Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda--The Story of Her Final Months

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Summary: Marilyn's last home
Review: Excellent book with details about the last house that Marilyn lived in and house where she died. Loved learning about her home and how she lived during the last months of her life. Very well written and very informative. A must for every Marilyn fan.

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Summary: Clarification on this second edition version
Review: I bought the book after stumbling across the author's web-site and finding myself riveted by every page of the site. I am regretting not having splurged and bought the hardcover edition as I'm sure the colour pictures are wonderful. As it stands, the paperback version could use some better editing but the story is warm and always respectful. I really recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by the charm of Marilyn, but is sick of the sensationalism.

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Summary: A must for Norma Jeane lovers
Review: I bought this book, and I really like and enjoyed it. The author is also such a nice man, he offered to sign my copy for me if I sent it to him.

The production quality of the photos in the previous paperback edition were not great (not Gary's fault, he's as upset as anyone) but I managed to download great color ones from the net so that's a non-issue. The new edition has fixed all that and added more. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Marilyn.

If you love Marilyn, you have to have this book.

Rating:
Summary: Clarification on this second edition version
Review: I've been confused about the second edition of this book and the sales information on this site. Having spoken with the publisher, Iuniverse, I learned that the hardcover edition offered here is actually a "second edition" released in October 2003, although the release date printed is still listed as 2000. This is because it is a "re-do" under the same title previously released by the publisher. The new second edition cover for the paperback and hardcover depicts Marilyn standing beside the gates of her home and sell respectively for $20.95 and $30.95. The first edition was only published in paperback with a different cover for $11.95. I understand that vendors would continue to sell the first edition paperbacks until supplies depleted. I have both the first edition and second. The second edition contains new images, new chapters, re-worked chapters and information not included in the first. The quality of photo and illustration reproduction in this new version are far superior than in the first. All around, it is a better product and a great, new look at a lasting legend!

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Summary: A slightly biased review
Review: Knowing the author, I'm not qualified to provide a completely objective review of this book. I can only tell you that it graces my bookshelf with pride, is well-thumbed, and has provided hours of enjoyment. In contrast with another reviewer's opinion here on Amazon, I love the original pencil drawings and the photographs created by Mr. Vitacco-Robles. I don't want to see the same old photos published in dozens of other sources. The writing is clear, crisp, and affectionate, and refreshingly free of the trite sensationalism so common in other writings on Marilyn. It's true that the production quality of the book is only average, but with any luck the author will be able to contract with another publisher when his current contract expires next year. My respect for my friend Gary is quite high, and I'm awed at his wonderful ability to create such a personal, original work. This book is a bargain at twice the price.

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Summary: Something's Got To Give
Review: More than 600 books have been written about Marilyn Monroe since her death in 1962. While most of them have focused on the theories surrounding her apparent suicide at age 36, author Gary Vitacco-Robles focuses his new book on the actress' last home. Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda/The Story of Her Final Months reframes and redefines Marilyn through the context of her efforts to establish a secure home following a childhood spent in a succession of foster homes. The author theorizes that the actress was trying to correct her past by putting down roots of her own. While several previous authors depict her final months as tumultuous, Vitacco-Robles provides evidence that suggests Marilyn was trying to pull her life together and give it some personal meaning. During the spring and summer of 1962, Marilyn embraced her newfound domesticity by pulling weeds in her garden, writing recipes in her copy of The Joy of Cooking and actually using the pots and pans in her kitchen. The book contains actual photographs of the house, interspersed with realistic renderings of the home by artist Brandon Heidrick. The author divides the photos and illustrations with floor plans for each room and includes pictures of an architectural model that depicts the entire property as it appeared in 1962. After she purchased the 2,300 square foot house, Monroe began extensively researching authentic Mexican design, landscaping and furnishings in an effort to slowly transform it into the home of her dreams. She arranged for an 11-day trip to Mexico where she painstakingly selected fabrics, tapestries, painted tiles, pottery and art. Monroe met the native artists who had made by hand the objects that she would later display in her home. Vitacco-Robles is donating a portion of the royalties from sales of this book to Hollygrove Children and Family Services, formerly the Los Angeles Orphans Home Society, where Marilyn Monroe lived as a child.

Rating:
Summary: Clarification on this second edition version
Review: There has been some confusion about the second edition of this book and the sales information on this site. According to the publisher, Iuniverse, the hardcover edition offered here is actually a "second edition" released in October 2003, although the release date printed is still listed as 2000. This is because it is a "re-do" under the same title previously released by the publisher. The new second edition cover for the paperback and hardcover depicts Marilyn standing beside the gates of her home and sell respectively for $20.95 and $30.95. The first edition was only published in paperback with a different cover for $11.95. The publisher says that vendors will continue to sell the first edition paperbacks until supplies depleted. The second edition contains new images, new chapters, re-worked chapters and information not included in the first. Having seen this book, the quality of photo reproduction in this new version are far superior than in the first. It also includes professional, "photorealistic-style" illustrations by artist Brandon Heidrick depicting the interior and exterior of Marilyn's home and furnishings. The images serve as a "virtual tour" of Marilyn's last home similar to the author's website.

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Summary: Sensitive & Enlightening
Review: This is an excellent follow-up to the author's first paperback edition. I enjoyed this handsome, hardcover version and its wealth of new photos and illustrations. The artist's depictions looked like actual photos. This edition fleshed out more details of Marilyn's last weeks without dwelling on murder-theories.

Well-researched with new information, this book avoids re-hashing what has already been written. It is a page-turner and must-have for any Marilyn fan. Now I feel as though I really know Marilyn, and I've read nearly every biography written on her in the last fifteen years.

Using Marilyn's last days in the house as a context for a biography is a novel approach to understanding this icon. Vitacco-Robles wove together Marilyn's past as it related to the events during her last year. Marilyn's last year always fascinated me, and I was really interested in learning more about her months in the home in Brentwood. The book is the end-all for anyone who ever secretly wished to visit the home and see inside. It is now hidden by a huge gate to deter fans like me!

The last chapter focused on Frank Lloyd Wright designing a home for Marilyn & Arthur Miller. I was not aware of this. Marilyn wanted a large nursery for the children she never had and a study for the husbanc whom she later divorced. I was amazed that the home was eventually built in Hawaii as a golfing resort.

Vitacco-Robles is a therapist who works with abused children. He knows his subject well and is sensitive to Marilyn's emotional troubles created by her horrendous childhood. As a male biographer, I think Vitacco-Robles does Marilyn justice with his sensitive writing and fresh perspective.

Yes, it's the latest in a long line of biographies about this remarkable woman, but one of the best!

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Summary: Last Dwelling Of The Goddess.
Review: This is an interesting book for Marilyn fans. If you're looking for an elaborate, glossy coffee table type book of M.M.'s last residence, this is not it. It has the look of a "small budget" endeavor, some of the reprints of reprints of the inside of the house, etc...are poor quality. And I could have done without certain illustrations, such as an entire page devoted to the pencil drawing of a star shaped light fixture, numbers of which I see daily in export shops, and what also seems to be a drawing of her refrigerator. But the over all tone of the book is ambitious and very respectful of our beloved Marilyn, and probably gives the best all-around look into the home where she died, and which, for many, is almost shrine-like, though the author stresses that it is a private residence. It also has nice anecdotes about Marilyns spirituality, simplicity, kindness, and her day-to-day life. The title, as Marilyn afficionados know, is taken from the eerily prophetic ceramic tile which was there at the front door of the house when M.M. purchased it, and remains there still. Translated, it says: "My journey has ended." Though her earthly journey ended here, her spirit lives on, growing and constant. This book is a nice addition for anyone who still "holds a good thought" for our golden girl, and doesn't just tell about a house, but, collectively, gives a good sense of her then promise, and what she was about. She was a GOOD person. May she rest in peace.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST- HAVE FOR ANY MARILYN ENTHUSIAST!!
Review: When I first received my copy of Cursum Perficio: Marilyn's Brentwood Hacienda, I wasn't sure what to expect. Much to my surprise, I was enthralled and fascinated by the details of Marilyn's final months, so eloquently chronicled by Gary Vitacco-Robles. Void of any media hype and speculation about the cause of her death, Vitacco-Robles explores how Marilyn searched and found the perfect place to call home...a respite from the choatic life she led in the media spotlight.
You will journey with her as she went on shopping sprees for furnishings and ornaments in a quest to make the only home she ever owned a reflection of herself.
The book contains a vast collection of actual photographs, as well as impressive photo-recreations of the home's interior as it looked in 1962 and now.
I applaud Vitacco-Robles for a superb testamant to the woman so many longed to know. This book reveals a whole other side of Marilyn that has never been revealed.
A MUST HAVE for any Marilyn enthusiast!