Marilyn Monroe's image is so universal that we can't help but believe that we know all there is to know of her. Every word and gesture made headlines and garnered controversy. Her serious gifts as an actor were sometimes eclipsed by her notoriety - and the way the camera fell helplessly in love with her.

But what of the other Marilyn? Beyond the headlines - and the too-familiar stories of heartbreak and desolation - was a woman far more curious, searching, and hopeful than the one the world got to know. Even as Hollywood studios tried to mold and suppress her, Marilyn never lost her insight, her passion, and her humor. To confront the mounting difficulties of her life, she wrote.

Now, for the first time, we can meet this private Marilyn and get to know her in a way we never have before. Fragments is an unprecedented collection of artifacts - notes to herself, letters, even poems.These bits of text - jotted in notebooks, typed on paper, or written on hotel letterhead - reveal a woman who loved deeply and strove to perfect her craft. They show a Marilyn Monroe unsparing in her analysis of her own life, but also playful, funny, and impossibly charming. The easy grace and deceptive lightness that made her performances so memorable emerge here, as does the simmering tragedy that made her last appearances so heartbreaking.

The audio includes a bonus pdf with examples of Marilyn's handwritten artifacts which can be viewed when used with a computer.