Contemporary Authors

• Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy Advocate Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2002
• Boys, Lost & Found: Stories Gival Press (Arlington, VA), 2006
• The Fame Game ( novel) Alyson (New York, NY), 2006

1. Boys, lost & found : stories LCCN 2006924425 Type of material Book Personal name Casillo, Charles. Main title Boys, lost & found : stories / Charles Casillo. Edition 1st ed. Published/Created Arlington, Va. : Gival Press, c2006. Description 211 p. ; 23 cm. ISBN 1928589332 CALL NUMBER PS3603.A8665 B69 2006 FT MEADE Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE CALL NUMBER PS3603.A8665 B69 2006 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 2. The fame game : a novel LCCN 2007277835 Type of material Book Personal name Casillo, Charles. Main title The fame game : a novel / by Charles Casillo. Edition 1st ed. Published/Created New York : Alyson, 2006. Description 387 p. ; 24 cm. ISBN 1555839770 CALL NUMBER PS3603.A8665 F36 2006 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 3. Outlaw : the lives and careers of John Rechy LCCN 2002028188 Type of material Book Personal name Casillo, Charles. Main title Outlaw : the lives and careers of John Rechy / by Charles Casillo. Edition 1st ed. Published/Created Los Angeles : Advocate Books, 2002. Description 309 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. ; 22 cm. ISBN 1555837344 Links Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cons041/2002028188.html Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1004/2002028188-b.html CALL NUMBER PS3568.E28 Z623 2002 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms CALL NUMBER PS3568.E28 Z623 2002 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE https://lccn.loc.gov/2018004352 Casillo, Charles, author. Marilyn Monroe : the private life of a public icon / Charles Casillo. First U.S. edition. New York : St. Martin's Press, August 2018. pages cm PN2287.M69 C39 2018 ISBN: 9781250096869 (hardcover)

• IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1057398/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

  Edit
  Charles Casillo Poster
  Charles Casillo
  Biography
  Showing all 7 items
  Jump to: Mini Bio (1) | Trivia (6)
  Mini Bio (1)
  A Native New Yorker, Charles Casillo studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and at HB Studios (with Sandy Dennis.) After authoring several successful plays he put an acting career on hold and turned his full attention to writing. As an entertainment journalist he contributed to many publications including "The New York Times" and "New York Magazine." He continued his writing career in Los Angeles where he wrote celebrity interviews and personality profiles for "The Los Angeles Times." He also authored the books "The Marilyn Diaries," "Outlaw: The Lives & Careers of John Rechy," "Boys, Lost & Found," and "The Fame Game." After moving back to New York City, Casillo branched out to movie making combining his talents, writing and acting in the award winning thriller "Let Me Die Quietly" (2009) He also co-stars with Joan Collins in the dark comedy "Fetish."
  - IMDb Mini Biography By: Kelvin Dale

  Trivia (6)
  He is considered an expert historian on the life of Marilyn Monroe.
  Is business partners with Kelvin Dale in the film production company LMDQ, LLC named after "Let Me Die Quietly," the first movie they co-produced.
  A successful writer for a number of years before returning to his acting roots.
  Used his experiences as a model, actor and writer as a basis for some of the situations in his novel "The Fame Game.".
  He studied acting at HB Studios with Sandy Dennis.
  Is the official biographer of legendary writer, hustler and provocateur John Rechy.

  Camera and Electrical Department (6 credits)
  2007 Mad Men (TV Series) (grip - 1 episode)
  - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (2007) ... (grip)
  2007 The Warrior Class (Video) (best boy grip)
  2005 The Notorious Bettie Page (grip)
  2001-2003 Sex and the City (TV Series) (grip - 7 episodes)
  - Boy, Interrupted (2003) ... (grip)
  - To Market, to Market (2003) ... (grip)
  - I Love a Charade (2002) ... (grip)
  - Anchors Away (2002) ... (grip)
  - Sex and the Country (2001) ... (grip)
  Show all 7 episodes
  1999 Summer of Sam (grip)
  1999 The Confession (grip)
  Hide HideActor (3 credits)
  The Dead Rising (announced)
  2010 Fetish (Short)
  Darius Russi
  2009 Let Me Die Quietly
  Mario
  Hide HideWriter (2 credits)
  2010 Fetish (Short)
  2009 Let Me Die Quietly (written by)
  Hide HideArt department (1 credit)
  2005 One Last Thing... (construction grip)
  Hide HideProducer (1 credit)
  2009 Let Me Die Quietly (producer)
  Hide HideSelf (2 credits)
  Sammy LaBella: The Real Skip E. Lowe (filming)
  Himself
  2019 What Ever Happened to Norma Jeane? (Documentary) (filming)
  Himself

• Macmillan - https://us.macmillan.com/author/charlescasillo/

  CHARLES CASILLO
  Charles Casillo
  Mike Prestie
  Charles Casillo is the author of The Marilyn Diaries, The Fame Game, Boys, Lost & Found, and Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and many others. His movies include "Let Me Die Quietly" and "Fetish."

• Lambda Literary - https://www.lambdaliterary.org/interviews/05/01/interview-with-john-rechy/

  Interview: John Rechy
  by Charles Casillo
  May 1, 2008

  It’s safe to say that the gay literary world would be very different today if we didn’t have John Rechy. His 1963 classic, City of Night, about a sensitive hustler in an insensitive world, broke down barriers and paved the way for future generations. It’s difficult to find a contemporary gay writer, including this one, who doesn’t admit to being influenced by Rechy’s work. His latest book is the memoir, About My Life and the Kept Woman. A memoir by Rechy is especially interesting, since he has famously declared: “In the hierarchy of literary liars there are three ranks: The biggest liar is the autobiographer, who dares to say this is ‘true’ because I experienced it. The second of such liars is the biographer, who dares to claim anyone can ever capture another’s life. Third in the category of literary practitioners is the only honest one—the fiction writer, who claims, ‘This is a lie, but I’ll try like hell to convince you it’s true.'”

  Casillo: By writing a memoir you have willingly entered the company of the biggest literary liars. Explain yourself John Rechy!

  Rechy: I enter it fully aware that all autobiographies are filled with “lies,” intended or not, because memory is the most deceptive of all editors. What you remember today, will be different when you remember it tomorrow. So, to set down a memory as if it has been plucked out, intact, from the past is impossible. To pretend to do so is somewhat fraudulent. Recollected memories find their own form—and that, to me, is the legitimacy of a proclaimed “autobiography”—this is what I remember, but I’m aware that memory is vastly unreliable. To me, autobiography is an attempt to give—even provide—meaning to what otherwise might have none.

  Casillo: Did you do anything to further stir up memories, such as looking at photo albums, reading letters, calling old friends?

  Rechy: I did no research whatever. All research was done while roaming through my memories, trying to understand, at times, what I didn’t then. That’s another aspect of the wonderful fraudulence: That you can give meaning to what, when it was happening, had none; what you did not see. Often, in order to illuminate what happened, you have to investigate and record what didn’t.

  Casillo: You shared a very complicated and intense love with your mother. Was it difficult recreating her on the page?

  Rechy: I found it easy to recollect her in my fondest memories—but when it came to her death, I could not—and still cannot—face the fact enough to try to “give sorrow words,” in Macbeth’s words. My editor wanted me to deal more deeply with that in this book. I wouldn’t, I couldn’t.

  Casillo: Also your feelings towards your father—although still harsh—seemed to have softened. You recreate him here with more sympathy. What brought on this new perspective?

  Rechy: Age, my own aging. I saw him much more clearly—again the unreliability of recording the past—from the vantage of many years back. He was a tragic man. I didn’t want—and don’t want—him to be remembered only as a violent man. He was that, yes, but what made him that was equally cruel.

  Casillo: How did the confusion and anger you felt growing up looking Caucasian—but having a Mexican background—and the prejudices you witnessed, affect your life and career choices?

  Rechy: It is naïve to claim that appearances don’t matter. Many of the experiences I have had had been possible by the fact of genetics, what made me look the way I do. Alter appearance, and you redefine the possibilities of experience.

  Casillo: The kept woman of the book is someone you glimpsed only fleeting as a child—and yet her impact on your life has been enormous. What was it about her that influenced and inspired you so?

  Rechy: She was an image of defiance, of the possibility of breaking taboos—also, she was a figure of utmost glamour at a time of drab poverty.

  Casillo: You write in the beginning of the book, “This is not what happened; it is what is remembered. Its sequence is the sequence of recollection.”

  Rechy: The original quotation, which is mine, was: “This is not what happened, it is what is remembered, and what is remembered is often imagined.” I wanted to emphasize that although every one of these memories has a strong antecedent in “reality”—it happened—it is being brought forth years later by unreliable memory.

  Casillo: You have had some very unusual encounters with legendary figures like Christopher Isherwood, Allen Ginsberg and Liberace—all who came on to you sexually. How do you think they’d react to this book?

  Rechy: Isherwood would be pissed, Ginsberg would laugh, and Liberace would invite me to Palm Springs.

  Casillo: You are notorious for writing letters in response to reviews. Do you think your image—especially during the earlier part of your career—affected the way your work has been received?

  Rechy: I have no doubt that my inability to accept personal insults masquerading as “literary criticism” has affected the acknowledgement of my literary accomplishment. I truly believe—and one of my publishers told me he knew it to be a fact—that I have been, in effect, “blacklisted” at the New York Times Book Review. I have written letters of protest repeatedly. I don’t react to a negative review that treats my books seriously; I react when the reviewer becomes shrieky, shrill, personally assaulting.

  Casillo: Have you ever read a review that changed your perspective on something you’ve written?

  Rechy: One did—called my attention to the fact that I overused the word “somehow.” Now I even lecture against that in my literature classes. It’s vague [and] often indicates that the author doesn’t know “how.”

  Casillo: You once said that City of Night was as close to autobiography as anything you’ve written. How does About My Life and the Kept Woman differ from your first book?

  Rechy: By the perspective of approximately 40 years. In this book I’m able to understand what I might not have understood in the first one. That is why the “real” version included here of some events differs from the fictive one. Paradoxically, there are “real events” that would not be believed in fiction, are possible only in non-fiction; e.g., the fact that the woman who allowed me to flee New Orleans when I felt that I had reached a point of no-exit from a life of despair was named Miss Wingfield. Would you believe that in a novel?

  Casillo: So many readers through the years think of John Rechy as the lonesome hustler from City of Night and the insatiable cruiser of Numbers and The Sexual Outlaw and wonder how you ended up. Describe your life today.

  Rechy: A very happy life, with my mate, Michael of almost 30 years. Together we bought a beautiful house in the Hollywood Hills, we go to concerts, the theater, eat at great restaurants, travel now and then. He is creative and so am I—and that is happiness, yes. Obviously, the world outside is still there—ugly and merciless; and those factors always create anger and sorrow beyond one’s own feelings of personal happiness.

  Casillo: Many of your readers would like to know: how do you look?

  Rechy: I am 77 years old, I work out regularly, I tend to my appearance rigorously, and—I’m told—please allow me to be coy—that I still look “damn good!”

  ——

  Charles Casillo is the author of Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy. His latest novel is The Fame Game.

• Immortal Marilyn - https://www.immortalmarilyn.com/interview-charles-casillo-author/

  QUOTE:
  I’m a long story—still in the making. In childhood I was very introverted. Quiet. A bit of a dreamer. Actually, I felt like an outcast early on. I think I would have had a vivid imagination one way or another but my feelings of aloneness made me live more inside my head, sort of in a fantasy world. I was a writer before I knew what a writer was.
  That career took off for me much faster than acting so I went with it. I became a professional writer pretty quickly.
  Tara Hanks
  INTERVIEW – CHARLES CASILLO, AUTHOR
  By Immortal Marilyn6th February 2014IM Interviews
  No Comments
  0
  10327041_10152389383279621_1966179397_n

  Charles Casillo is a writer based in Los Angeles. His first novel, The Marilyn Diaries, was published in 1999, and has now been reissued with additional material. He has also written a biography of novelist John Rechy, Outlaw, and two further works of fiction (The Fame Game; Boys, Lost and Found.) Bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli consulted with Charles Casillo extensively while writing his own biography of MM, while legendary entertainment writer Liz Smith has praised The Marilyn Diaries in her syndicated column.
  1. First of all, tell us something about yourself, your influences and background in writing.

  Well, I’m a long story—still in the making. In childhood I was very introverted. Quiet. A bit of a dreamer. Actually, I felt like an outcast early on. I think I would have had a vivid imagination one way or another but my feelings of aloneness made me live more inside my head, sort of in a fantasy world. I was a writer before I knew what a writer was. I guess, I was more of a storyteller. I would make up stories and I would illustrate them on paper as I went along, drawing the characters and the scenery. In the end it would look something like a comic book.

  Early on I discovered the old movies that usually played on late night television. That was a big influence on me. I loved all the films and the stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I wanted to be an actor—keeping up with that fantasy of creating other lives and living in alternate worlds. I was serious about it. I studied at The Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and at HB Studios with Sandy Dennis. I started writing as a “side” career. I was doing entertainment journalist writing about arts and entertainment and profiling celebrities. That career took off for me much faster than acting so I went with it. I became a professional writer pretty quickly.

  One thing I always say that if you’re a creative person, your vision will find expression some way. If I didn’t act I could release it through writing. If I didn’t write I would paint. Or I would make movies. In time, I was able to incorporate all of these things into my professional life.

  2. When did you discover Marilyn, and what does she mean to you?
  My memory of discovering Marilyn is vivid. I was eleven years old. I was flipping through a copy of my cousin’s fashion magazine and I stopped at an article written by George Masters who had been one of Marilyn’s last hairdressers. It wasn’t a complimentary article. I felt it was a little derogatory. A bit snide. Although he did say some nice things about her too. I think it was the contradictions that added to my fascination. But it really was the photo that they used to illustrate the article—Marilyn at the premiere of Some Like it Hot—that pierced me. It was love at first sight. What George Masters was saying about her in his essay and the photo of Marilyn were at odds with each other. Underneath her beauty and show business-y glamour I was very touched by what I recognized as a mass of contradictions: loneliness, sexuality, sadness, exhibitionism, insecurity, and a great desire to please and be loved. It was astonishing that a single photograph of one person could convey so much. I knew I had to know more about her. And I instinctively knew that she would change my life.

  In my neighborhood, during that era, it was weird for a young boy to be obsessed with a movie star who had died years before. At the time I thought I was the only person who felt this way about her. Through the years I’ve heard similar stories over and over again. Even today, seventeen and eighteen-year-olds are falling in love with Marilyn.

  As far as what she means to me, I don’t think I’m exaggerating by saying that I think she is the single greatest influence of my life. I felt like she was a kindred spirit. Of course, part of her unique magic is that she makes us all feel as if she is our soulmate. We relate to different aspects of her personalities, her aura, her image. She makes us feel as if we know her. As I say in the introduction to the book, I feel as if she is so much mine. She is a constant muse to me and a continuous source of pleasure. She continuously inspires me in unexpected ways.

  3. The Marilyn Diaries was first published in 1999. How does the revised edition differ from the original?

  When I published the 1st edition there weren’t many novelizations of Marilyn’s life. I didn’t know of any actually. There were so many biographies and some of the newer biographies were starting to take on a fictitious quality anyway so I thought, “Why not be bit risky and just write a complete fiction?” I decided to write it in a diary format.

  At the time, I was really concerned with making the book feel like an authentic diary. So that first version was much more fragmented, almost sloppy. I was obsessed with giving the reader the experience of reading Marilyn’s diary. Because of the disjointed way I wrote the first edition, I think it was more important to be familiar with events in Marilyn’s real life in order to fully comprehend the fictionalized diary entries. In this updated version, the book reads more like a narrative novel and anyone can enjoy it as a story. Even if you don’t know a thing about Marilyn Monroe.

  In the 15 years since it was first published I’ve read about a lot of books being published that are fictionalized recreations of the life of Marilyn Monroe. It’s interesting to see so many writers have the desire to tell Marilyn’s story from their perspective. Some are told in the first person. Some narratives. Some told in letters. Even some in a diary format, like mine.I think I’ve matured as a writer and I wanted to make the 2nd edition of The Marilyn Diaries better. Basically I just used the original version as an outline and I even re-wrote that. Then I added over 100 pages. I deal more with the character’s childhood, starlet days, relationships, and her inner demons. I think in the new version she is a much more complicated and nuanced character. Ultimately it’s much more detailed and, I think, a more enjoyable read.

  4. What inspired you to focus mainly on Marilyn’s final years?

  That’s a provocative question to me. I never really thought of that. As I sit here and consider it, I think that, perhaps, it was a reaction to the biographies that were coming out in the late 1980s and 1990s. Looking back I seem to remember that a lot of those books focused on Marilyn’s relationships and work and comings and goings in the last two years of her life. The era when those books started coming out was about the same time that the seeds for writing about Marilyn were being planted in my head so I’m sure those biographies influenced me in some way.

  Even now I consider her last two years her most fascinating and mysterious. And probably the most open to interpretation.I think I started trying to put myself in Marilyn’s frame of mind for that time period—as a way of exploring my conflicting feelings about her actions. That’s the way I work with fiction. In all my fiction, I always put myself in the situations of the characters, trying to understand them, because, as I say at book readings, “If I don’t believe the character no one else will.” When my best friend Jeff, who knows me better than anyone else in the world, first read The Marilyn Diaries, he said, “It really is the diary of Charles Casillo.” But getting back to why I framed it in her last years, I also felt that starting the book towards the end of her life would set up a good framework for flashing back. Some event in her current life triggers a memory in her and causes her to flashback, in the diary, and write about an event from her past that led her to the present situation.

  5. As a novelist, how do you draw a line between fact and fiction?

  Truthfully, I think when you’re writing a novel there is no line between fact and fiction. You’ve already crossed the line. It’s all fiction. Even if you use some events that really happened they immediately become fictitious when they are blended in with imagined scenarios. And now I’m going to let you in on a secret. I do not read fictitious recreations of Marilyn Monroe’s life. Why? The few novels dealing with her that I’ve read upset me terribly. Specifically, Joyce Carol Oates novel Blonde. That book came out shortly after The Marilyn Diaries. I must say I loathed Ms. Oates’ portrait of Marilyn. I won’t get into a discussion of that here but let’s just say Ms. Oates’ Marilyn had nothing to do with my Marilyn. Nothing at all. Now, that’s not to say that Joyce Carol Oates is a bad person. Perhaps, if we ever met, we’d like each other and even be friends. But I don’t think we should ever sit around over a cup of tea discussing Marilyn Monroe.
  Actually, I was so appalled by her book, I decided never to read a novel about Marilyn again. That’s why I so totally understand when a Marilyn fan doesn’t like The Marilyn Diaries. I have no hard feelings about that. I’m more understanding than fans might think on the subject—because I am the same. If my version of her doesn’t fit in with the Marilyn who they feel they know it can be very upsetting. Just as many of
  the portrayals of Marilyn out there have nothing to do with my view of Marilyn. So I ignore those portrayals.

  Is The Marilyn Diaries true to the way I feel Marilyn Monroe was? Absolutely. Am I saying this is the way she indeed was? Absolutely not. But whether you agree with my portrait or despise it, I ask, don’t judge me as a person because of my feelings towards Marilyn. Because, in spite of my love for her, I can stand on my own two feet. Look, you’re not going to change anyone’s opinion on Marilyn Monroe. She’s like discussing politics and religion. People are very passionate regarding their beliefs about Marilyn.

  What I really detest is when someone tries to pass off a fiction or a rumor or a fantasy as fact. For example, when I saw My Week with Marilyn I was appalled to see the first thing up on the screen was “Based on a true story.” We all know it’s an exaggeration at best and an outright lie at worst. Yet many Marilyn fans rallied behind that movie, even though they disliked “parts” of it. The picked and chose what they liked and decided to ignore what they felt wasn’t true. I feel the whole damn thing is tainted if you knowingly mix lies with truths and then say it’s the real story. I have a problem with that. Of course I feel the same way about certain so-called biographies that come out about her. If there are dishonest, questionable sources or wild accusations in a biography’s index and notes, I ignore the book completely. A Marilyn fan knows what to trust when it comes to her biography. We know how to look at the source
  material first. But the one thing the true Marilyn fans have in common is our love for her. I think we can all agree on that. Even if our opinions on who she was and what she was like differ, the common thread is there is something about her that makes us love her and feel protective towards her.

  6. The Marilyn Diaries has been reissued with two different covers. Can you elaborate on the images that you have chosen and how they relate to your interpretation of Marilyn’s life and character?

  The covers have sparked some controversy so I am going to speak to you very candidly here. Obviously the book is a novel. Meaning fiction. So there is no trying to trick the readers into thinking I’m revealing some unknown facts. There’s no deception. I’m not making any remarkable claims. It’s all an imagined portrayal of a historical figure.

  That being said, my first choice was to use a lovely portrait of Marilyn. I spent many, many hours poring through hundreds of images trying to find the expression I wanted. A wistful, sad, yet hopeful expression. Finally I chose the one that I used on the portrait cover. That’s the Something’s Got to Give portrait.
  The person who designed that cover read the book and, on his own, was inspired to mock up the fantasy cover which photoshopped Marilyn and JFK to look as if they posed together on the night of his birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden. I didn’t like it at first. Honestly I’m not a big fan of photoshopped pictures that do that sort of thing. But his argument was that it’s a fantasy book with fictional
  situations. “Wouldn’t it be more honest to use a fantasy cover?” He had a point. But I still I said “no.”
  It was very close to the publication date and one night I sat bolt upright in bed. Some intuitive thing in me, that indescribable gut feeling some creative people get, said, “Charles the fantasy cover is more appropriate for The Marilyn Diaries.” In my fictitious recreation of Marilyn’s final years, John F. Kennedy is a major character in her life, but especially in her thoughts. A photo of them together was fitting to the story I was telling. I started thinking: fictitious book, fictitious cover. Still I was torn.

  After all, the novel alters reality. Why not have a cover that is in itself an altered version of reality that fits with the fictions in the book? It didn’t cross my mind that Marilyn fans would be upset by the image because I never intended for it to be considered as real! We’ve all seen the photoshopped images of Marilyn with Elvis or James Dean. Or her likeness being used in a Dior commercial. We all know that these things have no basis in reality. They’re fantasy images. Still, I went back and forth for several days about which cover I should use. Finally I emailed the two covers to twelve of my most trusted friends asking which one they thought was the most suitable. Some of them were in the publishing industry, some were not. Some were big Marilyn fans, others didn’t have strong feelings about her. In the end ten of them picked the JFK cover as their favorite. Two picked the portrait.I still couldn’t make up my mind. The book designer finally said, “Look, why don’t you just come out with the two covers and let the readers decide which one to pick?” I thought that would be confusing. I did some research and I could only find one example of a book coming out simultaneously with two different covers. (The Harry Potter series used two different covers. One was geared more for adults.) The only way I would consider using the altered image cover was if it was perfectly clear that I wasn’t trying to pass it off as real. I made sure it was noted inside the book and also on the cover—even though I was fairly certain no one would think the image was authentic. I mean, come on—an image of two historical figures like that would be as familiar as any photo ever taken.

  Ultimately I decided it would be okay as long as the image was used only in context of the novel. The Marilyn Diaries is already fairly well known by now. Liz Smith called it a “classic.” So, my thinking was, if the image becomes identified with the book, that’s okay. Everyone knows The Marilyn Diaries is fictitious.

  Someone sent me a link to a discussion of the cover, which I was unaware of. It made me feel sad that people seemed to dislike me because of the cover. I certainly don’t want to be an enemy to any part of the Marilyn community.

  7. In your opinion, which significant factors contributed to Marilyn’s untimely demise?

  You know, that’s such a loaded question. I don’t think there is any one factor. I think it was a lot of factors coming together.

  I don’t like to get into debates about the cause of her death because people feel very strong about their beliefs. Again, no matter what you say, you’re not going to change anyone’s opinion about how Marilyn died once their mind is made up. And there are certainly enough facts to back up any of those death theories.

  But I personally feel there were certain factors that were troubling her terribly that summer. One of them was the uncertainty of her career. If you look at the contemporary press coverage of Marilyn Monroe for 1962, so much of it was hostile. It was as if Marilyn Monroe’s career being over was a good headline and that’s what they were playing up in the newspapers and magazines.

  I will never forget a particular Photoplay magazine I recently came across that was on the newsstands at the time of her death. It was in essence saying her career was over. The headline for the article was “Desperate.” And it even had a poll for readers to take asking whether or not they thought Marilyn was finished. Being that Photoplay was a major industry magazine at the time I’m sure she saw it and it must have been very hurtful to her. Along with all the other headlines calling attention to her age and the fact that her last two films hadn’t done well. She talked a lot about important her work was to her that final season. Here they were trying to convey to her that there was not going to be much more work.

  She was certainly as beautiful as ever that summer but the media kept reminding her that Marilyn Monroe was famous for her youthful beauty and sex appeal and she was now thirty-six-years-old. In 1962 that age was considered the end of the road for a sex symbol. And very few people, at that time, were taking her seriously as an artist. I feel this had to be troubling to her.I think, also the fact that her love life was not settled was painful to her. The fact that she had no family to rely on. Perhaps she was doubting who her true friends are. She was ill. She was sleep deprived. She was lonely. She was afraid. She was lost. Especially in the late night, early morning blue hours. I’m not saying that these things killed her, per se, but I do believe they left her very drained and vulnerable. And more susceptible to tragedy.

  8. If Marilyn had survived beyond 1962, what do you imagine her future might have held?

  It’s a favorite fantasy of mine to come up with different scenarios of what could have happened to her life and career. When I’m in an optimistic frame of mind, one of my favorite happy endings is that, after she fulfilled her Fox contract, she would go to Europe, where she was more respected. She’d be able to command high salaries and play interesting roles and at the same time, perhaps, find confidence and love. In this particular fantasy, I also like to think of her becoming a great director. Billy Wilder once said she really understood film.

  Since a lot of Marilyn’s anxiety came from facing the camera, I can only imagine how wonderful she’d be behind the camera. I think she could have become a great filmmaker, dividing her time between a family life, acting, and directing films. Of course, in other darker moods my imagination doesn’t have such a happy ending for her.

  9. What do you think is the secret of Marilyn’s enduring appeal?

  Ah! Isn’t it fun to speculate and try to figure that out?

  The first thing that comes to my mind is “magic.” I do believe that Marilyn Monroe was born (or blessed) with a specific magic that is unique to her. It has not been duplicated, although many have tried. It’s just an undefinable pull she had that bewitches and compels and fascinates. This particular magic was apparent in her lifetime but it is just as potent after her death. On a more analytical level, I think that part of that magic is that an individual can look at her and find something that they relate to in a private, personal. It might be her beauty. Her sex appeal. Her vulnerability. Her triumph from unwanted child to world’s biggest superstar. Her tragic life. Her charismatic movie performances. Whatever it is, her pull is powerful and everlasting. It’s magic!

  10. What are you working on now, and do you envision any further writing about Marilyn?

  Right now I’m not working on anything specifically Marilyn related. I’m working on several movie scripts that are in development. But I do think that sometime, hopefully in the near future, I will work on a non-fiction version of Marilyn’s life. I know it would be completely different from The Marilyn Diaries, because I wouldn’t rely on fantasy and imagination but on the enormous amount of factual material I learned about her through the years. In that biography, everything I write will come from a place of fact. Still, I’m sure some people will find fault with it. But that’s fine. That’s the way it should be when it comes to Marilyn. And I should add that in every new project I work on there is always a whisper of Marilyn in it.

  Interview conducted by Tara Hanks

• Canyon News - http://www.canyon-news.com/charles-casillo-on-the-edge-an-exclusive/31372

  QUOTE:
  There was just this unique ”˜something-ness’ about her I had never experienced before or since. The pull and hold she had on me seemed totally unique at the time. Through the years I’ve discovered similar stories from a variety of people from all walks of life who have fallen under her indefinable spell. After I saw the photo I knew I had to learn more about this woman. I started watching the movies and reading the books and studying the photographs. One thing lead to another. One fact lead to another fact. One theory made me seek out another. I began talking to some of the people who had known her in life. And before I knew it, I could rattle off facts of her life better than some of my own.

  Charles Casillo, On The Edge, An Exclusive
  By Staff - Nov 14, 2010
  WEST HOLLYWOOD—This week Charles Casillo sat down with Canyon News and gave a no holds barred interview about his distinguished career in Hollywood and the literary world. The handsome actor, writer, producer and filmmaker is one of this industry’s finest finds.

  Q-Charles, when did you publish your first book?

  A-“That would be ”˜The Marilyn Diaries,’ in 1999. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, it seemed like it was stamp on her. Since Marilyn is such a fantasy figure to so many people, I decided to recreate her in a way that she exists specifically to me. Rather than stamp opinions on her biography, I recreated her the way I imagined her to be. Not the exquisite, untouchable dream girl of her movies, but as a living breathing feeling woman. Bewitching and beautiful, yes, but also flawed and struggling with self-doubts, striving to be better, and always part of my destiny. I had a fascination with Marilyn Monroe since I was 11 years old. I always knew that I wanted to write about her but it took me a while to figure out a way to do it in a way that would put an emphasis on striving to be better. And I decided to write it in a diary format. It’s so personal, and has a naughty kind of built in vibe. And I do think creating a story as if part of a diary has had an influence over all my writing since.”

  Q-What made you such a historian on Marilyn Monroe?

  A-“Well it certainly wasn’t something that happened overnight, but it was a totally natural progression. It started when I first saw a photo of Marilyn as a kid. I couldn’t stop looking at it, even though it wasn’t a particularly flattering photo. There was just this unique ”˜something-ness’ about her I had never experienced before or since. The pull and hold she had on me seemed totally unique at the time. Through the years I’ve discovered similar stories from a variety of people from all walks of life who have fallen under her indefinable spell. After I saw the photo I knew I had to learn more about this woman. I started watching the movies and reading the books and studying the photographs. One thing lead to another. One fact lead to another fact. One theory made me seek out another. I began talking to some of the people who had known her in life. And before I knew it, I could rattle off facts of her life better than some of my own.”

  Q-You, like most of us, learned to do many things in this industry. Are you an actor or writer first?

  A-“I started out as an actor. I went all the traditional routes in New York that were available in the day, but that illusive break kept eluding me. Actually, coming from the inner city, with no one to make a phone call on my behalf, I couldn’t even get my pinky toe through the door. I started writing as a result of not being able to get decent auditions. I began writing scenes and skits and plays for myself and my actor friends. And I started to become successful as a writer very quickly —in spite of having no background in it.

  But I want to add something to what you said about most of us learning how to do many things in the industry. Today it really seems like you have to do as many things as possible while trying to have a breakthrough in the business. I feel very fortunate that writing took off and I guess I was good at it because people related to it. But I think it’s really important to recognize limitations. There are certain things I would never attempt because, well frankly I just don’t think I have any talent for it. For example, I have absolutely no sense about the business side of show business. So another part of talent is having a talent to find the people you need to fill in the things that you are lacking, in order to move up the ladder.”

  Q-I hear you have a film production company? Tell us about it! Looking for a hot new but not young actor?

  A-“It’s a very interesting time for film makers. More and more people are able to step away from the studio system and make their own movies. I desperately wanted to be a part of this trend. To be able to write and act and produce and develop my own projects. I luckily met my business partner, Kelvin Dale, who seemed to have a lot of the qualities I was lacking. But we had a shared vision. So together we made an awesome team and started our own company called LMDQ Productions which is named for our first movie ”˜Let Me Die Quietly,’ the first movie we made together. And to answer the second part of your question for me one of the most exciting things has always been to see a new talent. And to work with someone inspiring and creative at any age.”

  Q-You costar with a longtime friend of mine, Joan Collins in ”˜Fetish.’ She’s such a pro, tell me about your experiences working with her?

  A-“It was a little bit of everything, as you would expect working with someone with her career and history. Intimidating, inspiring, stimulating and ultimately very rewarding. The one thing that most people might not know about her is that she’s really a hard working actress. ”˜Trooper,’ is the right word! She worked very long hours and was always willing to take suggestions, try new things. She’s a fearless actress which ultimately was extraordinarily exciting to work with. And her performance is really a knockout. Her presence is a value to any production.”

  Q-Tell us about your next project? Will it be in front of or behind the camera, behind your typewriter or even on stage?

  A-“What is definitely scheduled right now is a new movie shooting in February. I wrote it but I also have a role. It’s a wicked satire on Hollywood. The predatory agents, the sleazy agents, the nincompoop starlets, sprinkled with paparazzi and stalkers and crazed fans. It’s a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to making it with my ”˜Fetish,’ team. But I’m also working on getting another project off the ground. Well, I’m always working on getting something off the ground. Even if it’s just one of my two feet, at times.”

QUOTE:
must-read biography
most Rechy readers probably don't know that when he was a boy, no one could have foreseen the muscle-bound stud Rechy would become. Casillo presents a "delicate," day-dreamy child, "slightly built," who exasperated his macho father because he shunned sports and devoted himself to drawing, writing, and designing dresses for a sister.

Night Hood. (Books)
Lewis Gannett
The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 10.3 (May-June 2003): p35+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide
http://glreview.com
Full Text:
Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy

By Charles Casillo

Advocated Books. 256 pages, $14.95

IN 1958, at the age of 27, John Rechy astonished the literary world with the publication of his short story, "Mardi Gras," in the Evergreen Review. The magazine published such writers as Beckett, Sartre, Kerouac, Ionesco, and Artaud, major figures of the avant-garde. But the young Rechy trumped them all with the new territory he explored. "Mardi Gras," which ultimately became the last chapter of City of Night (1963), depicted in graphic detail the world of a homosexual prostitute--as Rechy puts it, "the private, beautiful, and ugly magic of hustling." One can hardly imagine a more radioactive subject in the straitlaced America of the 1950's, particularly as it was clear that this work of fiction was, in fact, autobiographical.

On the next-to-last page of Charles Casillo's must-read biography of Rechy, Casillo quotes him as follows: "Would I like to be remembered as an object of desire? Sure, but I know I will be remembered primarily for my work. My body of work and my body." By this time the reader of Casillo's book has come to appreciate just how fascinating a subject Rechy's body is. Of course, those familiar with Rechy's novels--which include City of Night, Numbers, Rushes, The Sexual Outlaw, and nine others--know that his physique stars in many of them; indeed everything else revolves around it. The body of work, in other words, is inseparable from the body. But most Rechy readers probably don't know that when he was a boy, no one could have foreseen the muscle-bound stud Rechy would become. Casillo presents a "delicate," day-dreamy child, "slightly built," who exasperated his macho father because he shunned sports and devoted himself to drawing, writing, and designing dresses for a sister.

How did this waif become the sexual outlaw, the "hoody" hustler who turned heads precisely because he seemed so butch and straight? Born in 1931 in El Paso, Texas, Rechy entered a family marked by trauma. His grandfather, Juan, had been Mexico City's most prominent doctor; his father, Roberto, a musical prodigy, had performed at age ten for President Diaz and was later appointed director of the Mexican Imperial Symphony. All of that evaporated with the revolution of 1910. The family fled to Texas, where Juan continued to practice medicine. But Roberto's musical career came to a humiliating end; he was reduced to clerking in his father's pharmacy. When Juan died, the pharmacy followed suit, and the family's fortunes plunged even further.

Roberto did not deal well with the change of status. A promiscuous womanizer who considered himself an aristocrat, he maintained a charming, worldly facade in public, but at home he raged at his wife Guadalupe and reserved particular venom for their youngest child, also named Juan, later known as John. Writes Casillo: "Roberto was homophobic in the extreme, and he saw homosexuality everywhere. He probably suspected it in his artistic son, who was an uncommonly beautiful little boy." But Roberto's feelings about Juan seem to have held additional complications. The sole form of affection Roberto extended to him involved a game Rechy described in City of Night: "When I was about eight years old, my father taught me this: He would say to me: 'Give me a thousand,' and I knew this meant I should hop on his lap and then he would fondle me--intimately--and he'd give me a penny, sometimes a nickel." Juan also played the game with friends of his father, "And I would get nickel after nickel, going around the table." Wa s this sexual abuse? Casillo thinks so, but Rechy himself does not, saying only: "That area is so ... weird."

It seems to me peculiar that an extreme homophobe who "saw homosexuality everywhere" would make his son available as a sex toy for friends. Of course, we all know that homophobia is the smoke of secretly burning same-sex desire. Maybe this was true of Roberto and his circle. Maybe they passed around the angelic Juan to subject him to one groping after another, all the while hurling fag jokes across the table. This idea doesn't make much sense, however, because Juan's mother kept a super-vigilant eye on him; but stranger things have happened. At any rate, if Roberto really was sexually attracted to Juan, it provides another explanation for the rage the father directed at the boy.

How did Juan cope? Casillo identifies two factors. First, his mother was extremely protective--so much so, Casillo asserts, that Guadalupe inflicted her own kind of damage. Second, Juan retreated inward, masking an interior of fantasy and hurt with an aloof exterior that directed his father and others to keep out. Casillo writes: "Surely most of the other boys his age would have excluded this seemingly strange, haughty boy who was delicate and remote. So instead John rejected them first. He separated himself with an air of absolute indifference before he could be excluded. As a result, he always seemed to be judging others," and exhibited "a dislike of ordinary people." His mental barricade made him, in a word, impenetrable--a quality he later became famous for in the sexual sense. For many years, until his early fifties, the barricade also deflected romantic love.

From the foregoing Casillo fashions an explanation for a great Rechy mystery. Many years after he'd become a famous, financially secure novelist and teacher, Rechy continued to turn tricks for pay--in fact, until the age of fifty. Casillo links this with a particular Rechy tic. He equated being alive with being sexually desirable, along with the corollary that sexual undesirability equaled death. Getting paid for sex, especially when one has entered, by gay standards, geezer-hood, certainly is one way to prove ongoing sexual desirability. So hustling represented for Rechy a kind of life-support system, a way to defeat aging and death.

To explain this need, Casillo theorizes that Roberto's hatred of his son's sissy qualities made Rechy feel inadequate, prompting him to pump his slim body to studly proportions. Meantime, the "Give me a thousand" game had conditioned Rechy to associate paternal affection with the attendons of "gray old men," which pretty well describes Rechy's subsequent sexual clientele. In the 1950's and 60's, hustlers could only become hot commodities if they were perceived to be butch, tough, stupid, and straight. So to thrive in the trade, Rechy had to pump up and had to seem ultra-masculine. Casillo also attributes this urge to Rechy's "extreme narcissism," quoting one of the author's friends: "Narcissism is total commitment to someone who is a reflection of yourself. In many ways that's what happened to John and his mother." Clinically speaking, this definition of narcissism may be a bit off. But John and Guadalupe clearly did have "boundary" issues. Neither felt able to exist without the other, because in some sense they were emotionally merged.

And Rechy's narcissism is undeniable. He himself cheerfully admits to it, his autobiographical fiction documents it, his friends laugh about it, and his students think it's funny because it fuels his magnetism. He would kiss mirrors and say, "I love you." He would enter an apartment, a friend says, look in a mirror, and exclaim, "I can't stand it--I'm so fabulous!" The friend adds, however, "And the marvelous thing about it is that it was true."

Rechy's entire life has arguably been a calculated performance to attract attention, or more specifically admiration. The downside for Rechy was emotional isolation, for his unquenchable need to arouse longing in others interfered with love, even with friendship. People who cared about Rechy often worried that he'd end up a suicide: what would happen when he grew too old to turn tricks? As he progressed through his forties it looked more and more likely that he would suffer the sad fate of so many of the reality-based characters in his novels: broken-down, alone, pathetic, undesired. This, of course, is the classic gay nightmare, and Rechy seemed headed for it with the momentum of a freight train.

However, in one of the great escape acts of 20th-century romance, at the age of 48 Rechy met a 21-year-old man named Michael Snyder who proved to be his salvation. "He looked like an angel to me," Rechy told Casillo, "a cross between an angel and Tom Sawyer." After a few stormy years of adjusting to each other--Rechy at one point even panicked at the thought of sharing a supermarket shopping cart with Snyder, so fearful was he of the idea of coupledom--they settled down, and have been living together happily ever since.

Rechy's survival can be attributed to a number of strong points in his character. First, he seems always to have had an excellent sense of right and wrong. After he published City of Night, numerous queens wrote him confessional letters about their desperate lives. Eventually the University of Califomia expressed an interest in acquiring the letters. But instead of yielding to this opportunity to bolster his historical paper trail, Rechy burned the letters, reasoning that the information in them might be used against the writers. Another example involves the use of pseudonyms in Outlaw. Surely some or most of these people are dead. Yet Rechy is protective of their privacy. A compulsive sex addict he was; trashy he was not-well, hardly ever. To this day he feels intense remorse that on four occasions he pilfered the contents of his johns' wallets. Second, while narcissists tend not to do well when it comes to empathy, Rechy has always had a powerful ability to feel for others. Add to these qualities his charm, his sense of humor, and, not least, his looks-judging from a reasonably recent photo in Outlaw, he still looks terrific-no wonder he finally got his man. Incidentally, the eight pages of photos in Outlaw are revelatory: Rechy the dreamy ten-year-old, the willowy nineteen-year-old, the massively muscled hunk of his maturity. One photo shows him walking down a palm-lined walkway, a beautiful female friend on his arm, both of them smi ling; Rechy's strut, his entire attitude, radiates testosterone.

Finally, there is the issue of Rechy's literary reputation. Casillo contends that he has been "overlooked." So he has, and the proof is that this biography is published by Advocate Books as a trade paperback. I mean here no disrespect to the publisher or to Casillo: both deserve congratulations for a fine piece of work. One suspects, however, that the manuscript of Outlaw was shopped around major, mainstream publishers before it found its home. Why didn't one of them pick it up? It's a scandal, really, because Rechy will still be read a hundred years from now, if civilization endures. His autobiographical fiction is nothing less than the biography of a core element of 20th-century American gay life.

Gannett, Lewis

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Gannett, Lewis. "Night Hood. (Books)." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 10, no. 3, 2003, p. 35+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A100727472/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fec3c0c1. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A100727472

QUOTE:
xplores the myriad facets of Monroe's personality
with a respectful but incisive eye
worthy addition to the Monroe canon

8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 1/8
Print Marked Items
Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a
Public Icon
Carol Haggas
Booklist.
114.19-20 (June 1, 2018): p23.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon. By Charles Casillo. Aug. 2018. 368p. illus. St. Martin's,
$27.99 (9781250096869). 791.4302.
There will never be a time when the world isn't fascinated by Marilyn Monroe. Her seductive beauty
continues to transfix, her abbreviated but iconic movie career to delight, her fabled love life to bewitch. But
as familiar as Monroe might seem, in reality, she remains an enigma: a crowd-pleasing loner, an erratic
professional, a featherbrained businesswoman. Casillo explores the myriad facets of Monroe's personality
with a respectful but incisive eye. Beginning with Monroe's illegitimate birth and impoverished childhood
in and out of foster homes and orphanages, Casillo traces the deep roots of Monroe's essential feelings of
inadequacy and longing for acceptance. Fame did nothing to alleviate these deficiencies as she became a
pawn of the studio system and plaything for predatory lovers and erstwhile friends. There is a pervasive
sadness in Casillos intricately nuanced portrait of this misunderstood idol, a despondency borne of her
ambition to be both loved and beloved, revered and respected. A worthy addition to the Monroe canon.--
Carol Haggas
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Haggas, Carol. "Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon." Booklist, 1 June 2018, p. 23. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546287434/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=44e4f96b. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A546287434
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 2/8

QUOTE:
thoughtfully reexamines
the facts and myths surrounding the events leading to Monroe's death, touching on her affairs with
both John and Robert Kennedy and her continued substance abuse problems.
A compelling exploration of a beguiling film icon's life--a significant if not quite definitive addition to the
ever expanding Monroe literature.

Casillo, Charles: MARILYN MONROE
Kirkus Reviews.
(June 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Casillo, Charles MARILYN MONROE St. Martin's (Adult Nonfiction) $27.99 8, 14 ISBN: 978-1-250-
09686-9
A deep dive into the model and screen legend's glamorous but troubled life.
In the decades since Marilyn Monroe's (1926-1962) death, our fascination with her remains strong. Her
allure has sparked the imaginations of talents ranging from Andy Warhol to Joyce Carol Oates to the
producers of the TV series Smash, and she has been the subject of countless biographies. In his latest book,
Casillo (The Marilyn Diaries, 2014, etc.) rehashes much family material about Monroe, but he pays
particularly sympathetic attention to her emotional journey. Delving into the well-known narrative points,
he begins with Monroe's unhappy and frequently abusive childhood. Dependent on a single mother who
was suffering from severe mental health issues, she was frequently put into foster care and at one point
abandoned in an orphanage. As Monroe blossomed into a stunningly attractive young woman, a modeling
career quickly led to minor film roles and subsequent star turns in such 1950s classics as Gentleman Prefer
Blondes and The Seven Year Itch. While developing into one of the most famous movie stars of her time,
she increasingly struggled with deep insecurities and dependency on pills and alcohol. Her acting talent
continued to expand, but by the early 1960s, her personal life was plummeting. Often feeling paralyzed by
low self-esteem working in front of the camera, she often displayed erratic behavior that caused long delays
on film sets. This accelerated during production of her last completed film, The Misfits, and influenced a
fatal blow with her dismissal from the ill-fated Something's Got to Give. Casillo focuses a good portion of
the book on Monroe's fragile emotional state in these remaining years. She had an obsessive fear of aging
and losing her sexual appeal. While not offering much new information, the author thoughtfully reexamines
the facts and myths surrounding the events leading to Monroe's death, touching on her affairs with
both John and Robert Kennedy and her continued substance abuse problems.
A compelling exploration of a beguiling film icon's life--a significant if not quite definitive addition to the
ever expanding Monroe literature.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Casillo, Charles: MARILYN MONROE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540723357/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1042675b.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A540723357
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 3/8

QUOTE:
well-written examination of the mystique of a woman who still fascinates decades after her
untimely death.
Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a
Public Icon
Publishers Weekly.
265.22 (May 28, 2018): p85.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon
Charles Casillo. St. Martin's, $27.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-250-09686-9
This sympathetic biography, with its extensive bibliography and detailed notes, is a solid addition to the
already vast library about the legendary star, even though Casillo (The Fame Game) produces no startlingly
new insights. Applying present-day hindsight to Monroe's life, from her unstable upbringing to her death at
36, Casillo highlights the long-lasting damage from Monroe's childhood neglect and sexual abuse, and how
it contributed to her later struggles with drugs, alcohol, and mental health issues. He also shows how often
others, including the Kennedy brothers and her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, sought to use the
sex symbol for their own purposes, even as Monroe desperately pinned her hopes on these men and others
to help her achieve personal and professional fulfillment. More than half a century later, the poor medical
care Monroe received for her frequent bouts of suicidal depression and her inappropriate relationships with
medical professionals--like many, dazzled by her fame and charisma--remain appalling. Casillo
occasionally overreaches when applying modern expectations to a very different era, but he provides
readers with a well-written examination of the mystique of a woman who still fascinates decades after her
untimely death. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 85. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638841/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=46a569b2. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541638841
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 4/8

QUOTE:
potpourri of fiction and non-fiction
Casillo's prose is clean and straightforward and the experience of reading his work feels as if you have
cracked open someone's diary.
For this reader Casillo has opened a window into the life of a heretofore unknown and
infamous gay man. Here's hoping Casillo will continue with more such illuminating accounts.
Boys, Lost & Found
Jameson Currier
Lambda Book Report.
14.4 (Winter 2007): p10.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Lambda Literary Foundation
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/lambda_book_report/lbr_back_issues.html
Full Text:
Boys, Lost & Found
Charles Casillo
Gival Press / $20.00
ISBN-10: 1-928589-33-2
ISBN-13: 978-1928589334
Paperback, 228 pp.
A distinct point of view unites the potpourri of fiction and non-fiction Charles Casillo has assembled for
Boys, Lost & Found. Set in New York City and Los Angeles, these mostly first-person short stories and
narrative essays feature protagonists and narrators who are sensitive young gay men paralyzed by their own
desires and ambitions. In "Buying and Selling," a young man struggles with accepting the fact that his older
boyfriend wants a broader sexual path that excludes him. In "The Excitement of Newness," thirty-five yearold
Vince, broken-hearted at the end of his relationship with Kurt, reunites with his old flame Jared, only to
realize he's making the same mistakes the second-time around and now yearning for freedom and
"newness." "It's Cupid's sick little sense of humor that makes him shoot his golden arrows into the heart of
the sensitive ones," Vince muses before returning to his first lover, "making sure they fall for the ones with
the capacity to hurt them the most."
Many of the eleven pieces in Boys. Lost & Found are examples of how Casillo's characters respond to
humiliation. "The Tale of An Angry Heart" recounts an unfortunate snippy exchange in a gay bar and a
subsequent heckling encounter during a subway ride. In "Prozac, Insomniac, Half-Cracked," Anthony
DeMicello, an unemployed, uninsured daytime soap actor, mentally frets about his health, career, and
family relationships, while succumbing to sharing a meal beside a policeman who has previously harassed
him. In "Body of Work," Nick, an out-of-work Los Angeles model, travels to New York to renew his
acquaintance with Bo, an agent Nick hopes might take him on as a new client, only to find himself rebuffed
and discarded as a one-night stand.
Casillo's prose is clean and straightforward and the experience of reading his work feels as if you have
cracked open someone's diary. "There is a terrible, embarrassing, unhappiness inside me," Nick notes about
himself, adding, pages later, the hope that "Someday I will shed my sensitivity like so much dead skin....
And they will all want me ... And for more than just one night."
Ambitions and goals often thwart these confused gay souls caught up in the conundrum of accepting and
decrying the American dream of glamour, good-looks, and financial success. Casillo is particularly
fascinated by the fame game, hence the inclusion of three essays and their variations on its theme. In "The
Secret of Marilyn Monroe," Casillo recounts his painful struggle of being different in high school, hanging
on to Monroe's self-doubts and insecurities as he struggles toward accepting his own identity. In "John
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 5/8
Rechy At Home," Casillo's personal complexities are reflected through the incongruity he finds of his
mentor, author John Rechy, and those of his fictional creations. The most interesting item for this reader
was the essay "The Legend of Denham Fouts," about the glamorous gadabout and hustler who linked the
lives of writers Glenway Wescott, Gore Vidal, Christopher Isherwood, and Truman Capote. "It was his
ambition to be taken care of." Casillo writes of Fouts. "And for as long as his life lasted, which wasn't very
long, he succeeded." For this reader Casillo has opened a window into the life of a heretofore unknown and
infamous gay man. Here's hoping Casillo will continue with more such illuminating accounts.
Jameson Currier's most recent book is a collection of short stories, Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex. He currently
blogs on the GLBT publishing industry at Queertype.
Currier, Jameson
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Currier, Jameson. "Boys, Lost & Found." Lambda Book Report, Winter 2007, p. 10. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A161612905/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e8877ced.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A161612905
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 6/8

QUOTE:
dishes all the good dirt

The Fame Game: now available (Alyson)
The Advocate.
.973 (Oct. 24, 2006): p59.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Regent Media
http://www.advocate.com/
Full Text:
In this story of three Hollywood hopefuls, Charles Casillo dishes all the good dirt: sex, obsession, power,
fame, and murder.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Fame Game: now available (Alyson)." The Advocate, 24 Oct. 2006, p. 59. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A153186909/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f6365520.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A153186909
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 7/8

QUOTE:
adeptly conveys the
schizoid quality of Rechy's life.
this biography should pique interest in both the writer and his work and is
highly recommended,

Casillo, Charles. Outlaw: the Lives and
Careers of John Rechy
Richard J. Violette
Library Journal.
128.1 (Jan. 2003): p110.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Alyson, dist. by Consortium. 2002. c.256p. ISBN 1-55583-734-4. pap. $14.95. LIT
It may be a cliche to say an author has lived a life as colorful as any of his characters, but that is true of John
Rechy if anyone. Born in the barrios of Depression-era El Paso, TX, he escaped his hardscrabble roots via
intelligence and physical beauty, hiding his delicate sensibilities behind the macho facade of a tough street
hustler. He eventually turned his demimonde experiences into provocative prose in a series of novels
beginning with City of Night (1963). The transition from male prostitute to respected author and teacher,
however, was uneasy, as he continued to sell Iris body on the streets while chastely hobnobbing with
celebrities like Christopher Isherwood and Liberace. Rechy's story virtually writes itself, and Casillo (The
Marilyn Diaries) wisely lets it do so, remaining sympathetic but not sycophantic as he adeptly conveys the
schizoid quality of Rechy's life. Bolstered by excerpts from Rechy's works, with some tantalizing glimpses
of his unpublished writings, this biography should pique interest in both the writer and his work and is
highly recommended, especially for libraries with strong gay and lesbian literary collections.--Richard J.
Violette, Special Libs. Cataloguing Inc., Victoria, B.C.
Violette, Richard J.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Violette, Richard J. "Casillo, Charles. Outlaw: the Lives and Careers of John Rechy." Library Journal, Jan.
2003, p. 110. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A97174459/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=838d1bb5. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A97174459
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534204275146 8/8

QUOTE:
This respectful life story will confirm Rechy's status among literary critics
and will undoubtedly reintroduce him to a new generation of gay readers, but it lacks the oomph for
mainstream success.

Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John
Rechy. (Nonfiction)
Publishers Weekly.
249.46 (Nov. 18, 2002): p55.
COPYRIGHT 2002 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
CHARLES CASILLO. Alyson/Advocate, $14.95 paper (256p) ISBN 1-55583-734-4
John Rechy's 1963 debut, City of Night, a thinly fictionalized account of his adventures in male hustling
from one end of the country to the other, was a milestone in American gay literature. But even as Rechy,
who had grown tip in the Mexican shims of El Paso, Tex., became a literary darling, he continued having
sex for money and went to great lengths to keep his two worlds separate. This biography by L.A.-based
journalist and novelist Casillo (The Marilyn Diaries), written with extensive cooperation from his subject, is
most engrossing when it focuses on the years immediately before and after that initial success, when Rechy
was constantly testing his personal and creative limits. As he makes the transition from dazzling young
writer to literary icon, the anecdotes become much less interesting. Casillo doesn't delve much into the
psychological aspects of Rechy's sexuality beyond hinting at the possibility of childhood sexual abuse by
his domineering father, and while some might look at Rechy's behavior as a pattern of sexual addiction, the
biography merely ventures that one novel, depicting the author's quest to seduce 30 men in quick
succession, indicates an "excessive attachment to sex." Given the raw, primal quality of the frequent
excerpts from Rechy's fiction, it's disappointing that the biographer's prose can't rise to the occasion; cliches
like "one of those budding sexual experiences when the universe conspires with you and everything falls
into place" are all too common. This respectful life story will confirm Rechy's status among literary critics
and will undoubtedly reintroduce him to a new generation of gay readers, but it lacks the oomph for
mainstream success. (Dec.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy. (Nonfiction)." Publishers Weekly, 18 Nov. 2002, p. 55.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A94672312/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d43ae7f6. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A94672312

Gannett, Lewis. "Night Hood. (Books)." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 10, no. 3, 2003, p. 35+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A100727472/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fec3c0c1. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. Haggas, Carol. "Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon." Booklist, 1 June 2018, p. 23. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546287434/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. "Casillo, Charles: MARILYN MONROE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540723357/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. "Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 85. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638841/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. Currier, Jameson. "Boys, Lost & Found." Lambda Book Report, Winter 2007, p. 10. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A161612905/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. "The Fame Game: now available (Alyson)." The Advocate, 24 Oct. 2006, p. 59. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A153186909/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. Violette, Richard J. "Casillo, Charles. Outlaw: the Lives and Careers of John Rechy." Library Journal, Jan. 2003, p. 110. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A97174459/ITOF? u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018. "Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy. (Nonfiction)." Publishers Weekly, 18 Nov. 2002, p. 55. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A94672312/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.

• Reviews by Amos Lassen
  http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p=12156
  Word count: 643

  “The Fame Game” by Charles Casillo— What a Read!!!
  Leave a reply

  Casillo, Charles, “The Fame Game”. Alyson Books, 2006.

  What a Read!!!!!

  Amos Lassen

  I love books that pull me in and won’t let go until I close the covers. It is not easy to find books that you dive it at the beginning and do not come up for air until you have finished reading the whole thing. But that is exactly what Charles Casillo’s, “The Fame Game” is. I started reading the morning of New Year’s Eve and before I knew it the time had come when I was suddenly a year older. “The Fame Game” with its simplistic plot—behind the scenes of pop culture—ranks high on my list of books I have really enjoyed. I have t admit that I approached the book with the feeling I was going to get another Jackie Collins type of literature—sex, culture, sex, show business, sex and more sex. And that s what “The Fame Game” is, except that it is much more literate than the usual and with its biting commentary on the way we live today, it is just a rewarding read.

  We follow the career of Mikki Britten, a gorgeous model who is about to become a movie star, we meet Mario DeMarco, a male prostitute and man with the talent to write literately. And we have Carla Christaldi, the daughter of a director who has no talent whatsoever. When there three come together we have a fireworks show that puts most Fourth of July celebrations to shame. There are double crossings and deals which compel you to keep reading—maybe because the characters seem so real, each totally messed up but each with his own desire to become famous. The character development is just amazing as Casillo imbues each with brutality and honor, compassion and humanity. It is their driving ambition that keeps them going and you grow to love them even with the terribly destructive and self-destructive acts they perform.

  The underlying theme of loneliness and pain hovers over the novel and there are times that you feel you have to stop reading as you feel the pain of the characters. They are real and convincing.

  I hate to admit publicly that I like Jackie Collins. Beneath all the smut and glitz of her work, I usually find a good story. But Ms. Collins has something to learn from Casillo. His characters are so large and so convincing that Collin’s pales by comparison. The book is intense, the emotions are real and the plot is raw and painful.

  Mikki and Marco have youth, beauty, and sexual prowess and to them the idea of growing old is a fate they cannot think of. But when these two feel that their lives are challenged, they have to act. They have three choices—fame, obscurity and death. We know, from the title, that they choose fame and the way they go after it will have you turning pages at record speed. Fame is something we all long for but I doubt we will go after it the way these characters do.

  Even being set in the world of pop-culture, “The Fame Game” manages to rise above its milieu and provide us with a wonderful cast of characters. Casillo has created believable characters and his sense of style, even with the base nature of those in the book, so permeates the work, that is delightful.

  I loved this book and I am even thinking of rereading it-just for the pleasure. But, alas, it will be a while as I have so much to review right now that I just don’t have time.

• Chroma
  http://chromajournal.blogspot.com/2007/06/review-fame-game-by-charles-casillo.html
  Word count: 483

  QUOTE:
  Casillo knows his way around New York and Hollywood and the many types of people who inhabit these magnets for talent. The complex and very human characters he creates, along with well-drawn settings, pull you into the book while the plot twists and turns keep you turning pages. Well plotted, suspenseful, emotional, and enjoyable, The Fame Game is a great summer read, or an anytime read.

  Tuesday, June 12, 2007
  Review: The Fame Game by Charles Casillo
  Charles Casillo
  The Fame Game

  Published by Alyson Publications

  Reviewed by J. DeMarco

  Three driven characters make up the heart of this book: Mikki Britten is gorgeous, talented, and desperate to be an actress; she only needs to meet the right people and she’ll do anything to meet them. Carla Christaldi is the daughter of a famous Hollywood director but all she wants is to make it on her own merits, except she lacks that spark. But she learns that deception is her real talent. Mario DeMarco is a sexy prostitute with an idea. His looks have made it easy for him to get by, but to his chagrin no one has ever recognized the intellectual talents beneath the looks. He’ll do anything for that recognition.

  On one fateful night a deadly game is begun in which someone will win but the price of failure is too horrible to contemplate. Each of the tales takes its own direction, each character finding their own way through the intricacies and sandtraps – each of them desperate for recognition, accolades, and fame.

  Casillo knows his way around New York and Hollywood and the many types of people who inhabit these magnets for talent. The complex and very human characters he creates, along with well-drawn settings, pull you into the book while the plot twists and turns keep you turning pages. Well plotted, suspenseful, emotional, and enjoyable, The Fame Game is a great summer read, or an anytime read. But make certain you have the next day off, this book has kept more than one person awake until they could finish. It combines the old-fashioned Hollywood tale of driven people hungry for a break, and gives it a modern sensibility which fills it with an edgy, cautionary feel – one that will make you think. There are emotional highs and lows, enough tension to fill a barn, sympathetic characters, and lots of insider information that make this a book you’ll want to read.

  Joseph DeMarco lives and writes in Philadelphia. His work appears in many publications and his latest stories can be found in Paws and Reflect (Alyson) and Charmed Lives (Lethe) as well as his monthly column in XFactor magazine. He can be contacted at joseph@josephdemarco.com

  Labels: Review

  posted by Eric Anderson @ 3:52 PM

Word Count