A book that seems lonely

All About Eve.

A classic film. Dad’s high water mark. Among its many virtues was a wonderful supporting performance from a young Marilyn Monroe. Dad told me this story about her, which I’ve never forgotten: Right after the film had wrapped, dad was browsing at the magazine stand outside Martindale’s Book Store in Beverly Hills. Exiting the store came Marilyn, carrying a  paper bag with what she’d bought. He was surprised to see her leaving a bookstore, which he hardly thought would be her natural habitat. They hugged. Pointing at her bag, Dad said: “What’ve you got there, Marilyn?”

She pulled out the book. It was a volume of nineteenth-century poetry by Heinrich Heine.

Dad was shocked. “You’re a fan of Heine?”

“I don’t know who he is,” she said. “Sometimes I come in here to look around and I try to find a book that seems lonely, like no one’s ever going to buy it, and I take it home with me.”

[Joseph Leo Mankiewicz, † le 5 février 1993. Colette Magny et Violeta Parra, clic-clic, Rampling, Sieff et Badiou aussi.]