novel A Little Life right when the Spring semester ended in early May. I have owned it for a few years now and after listening to a podcast talk with the singer Dua Lipa I decided to give it a shot.

My sons’ semester just ended and now they are even more ready to sleep in and hang out with their friends. We have a big summer trip planned in a few weeks. This summer they will also read the third part of the Lord of the Ring series, The Return of the King. Once they are done we will watch the movie together. It is encouraging to receive a request from my sons to start reading the final part of Tolkien’s trilogy. Watching a movie after reading the book is such a fun way to connect to the narrative quality of the story. After this summer I am going to have to find another series to start up next summer!

Speaking of Dua Lipa, she gave a wonderful speech recently about the power of reading. She is one of the few celebrities who uses her fame to promote literacy. She has a monthly book club and a podcast where she interviews authors. The fact that she had Min Jin Lee as one of her literary guests made me an instant fan of her. She is really worth following on social media or subscribing to her podcast, especially if you want to keep up with the latest book trends.

I finished reading Gail Crowther’s brand new book Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe, and wrote a book review that should be out in a few weeks. Crowther’s book is the very best in revisionist history since it seems her biggest challenge is the mountains of misogyny built up over the years against Monroe’s intelligence.

This is a wonderful book, revealing that Marilyn Monroe had 400 books in her personal library

Monroe’s life reveals a powerful lesson about what really matters in life. She seemed to be her happiest when she was left alone, in solitude, reading a book. This was a woman who had everything, perhaps one of the most recognizable faces in recent history. Yet the fame and the fortune was not enough. She was someone who had many personal and public struggles in her short life. After reading Crowther’s literary biography of the iconic actress one thing is crystal clear: Marilyn Monroe was an active reader and she was most comfortable reading a book. I love to read how she would often just head to a local bookstore to look for a new book because that is something that I always do. That seems like such a normal act, but in our age of declining literacy rates, this fact is historically refreshing.

I also just finished M Train by the musician Patti Smith. In between listening to Elizabeth Taylor on repeat, Smith is my most listened to artist in the last month. I usually listened to her top 5 hits overall (“Because the Night,” “Dancing Barefoot,” “Frederick,” “Redondo Beach,” and “Gloria”) on Spotify when I go on a short drive or take my pug, Milo, on his evening walk. However, I made it a point to listen to at least 3 of her albums in their entirety while recently grading papers. This is now my third Smith book I have read. I read her classic Just Kids years ago followed by her short work Devotion. Just Kids is one of my all time favorites—the type of book I would gift any bibliophile.

Smith provides intimate details about her musician/poet life but what is also fun is just how much you can tell she loves a good book

Smith addresses the bibliophile in M Train. Sure, the music fan will probably like reading her simply because it’s something written by Patti Smith. However, what grabs my attention is how she travels all over the world because she is touring, whether to discuss poetry or sing, and she often stops at a famous literary haunt. Haunt is the appropriate word since she visits some of the great past writers’ graves. This is the type of visitations that I will often attempt to do when I go on vacation (maybe not graves). She makes it a point to visit past writers, sometimes leaving a memento behind or at the very least photographing these special places.

Fostering a literary life connects with other readers. I know these books took on a special meaning to me discovering that Smith loves modern Japanese literature, especially Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Osamu Dazai, or that Monroe loved Russian literature, especially Dostoevsky (my all time favorite). Even Dua Lipa wins literary points for being such a big fan of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko.

For the rest of the summer my plan is to read a few books about Van Gogh and religion, including Irving Stone’s dramatized biographical novel Lust For Life. I am currently reading a Lou Reed biography and would like to close the summer finishing Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads. Finally, I am hoping to read Smith’s latest memoir Bread of Angels and even research Smith’s use of religion in her work.

If my recent readings have done anything for me it is that they reminded me of why I read so much in the first place. Books are the reason I wake up early to be alone with them and my faithful morning coffee. Maybe I am a little enchanted by celebrity, but when people ask me about the reason to support the humanities, I look to people like Monroe and Smith, who can think of no better thing to do than sit in solitude with a book, awakening the life of the imagination.

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