Rating: 
Summary: it's true 'cause i say so!
Review: When I met Cramer in January 1997, he said "I don't know whether I like [DiMaggio] or not." I was disturbed by that comment for when the biographer refuses to remain objective any research or revelations are suspect since he is prejudiced. This is not to say that icons should not be subject to critical treatments as long as there is balance, so what is written is consequential; not allowing the "flaws" to disproportionately submerge the "strengths" of the individual and vice versa. I loaned Cramer my research (I was working on a DiMaggio book for the University of Nebraska.) When he told The Sporting News he was going "to blow the lid off" The Legend, I knew he would not be the objective observer he led me to believe. I faxed him to express my concerns and asked for a copy of the book. Cramer called back and snorted: "I don't have to answer to anyone, least of all, you!" Space does not permit me to address the book's literally dozens of serious errors. Cramer provides only two footnotes, no page notes, and no apparatus of sourcing, aside from the Acknowledgments, making it impossible to verify his reportage. The men behind Cramer's so-called "hero machine" were not DiMaggio's toadies. "Sport" noted in 12/50 reporters continually "questioned DiMaggio's conduct," citing him for his "childish indifference," and "acting like a spoiled kid." Even pal Ben Epstein in the 8/2/50 New York Mirror wrote DiMaggio "has fallen victim of incredible national worship, and... has 'grown too big for his breeches.'" He says DiMaggio promised a dying boy he'd tie George Sisler's record and when he learned DiMaggio got the hit, he was cured. Cramer says the story was concocted by DiMaggio and the press. The fact is, the 7/1/41 Associated Press reported only DiMaggio and his teammates knew he had promised the boy the he would BREAK - not tie - Sisler's record and the boy had died before the game started. He speculates he sold or traded his World Series rings for "services" without offering any proof. DiMaggio's 1951 World Series ring was auctioned at Sotheby's in 10/99, but it came to Barry Halper via the friend DiMaggio gave it to. The fates of the other rings beside his 1936 ring remain a mystery. I asked Cramer where his Pulitzer Prize was; I was stunned when he said he didn't know. Who's to say he didn't trade it for a gem-mint Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie? I can't prove he did. But, since his Pulitzer is AWOL, he can't disprove it, either. What was the name and number of this "Mob trust fund"? What branch of the Bowery Bank it was at? Are any records of withdrawals? Did the IRS know? Was DiMaggio asked to throw games? Cramer never tells us. He also doesn't tell us DiMaggio told the FBI he declined to front a Mob-run Havana casino in 1957 -- even as he uses excepts from that interview! DiMaggio is shown carrying $600,000 in cash out of his home after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, money Cramer says belonged to mobster Abner Zwillman. The 10/25/89 NY Times reported DiMaggio was not allowed home until ONE WEEK later. But let's assume he's right. How long had it been there? Was $600,000 the sum Zwillman left? He doesn't tell us nor how he knew there was $600,000 and it was Zwillman's. Cramer says DiMaggio didn't attend "Lefty" Gomez's and "Lefty" O' Doul's funerals without mentioning he met with both families before their services. He says he discarded pal Reno Barsocchini and didn't attend his funeral. Ron Fimrite in his 11/6/00 review in Sports Illustrated: "I can personally testify that Cramer is wrong. Reno was a friend of mine, and he was one of the constants in DiMaggio's life. Far from eschewing Reno's funeral, Joe was, with his brother Dom, a weeping pallbearer. I know because I was there." He told the 11/15/00 NY Times Dom DiMaggio cooperated. If he did - and there are charges/stories only he can supply, confirm or deny - that would explain why he is the real hero of "The Hero's Life." Yet with the story of DiMaggio leaving his mother to die alone - a "story" he probably got from Dom or his family - Cramer demonstrates how he is so easily had. Newspapers reported 8 of Mrs. DiMaggio's 9 children were at her beside before she died. The one who wasn't -- Dom! In his describing DiMaggio's relationship with Marilyn Monroe, he relies heavily on Maury Allen's biography on DiMaggio and Donald Spoto's biography on Monroe, each of which have numerous errors. He repeats Allen's story how their first date took place at the Villa Nova (in Monroe's autobiography, which he quotes, it was a dinner party at Chasen's) and how Mickey Rooney crashed it. In Rooney's autobiography, he never mentions his "role" on that fateful night. And how could've not known Monroe and Rooney did 1950's "The Fireball?" This kind of sloppiness sows seeds of doubt: if he's going to slack off on the little things, why should we believe him on the big ones? He reports DiMaggio hit Monroe so hard, she had to see her plastic surgeon to see if her nose was broken. This is taken from Spoto's biography, but in Spoto's version, the culprit was Monroe's psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson. Both versions are impossible to verify; like Cramer, Spoto doesn't cite the sources of his allegations. "Vince (Joe's older brother) was cut off from the family when he ran away to play baseball, met a girl, and got married against his father's wishes," Cramer told a 10/25/00 USA Today chat. "Joe never stuck up for Vince, though it was Vince who got him his first job in baseball." This is flat-out wrong. Vince (who died in 1986) told Jack Moore in "Joe DiMaggio: A Bio-Bibliography" when his parents wouldn't sign a baseball contract, he left home. He returned 3 months later with $1,500 in cash, proving there was money in baseball. Vince later got his manager to let Joe - who was playing semi-pro ball - play in the last 3 games of the SF Seals' 1932 season. He never hinted to Moore Joe was involved, much less, if he "stuck up" for him. Nor does he mention a marriage. On the 11/14/00 "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," Cramer responded to DiMaggio's lawyer's comments on the book with a tirade too disgusting to put here. Marilyn Monroe once said she felt those who wrote about her were saying more about themselves than about her. Now you exactly what she meant.
Rating: 
Summary: A Jolting Biography
Review: This book has already stirred up controversy over Cramer's portrayal of DiMaggio and no doubt that controversy will continue for quite some time. I have been a lifelong baseball fan and consider DiMaggio to be among the greatest of those who played the game. He combined natural ability in the five key skill areas (ie hitting, fielding, throwing, base running, and bunting) with a style and grace few others have. Also he was a winner, playing on nine world championship Yankee teams during a 13-year period. No one doubts the on-field achievements of "Jolting Joe." The controversy generated by this book is explained, rather, by Cramer's comments about DiMaggio off the field and especially after he retired. According to Cramer, DiMaggio was unapproachable to anyone who could not (one way or another) feed his ego, increase his wealth, enhance his lifestyle, or protect his carefully crafted self-image. Throughout most of his life, DiMaggio seemed to ask "What's in it for me?" He not only craved but indeed required treatment normally reserved for heads of state. According to Cramer, he had very few close personal relationships (none with family members) and these were sustained only when in full compliance with the terms and conditions he established. DiMaggio trusted very few people, suspecting that anyone who tried to approach him had ulterior, self-serving motives. There is an old saying about "knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing." DiMaggio knew both. One critic has suggested that Cramer is "hostile" to DiMaggio. Another critic has described this book as a "hatchet job." Cramer indicates no doubt about DiMaggio's greatness as a baseball player. That was one game he played superbly. Cramer also seems to have no doubt about another game DiMaggio played in his private life and in his post-baseball career. This second game also had very strict rules set by DiMaggio, rules with which he insisted that everyone else comply. Re Cramer's attitude toward this DiMaggio, I am reminded of Harry Truman who once observed "I just tell them the truth and they think it's hell." After reading this book, you may conclude that Cramer is "hostile", that he has done a "hatchet job" on the Yankee Clipper. Or perhaps you will agree with me that Cramer has accumulated as much information as he could and then portrayed DiMaggio as fully and as honestly as he could. My guess (only a guess) is that Cramer's DiMaggio would not have objected to this biography if he received at least half (but preferably all) of the royalties from copies sold. No matter what Cramer or anyone else may say about DiMaggio's human imperfections (eg greed and vanity), he played the game of baseball with skills, style, and grace which -- like his 56-game hitting streak -- may never be surpassed.
Rating: 
Summary: a hatchet job
Review: This author has nothing good to say about Joe D. He was allegedly, surly, cheap, aloof, and not too bright. I can't believe the guy was really this bad and I did not enjoy this mean spirited book.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Reflection of a Legend
Review: Joe DiMaggio, undoubtedly, was one of the ultimate legends of the 20th century. But, like other legends, the reality behind the person was far different than the personna given to the public. So it was with Joe DiMaggio. I found this book to be very interesting. I heard the early reviews critizing this book for being too rough on DiMaggio. Here was a player, the "greatest living baseball player", who built this world around him to protect the legend and the image. I felt sorry for him as I read the book. I found it particularly sad as he used "friends" for everything (meals, lodging, transporation)without reimbursement or simple thank yous. DiMaggio died with money and an image, but without friends. I enjoyed the book. It highlights a time when baseball was the true national pasttime. It highlights his tremendous accomplishments on the diamond. It highlights his time with the ultimate woman of the 20th century, Marilyn Monroe. The only reason I gave it '3' stars instead of a higher rating is there were times the book seemed too trashy, too tabloid gossip oriented.
Rating: 
Summary: Joe D would have hated this book. (That's a compliment.)
Review: This biography is Joe DiMaggio's worst nightmare come true. Richard Ben Cramer, a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist, has stripped the layers of myth from an image DiMaggio spent 65 years creating. Joe did a spectacular job -- who else could have inspired major works by both Ernest Hemingway and Paul Simon? -- but the truth is now out. Cramer depicts DiMaggio's air of Olympian detachment as the product of shyness coupled with an iron determination never to be humiliated or ridiculed. Nobody worked so hard to make baseball look so easy, and, regrettably, few have followed Joe D.'s example of retiring as soon as he couldn't be "Joe DiMaggio" any more. Cramer's especially effective describing the worlds in which DiMaggio moved, from a poor Italian community in the Bay Area through the Yankees, a show business community from which he tried to rescue Marilyn Monroe, and finally to lucrative decades as a Living Icon marketed to all comers by the loathesome Morris Engelberg. Many of the unflattering characterizations were first aired in Gay Talese's "The Silent Season of a Hero," which David Halberstam has called "the best magazine piece I have ever read." Cramer has fleshed out the story with exhaustive research that proves, once again, that our heroes are flesh and blood like the rest of us. Unfortunately he fails to provide source notes or other documentation, which ultimately drags the book down below five-star status. Nonetheless, this is a well-written biography which will give any reader more insight into DiMaggio -- more insight, in fact, than many hard-core DiMaggio fans will want.
Rating:
Summary: Why the personal assault?
Review: This book was a gift from my daughter; as such, I read it even though I knew that it was a hatchet job, for whatever reason, against a great player. At the end of the book I came away with the same conclusion I had when I started, and that is that Joe DiMaggio was one of the greatest hitters of all time (had an immaculate swing) and one of the greatest all around players of all time. As a baseball lover that is all I need to know. In short, he was idolized for his playing ability and for his quite demeanor on the field, while keeping his peccadilloes from public view - why is that so bad? What grudge the author has against Joe DiMaggio I don't know, but I see no need to attack a person based on the shortcomings of that person's personality.
Rating:
Summary: Bitter, angry, jealous - and that's just the author
Review: This is a bitter, self-indulgent attempt by the author to attack DiMaggio. Period. He was a bad guy... so what? He liked money? Last time I checked, the author wasn't giving his book away. The main problem isn't with the book or DiMaggio, but with the people who make guys like DiMaggio the heroes they can never be. The bar is set way too high for these individuals. No one can reach it. Our solution: write about it. Consider this: I seriously doubt anyone will write a book about the author, because while he may have received accolades for his work as a reporter, all he has really done in his life is write about what other people have done in their lives. Seems like an empty accomplishment to me, and might be the reason for the high level of bitterness and, perhaps, jealousy that came through in this book.
Rating:
Summary: BORING BOOK ABOUT A BORING GUY....
Review: Joe DiMaggio was certainly a great baseball player, but I'm not too sure why he has been idolized as some kind of AMERICAN ICON.
This book is a really tough read and really did'nt tell me anything that I already did'nt know. I rated this with 2 stars simply because the author Richard Ben Cramer overloads 500 pages, and it was probably a lot of work for him. I would'nt recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Many Heroes Have Similar Stories
Review: There are two aspects to this book I think are important,i.e.: is it a good book and now what do we think of DiMaggio. Many people thought this book was too negative. Rating and reviewing this book is fairly straightforward. It is an excellent book, beutifully written, clear, well researched with many insights and tidbits about his life. It is an excellent biography and a joy to read. You get a nice appreciation of where he came from and what he did after baseball. He is sorely missed now. I am a baseball fan but do not profess to be an expert. However from what I know, DiMaggio was probably the greatest player that ever played. That is a hard statement to make with any precision and there are about five players one can put in that catagory like the Babe, Williams, and a few others. Off the field he is subject to many pressures some of which he can handle and others from this book he could not. To me this book seems to indicate that he was good on balance. He was not perfect, but who in this world ever is and that does not detract from his performance on the field and our memories of Joltin Joe throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium with that big smile. Its a good book: Four or Five Stars. Since it is Joe, make it 5. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: Mind as well read a supermarket tabloid
Review: This book was nothing but a piece of trash. First of all, it's hard to believe one thing in this book because Cramer doesn't give a source. I could write a book about how Lou Gehrig was a womanizing racist using quotes from unnamed sources, but that doesn't mean a word of it is true. I'm not saying that Mr. DiMaggio was a saint but this book tries to make him out to be a spawn of Satan. Lastly, I find it funny that one of the editor's said this book was "elegantly" written. Elegantly? Using racial slurs is elegant? Don't waste your money on this trash.
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