Rating: 
Summary: Joe DiMaggio: Some Stories Are Best Left Untold
Review: Biographer Richard Ben Cramer placed himself in a vulnerable situation. A Pulitzer Prize winning journalist has an obligation to tell the truth. But what if most us really don't desire harsh reality? Most sports celebrities usually require only a long article to cover their life. Presidential candidate Bill Bradley and Moe Berg the intellectual spy are among the very rare exceptions. There was no legitimate reason to justify writing a book about Joe Dimaggio. The great Yankee center fielder did nothing outside of the baseball field requiring our notice. Dimaggio's marriage to Marilyn Monroe deserved no more than a few paragraphs. Deep in their heart of hearts most suspected that the real DiMaggio was merely an ordinary man. The Yankee Clipper spent the last half century before his death cooperating closely with marketing advisors. These individuals shrewdly packaged and sold a Joe DiMaggio to an American public who preferred not asking too many awkward questions. The strong silent type leave you guessing. DiMaggio probably sensed that a taciturn demeanor might better protect this artificial image. Why did so many prefer DiMaggio to be bigger than life? Could they not have left well enough alone? Joe DiMaggio still remains one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Even many years later his record 56 game hitting streak appears unassailable. I often wonder what Di Maggio would have accomplish if he played today. An emphasis on physical fitness and improved training methods greatly benefit our current athletes. Would DiMaggio's career lasted more than 13 years? What he had chosen to lift weights to build up his upper body strength? How many more homers could he have hit? There are many stories best left untold. The national myth of Joe DiMaggio was built upon a fragile foundation. One should be careful of what they ask for--they might get it! Richard Ben Cramer and his publishers gave the public what it thought it wanted. Now that same public will never forgive him.
Rating: 
Summary: very Interesting
Review: being a Yankee fan&follower i was hyped about this Book on Joe Dimaggo.on the field he was as Bad as anyone who has ever played the game period.that's why i don't like Polls&lists because just for the 56 game streak who will ever come closer than Pete Rose did?this book is very interesting with his Image&business&outlook on things.it's always cool to seeing a different side to people Good or Bad.in fact it makes them more interesting.everything about this Dude was Ground-Breaking.he was his own Man.
Rating: 
Summary: Joe DiMaggio: The Scoundrel
Review: Acclaimed author Cramer should have titled his book as such. From the first page until the last it is obvious that the author has some deep seated grudge against the Yankee Clipper, perhaps because DiMaggio would not collaborate on the project when he was still alive. While there are plenty of tomes to list the accomplishments of Joe DiMaggio, this book hardly touches on the highlights - and then only as a lead in to another unfounded story about how Joe was really a schmuck. The book wastes too many pages on Marylin Monroe, but skips almost all detail from the early 1950's through to the early 1990's. The author left me with the feeling that while he was interested in the man behind the myth, he was also determined to slander both DiMaggio and Morris Engelberg (his lawyer/adviser) after they declined to collaborate on the book. If you are a DiMaggio fan be prepared you may shut the book in disgust from time to time, but all in all it is an interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Best baseball book since Summer of 49
Review: Like it or not Joe Dimaggio was human. Mr. Cramer does not try to lionize or demonize Mr. Dimaggio. He only has praise for the accomplishments of this Hall of Fame player on the field. His criticisms of the personal Joe are sometimes harsh but not a hatchet job. Those who give this book only one star do it out of emotion, not out of a fair review of the book. Yes, DiMaggio was larger than life, a hero on the field. But who among his worshippers knows the private Dimaggio, the shy, aloof man who feared a spot on his public image. Mr. Cramer is a quality writer, and my assessment is that of a fair, warts and all biography. My only disapointment is the missing years from the mid 1960's to the late 80's. Surely Cramer could have given us a perspective on these years. He goes from Joe, the vital recently retired Dimaggio to Joe a cranky, bitter old man. What caused the great clipper to be such a pitiful character at the end? Dimaggio fans should not attack Mr. Cramer for going beyond the baseball Joe. So what if Joe had flaws in his personal life. On the field he was everything his legend says he was and Cramer supports that. He has countless anectdotes on Dimaggios playing with pain because the team needed him. Does Dimaggio deserve to have only the hero worship biography. As an historian Mr. Cramer does his job in pointing out the flaws of Dimaggio. Fans of Joe do not like the flaws of selfishness, vanity, and temper ex[osed by Mr Cramer. That may be the harsh reality but should not diminish the respect Dimaggio deserves; a great player, a quiet leader for his teammates, and a man who earned his pay.
Rating:
Summary: Unparalleled Achievement
Review: Richard Ben Cramer has written the best, the most complete, the most authoritative and literate and readable sports biography that this lifelong sports nut and former editor of Sports Illustrated has ever read. Its 550 pages will murder your sleep for a week. No other work comes close -- not even the great Babe Ruth books by Robert Creamer or the dozen earlier works on the Yankee Clipper and his sullen, brooding Siciliano ways. No wonder it took five years to write. If there were a Nobel Prize for books about jocks, Richard Ben Cramer would be on his way to Sweden. My cap is off....
Rating:
Summary: Response to a reader in LosAngeles
Review: I haven't read the book yet - I am just now ordering it. But to the reader from LosAngeles who believes this book is nothing but a bigoted ethnic slur and that not a word of the book is true - come on. Because he has an "o" at the end of his name? Give me a break and get off your high horse. You say nothing in the book is true - that is is a pack of lies not substantiated with one piece of evidence. But then you say "The record must be set straight: Joe DiMaggio was the most honest, true, noble, gracious and graceful sports hero this country ever produced." How do you know that? Where is your evidence? Or is it because he has an "o" at the end of his name?
Rating: 
Summary: The Exploitation of a Legend
Review: Richard Ben Cramer used secondary sources and cleverly disguised them as primary. Joe DiMaggio ignored Mr. Cramer for good reason. Cramer relates that DiMaggio spit up blood at 4 in the morning during his illness. How does Mr. Cramer know what occurred if only DiMaggio was present? Cramer "sets up" the reader through the use of language to become sympathetic to his point of view. There is little excellence left in the world. Cramer and those who share his philosophy take pleasure in attempting to destroy the excellence of others. It will take a lot more than a Richard Ben Kramer to tarnish the excellence of Joseph Paul DiMaggio. Read the book and evaluate Cramer's stance. The loser is Cramer.
Rating:
Summary: We Expected Too Much From The Son of The Fisherman
Review: After reading this biography, I am left with the following impressions. The author is a tremendous researcher, a skillful storyteller, and uses offensive slurs frequently. He takes us from the fog horns of Fisherman's Wharf to the cheering masses at Yankee Stadium. He describes the classic American success story, but in the end, can the reader say that they knew the real Joseph Paul DiMaggio? Mr. DiMaggio refused to assist Mr. Cramer in this work; consequently, he has been tried in absentia. The crime being that he was a better ballplayer than a person. Mr. DiMaggio was an American icon. What he may or may not have been off the diamond is subject to conjecture. This book reveals the thoughts and opinions of others; however, Mr. DiMaggio's views are buried with him. Part of that was his own fault. He guarded his privacy with the same intensity as he played baseball. Perhaps he wasn't a model husband, the best of friends, or an involved father. He should be judged for what he did on the playing field. As a Sicilian-American, I was disturbed by the frequent use of the word "Dago" throughout the book. It is an offensive term, and the author used it frequently to describe Italians or Sicilians. Yes, DiMaggio answered to the term, and used the word to describe himself. But if Mr. Cramer were writing about Jackie Robinson or Hank Greenberg, would he have used racial epithets or offensive language? I think not. My father was batboy for the Washington Senators during the 40s. He handed DiMaggio the bat on several occasions, and was able to observe him closely. If Joe DiMaggio was such an uncaring man, why would he sign baseballs for a young Italian kid to sell for $1 outside of Griffin Stadium? I wish that Mr. Cramer could have spoken to my father, but he is in heaven talking to Mr. DiMaggio about that streak of 1941. :-) Thank you for the chance to review this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: When I first received the book, I didn't read it for a couple of days, fearful that there would be things written there that would cause me not to like Mr. DiMaggio as much. But read it I did, and I highly recommend it, as it seems fair-minded and honest. As a matter of fact, I think even more fondly of Mr. DiMaggio after reading the book than I did before. It is good, I think, to know that our hero's are human and fallible, and can still reach the top, and do it with dignity and class. Pick yourself up, get on with it, and let no body run you over. When I think of a "class act", I'll always think of Joe DiMaggio!
Rating:
Summary: A bigoted, ethnic slur leveled against a warm, honest hero
Review: It was only a matter of time when someone would notice the vowel at the end of Joe DiMaggio's name and slanderously attempt to link him with organized crime. This is exactly what author Cramer tries to do in his so-called biography. Problem is, Cramer lists no sources and no citations for such a claim. As many reviewers have asked, "How could the author possibly know this?" Obviously, Cramer is making a fast buck off of the DiMaggio name and cowardly waited until The Yankee Clipper was dead to publish his book, knowing full well that a living DiMaggio would have sued him under the libel laws for every penny he has. But it is not enough to denounce this libel. The record must be set straight: Joe DiMaggio was the most honest, true, noble, gracious and graceful sports hero this country ever produced. Any claim or even any suggestion that he was in any way connected to any sort of criminality is both an outright lie and a vicious ethnic slur. This country pretends to condemn rank bigotry but actually condones and even encourages it when Italians are the target. Italians are routinely subjected to the "organized crime" slur, in the mass media and elsewhere. No one of Italian ancestry ever escapes that libel, that smear. This book adds to that continuing defamation. Cramer is the worst sort of money-grubber; one who cowardly waits for a hero to die before defaming him and then tries to make a fast buck off of a decent, honest, beloved sports legend. Bruttissimo!
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