So she sets out on a picaresque journey to New York to find this world-weary man, through the planes and taxis and a disastrous stint at waitressing. Ettler has constructed a mythical urban adventure peopled with archetypes. Marilyn tilts at various windmills, most notably a male one called Twentiethcentury. These bloodless characters offer no interior life, no reason for us to care. In place of conflict, Ettler plays with words.
Language is rolled around the page like wine on the tongue, tasted, swallowed and spat out.
Phrases are repeated, cliches chanted. Details are piled on. In fact, Ettler's central character is the archetypal innocent exploited, Marilyn Monroe. Helen Greenwood is a Herald feature writer. It pushes boundaries, breaks taboos and confronts our views on sex and sexuality, in a style that oozes black comedy and emotion.