Escape to New York: Marilyn in Manhattan

For a little over one legendary year, Marilyn Monroe called New York City home. From late 1954 through 1955, Marilyn reveled in all the city had to offer. It was the most creatively rejuvenating time in the life of the world's then-biggest movie star. It was a period of great artistic self-discovery and inspiring personal growth. Fed up with the blonde bombshell roles forced on her by the studio, she fled to New York to take acting classes, to soak up the magic and wonder of the city that never sleeps, and to find a truer version of herself. In Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy, newly available in paperback, Elizabeth Winder paints an exquisite portrait of that time. Using meticulous research and an abundance of revealing quotes from those who knew Marilyn, Winder pieces together an intimate and novelistic narrative of one amazing year in the life of a popular culture icon.

One of the most fascinating and enlightening aspects to emerge from Winder's book is just how much a role introversion played in Marilyn's life. For an introvert of Marilyn's stature, it had to be incredibly difficult to live under the microscope of Hollywood fame. Everyone wanted a piece of her, from producers to directors to agents to fans, yet none of them really cared about her. Winder beautifully describes the actress's introversion—socially awkward at parties and in large groups, she prefered to form strong connections with similarly sensitive friends like photographer Milton Greene, who simply loved and supported her. Friends like Greene, Norman Rosten, Susan Strasberg, and even Marlon Brando adored Marilyn for who she was, not for who they wanted her to be.

Meeting, dating, and marrying Arthur Miller seemed to signal the end of her incredible year of freedom in New York. Although she and Miller stayed together for a few more years after Marilyn moved back to California, the writing seemed to be on the wall from the start. Miller had many great qualities that benefited Marilyn, but he could also be taciturn, humorless, and self-involved. This only exacerbated Monroe's tendencies towards depression and isolation. Winder notes repeatedly how Marilyn's friendships with men were often the most fulfilling relationships in her life. Her affairs and marriages could never match friendships with the likes of Greene or Rosten, and while Marilyn certainly enjoyed flirting with her male friends, she also found great calm and inspiration in these brother-sister relationships.

She had no interest in small talk or the minutiae of daily life. She was a dreamer, with her head in the clouds, pondering more esoteric concerns. She preferred to find a few soul mates, people with whom she'd forged unbreakable bonds over shared sensibilities, instead of having a large group of people around her, most of whom didn't understand her anyway. This passage aptly sums up Marilyn's classically introverted qualities and how they manifested in social situations:

"She leaped to scan the bookshelf. Marilyn, like all compulsive readers, always made an immediate dash to the bookshelf, a fast path to easy friendship. 'Hey, I've read this too,' she'd exclaim, eager to connect, eager to find out: Does this person's inner landscape match mine?"

The world is often an inhospitable place for introverts. Why must introverts always adjust to the world? Why doesn't the world adjust to introverts? Marilyn's introversion was a constant source of consternation for the world around her—studio heads, fellow actors, gossip columnists, husbands, and many more. Part of what makes Winder's account of Marilyn's escape to New York so utterly entrancing is how honestly it gives voice to the often voiceless life of an introvert. She paints a beautiful picture of a woman whose identity was so manufactured and curated by studios, managers, and audiences, that she was in danger of losing herself. As an extreme introvert, she was already at a social disadvantage, but pile on top of that the way she, as a woman, was so abysmally treated by the 1950s patriarchy, and you have a recipe for pain and heartbreak.

Throughout the book, Winder includes many of Marilyn's private notes to friends, her diary entries, her poems, and prose writing. Each acts as a touching reminder of her kindness and thoughtfulness. Reading these nakedly honest observations and personal reflections is heartbreaking at times, with the knowledge in mind that she would only be alive for seven more years. Yet mostly they offer inspiration, opening windows into the soul of a highly sensitive person.

In the summer of 1955, Marilyn wrote to Rosten, a man who'd only ever encouraged and bolstered her ego, "I'm so glad you were born and I'm living at the same time as you." Beautiful, direct, heartfelt. Much like Marilyn Monroe herself.

Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy, by Elizabeth Winder, from Flatiron Books is now available in paperback.