No star in any genre has affected the world as deeply or has lasted as long without fading as Marilyn Monroe. This thought-provoking and wide-ranging collection of essays examines the undiminished incandescence of Marilyn Monroe -- the impact she has had on our culture, the evolution of her legend since her death, and what she tells us now about our lives and times -- and includes previously unpublished work from some of America's best writers, such as: Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Elliot Dark, Albert Mobilo, Marge Piercy, Lore Segal, Lisa Shea, and many more. From her troubled family beginnings to the infamous $13 million auction held at Christie's in New York City, All the Available Light paints an unforgettable portrait of Marilyn as you've never seen her before. This extremely rare cover photo was taken c. 1954, on the set of The Seven Year Itch. Forty years after her death, one would think that enough had been written about Marilyn Monroe to satisfy even the most avid fan. Yet here is another book that looks at the legacy of this icon. McDonough, author of a forthcoming novel (The Four Temperaments) and, ironically, a tribute to the Barbie doll, has gathered together 17 essays by authors past and present who muse on Marilyn as cultural icon, sex goddess, victim, and actress. Joyce Carol Oates ("Centerfold") and Gloria Steinem ("The Woman Who Will Not Die") share these pages with Sir Laurence Olivier ("The Prince and the Showgirl") and Clare Booth Luce ("The Love Goddess Who Never Found Love"). Some of these pieces were previously published, some were excerpted from longer works, and some were written for this collection. At times, it is difficult to tell which have been previously published and where; McDonough would have done well to list this information along with the piece itself instead of in the introductions to each section. Like the essays, this book ranges greatly in tone and style. Recommended for libraries with extensive pop culture sections. Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Salinas, CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Natalia Ilyin author of Blonde Like Me: The Roots of the Blonde Myth in Our Culture All the Available Light does what no other book on Marilyn has been able to do: instead of plodding linearly through her facts and myth, pinning her identity under the lightbulb of interrogation, this rich group of essays produces a diffraction pattern, projects a three-dimensional image, delivers her to us like a hologram. Patricia Kennealy Morrison author of Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison Sparkling and startling insights into the person and persona that both were Marilyn Monroe -- this collection reminds us all of what we too often forget: that under every lambent icon dwells a living, breathing, hurting, joyous human soul. Molly Jong-Fast author of Normal Girl All the Available Light glistens with luminescent essays from many glowing greats. This anthology shines more light directly on the face of America's greatest star. Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of seven novels. Her short fiction, articles, and essays have been published in anthologies as well as in numerous national magazines and newspapers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Introduction Picture the following scenario if you can: A woman, now approaching eighty, is seated with her husband in the audience of the City Center of Music and Drama one evening in the late 1950s. They are waiting for the curtain to go up on a performance of the New York City Ballet. It must have been an electric moment. Here is a young and yet world-class ballet company whose founder and main choreographer -- brilliant Russian-born George Balanchine -- is in his prime. The theater itself, built in 1924 by the Ancient and Accepted Order of the Mystic Shrine, is wonderfully antic and absurd, with fanciful tiles in bright colors studding the outlandish surfaces of its architecture. What were they going to see that night? Allegro Brillante? Agon? Stars and Stripes? A Midsummer Night's Dream? And who might have been dancing? Allegra Kent? Violette Verdy? Maria Tallchief? Melissa Hayden? It almost doesn't matter; it was sure to have been a spectacular night. But as the woman sat there, reading her program notes and chatting idly with her husband, she began to sense a kind of hum in the crowd, a certain energy that seemed to gather and swell, despite the fact that the curtain remained motionless and the lights had not yet begun to dim. What could it be? She and her husband looked at each other, puzzled. Then they began to look around. There, in a balcony below, sat Marilyn Monroe and her then husband, Arthur Miller. The intensity of the excitement continued to grow as more and more people began first to whisper and then intone, "Marilyn, Marilyn." Sporadic clapping began; quickly it turned into an ovation, with people on their feet shouting out her name. One can only imagine how the dancers m