Rating: 
Summary: A Gripping Read, but how Much of this Is True?
Review: You might not be able to put down Cramer's biography, but you will probably be left in the end with a gnawing doubt about how much of this book is true. Almost everything here -- especially the tales of DiMaggio's later years through which Cramer tries to bury Joltin' Joe for a second time -- are attributed to a "pal," a "business associate," or a "friend." Do these people have names? This is especialy disturbing in that several other sources have come forward publicly contesting what Cramer has written, most notably Ron Fimrite in Sports Illustrated. Cramer blisters DiMaggio for his allegedly callous treatment of his long-time friend Reno Barsocchini, whom Cramer claims was discarded by DiMaggio after years of loyal friendship. Cramer asserts that the cold-hearted DiMag even refused to attend Barsocchini's funeral. Fimrite, however, was also a close friend of Barsocchini. He attests that not only was DiMaggio a close and constant friend to Barsocchini right up until the end, but that he attended Barsocchini's funeral, faithfully served as a pallbearer, and was visibly weeping as he and his brother Dom carried their friend from the church. Any explanation, Mr. Cramer, about how you could be so wrong about something so simple? Moreover, since the source for this fabrication appears to be the same source for much of the most damaging material found in this book, I at least am left with a sense that Cramer is nothing more than a major-league corner cutter who cannot be trusted. Thus, despite the gripping nature to this read, I cannot give this more than one star.
Rating: 
Summary: An insightful book.
Review: I knew very little about DiMaggio beyond his career with the Yankees and marriage to Marilyn Monroe. This book takes a very deep trek into the heart and mind of a man millions of kids and adults alike idolized. The portrait is that of a very exacting, confused, private, frustrated, and frighteningly lonely man. It is proof that "heroes" are human too. And that the public never really knows the people we think we know. You don't have to be a baseball fan or a Monroe fan to enjoy learning more about this American icon. Some will like him more, some may like him less, but you'll certainly feel closer to him.
Rating:
Summary: well written story of a sad and lonely man
Review: This book should come as no surprise to anyone who read DavidHalberstam's sumer of 49{or listened to Halberstam on Di Maggio],orthe insightful HBo Sports Documentary on Dimaggio.Still, the feelingyou get is a deep sadness. What a price Dimaggio paid to erect andkeep that persona which he so treasured{and we all clamored for]!Theauthor is no mere iconoclast,smashing idols for the sake ofdestruction. he carefully weaves in the era, the life and TIMES of JoeDimaggio, which, of course were so very intertwined. The parts onMonroe were actually sweet{she seemed to be, outside of money andfame,appropriately, the only thing Dimaggio ever loved.ho'ws that forirony.}The famous abound, and are dimissed quickly byDimaggio{surprsingly, at least to me, was his bile to Frank Sinatra.Itbares out.]How cheap and petty he was ,well, I dont think I reallyneeded to know.Diamggio was a product of his era, one of the halfdozen or so great ballplayers of the century. He escaped themicroscpoe of our modern times by playing in a time when ballplayerswere allowed to have private lives. Gay Talese's famous piece onDimaggio could be read as an introduction for what follows. Meticulouswith its research,this is a full bodied portrait of a an accidentalhero,who wanted the fame and fortune without the price.Sad,uncomforable,prescient. Well done.
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money and Don't Buy This Trash Book
Review: What kind of nation have we become that we sit still for slime "journalists" like Richard Ben Cramer, and their publishers, to rake in big bucks by destroying the reputation of another human being? What exactly was DiMaggio's sin that his coveted privacy should be stripped away from him in death -- that he was human like all the rest of us? Even through Cramer's curtain of malice, DiMaggio's heroism shines through -- his sense of obligation to his teammates; his willingness to endure daily pain such as few of us will ever know, in order to perform his duty; his refusal to be a blabbermouth about the people he loved. Obviously DiMaggio's greatest failing in the eyes of modern America, where a President goes on TV to tell you what kind of underwear he favors, was his refusal to turn his private life into a lollipop for the public to salivate over. And his greatest drawback for hacks like Cramer was his steadfast unwillingness to have his life poured into reams of copy for their financial benefit. It is revealing to note that Cramer and his publisher waited until DiMaggio had been dead for a year and a half before they published their book. And yet the book had essentially been completed during the last months of his life. By delaying its publication until DiMaggio could not rebut it, possibly in a court of law, they also unwittingly attest to the dignity, and potency, of a very private and respected human being.
Rating: 
Summary: grand slam
Review: i'm not a sports fan. i'm a woman, first of all. i l ike to watch soccer because the guys have great legs, and basketball for the energy, but I find baseball unbelievably boring and have never understood why guys think it's so fascinating. that said, richard ben cramer's biography of joe dimaggio is beyond fascinating. cramer is a fantastic writer and thinker who has managed that extraordinary feat of both capturing the essence of an iconic figure and of an iconic era in American history. In so doing he's done everyone who's lived through or been subjected to the myths of the halcyon mid-20th-century an enormous favor. "The Hero's Life" illuminates a lie best exposed, for it makes future generations make odious comparisons that need not be half so odious. For a clear-eyed view of the actual, as opposed to the airbrushed, "American Century", at its height during the decades immediately preceding and following World War II--in lockstep with the stellar events in Joe's heroic life, from his miraculous hitting streak in '41 to his brief marriage to Monroe--the sociologically and historically curious reader can do no better than to get his hands on Cramer's magnificent book. I could not put it down; but then neither could my father, who lives and breathes baseball (and happens to be a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan), or my father in law, who saw Joe play for the Yankees more times than he can count. This book is a marvelous read on so many levels. It is a study in modern American history, in the development of celebrity culture, in the sociology of the fan, in the phenomenon of hero worship, in the delusions and illusions that everyday people depend on to make their lives consist of something more than mere "quiet desperation," and as biography it is a model of the form: an incisive, stimulating, entertaining,and prodigiously well-informed analysis of an athlete publicly lionized for his genius and elegance on the ballfield who hid inside that image throughout his life. DiMaggio's armor was unpenetrable--until Richard Ben Cramer pierced it and finally gave us the REAL hero in the REAL America, where human flaws make life interesting and no one is without sin, where there are hits and misses, cruelty and greed, mobsters and moviestars, winners and losers, sweat and tears, strikeouts and homeruns. Personally, Mr. Cramer, I can't wait to read your next book, even if it's about golf (which to me is even more boring than baseball!)
Rating:
Summary: An excellent account of the famed/mysterious Yankee Clipper
Review: I am a big Yankee, Joe Dimaggio fan and so I read this book mainly because I didn't know that much about the man that I have grown to admire. From my boyhood I always knew the statistics he acquired and contributions he made to baseball, but I didn't know about the man, since he was the ultimate baseball enigma.This book by Richard Ben Cramer answered alot of my questions about Joe Dimaggio, such as why was he so quiet and mysterious and out of the public eye quite a bit. This book may have been criticized because of an unflattering view of Dimaggio, yet it was very honest about the man. Joe Dimaggio had a spectacular baseball career and moved the game forward to a new level that all baseball fans should appreciate, yet he decided to stay away from his admirers and fans, so he could always maintain that mysterious and unapproachable status that few ever encounter in public life. This book needed to be written because in fact since Dimaggio was so standoffish in life and because he chose to remain in the "shadows" of those who were his fans, that many questions remained about the man. I do not believe his privacy, intimate thoughts and relationships were violated, as pertained by some who have read this. Dimaggio must have known that sooner or later during his lifetime or after his death, that a book that revealed more of his personal side would be written. This is a very interesting account of his life, his respect but maybe not "love" of the game of baseball, his outstanding playing and work ethic of baseball, his family and personal life and loves, his ultimate love of Marilyn Monroe is revealed with honesty and actual accounts. Cramer didn't have to dig deep into research about Dimaggio, all he had to do is read police reports, talk to friends of Dimaggio who were willing to talk to him, and read other accounts of Dimaggio's life. I still have great respect and admiration of Joe Dimaggio. I feel sorry for Mr. Dimaggio and the life he chose to live outside the baseball field. His fans truely admired and loved him, yet I believe he truely feared the way he was viewed and thus decided not to reveal himself to much to anyone. I respect that, and I also respect Mr. Cramer's work on Joe Dimaggio. This book is highly recommended to all Yankee fans and fans of the Great "Joltin" Joe Dimaggio.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT IN DEPTH BIOGRAPHY!!
Review: This is without a doubt the finest,most in depth biography of the Yankee Clipper.It does reveal a definite dark side but at the same time shows that he was only human and reacted to his overwhelming fame the best way he knew how.I don't look at this book as a hatchet job when you consider some of the low-life idols we have in America currently.He loved Marilyn more than life itself and would have done anything for her.He was possessive of her and jealous but because he was Joe Dimaggio it gets documented.Many people look to their idols to be a God but the bottom line was he had flaws off the diamond,who doesn't.After reading this book,I still came away with one conclusion.JOE DIMAGGIO WAS THE GREATEST ALL-AROUND BALLPLAYER WHOEVER LIVED!!
Rating:
Summary: Typical hero is dead, now we can defame him biography
Review: Here we go again: a beloved American celebrity dies, and before you know it, some money-hungry writer treats us to an "expose" of his or her life. Ben Cramer prepared this book while DiMaggio was still living, but those pesky defamation laws and the fact that DiMaggio was still alive to defend himself kept this book on the shelf until DiMaggio died. In America, however, once a man dies, you can defame him all you want without concern for truth. Make no mistake about it, this book is not truthful. First of all, Ben Cramer writes with authority about events in DiMaggio's life -- how does he know what DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe discussed in private? -- without giving any hint as to his sources for his information. After a while, the reader gets the feeling that Ben Cramer's sources are few and lacking in credibility, which is why he offers little substantiation for what he writes. To expose his sources would be to subject them to a scrutiny that they could not survive. So Ben Cramer obfuscates, leaving critics incapable of assessing the credibility of his sources. Next, although Ben Cramer is a persuasive writer, his talents are misused here. Ben Cramer writes so persuasively that, if you do not read carefully enough, you might actually be persuaded that DiMaggio's gift of a Cadillac to his grandchild is clear evidence that he was cheap! At other points, frankly, Ben Cramer insults the reader's intelligence. Does he really expect the reader to believe that DiMaggio owned one cassette, a copy of a reading of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea," to which he listened repeatedly while driving because of Hemingway's reference to him? For good measure, as you might expect since this is an expose about an Italian-American hero, Ben Cramer makes the obligatory allegations that DiMaggio was cozy with the mob. The source for these allegations? The reader is left guessing. In the end, DiMaggio, like all of us, was certainly a flawed man obsessed with privacy, burdened with grief, and prideful of his reputation. But the repugnant character that Ben Cramer draws is so fundamentally at odds with the dignified and elegant man that we came to know, it is readily apparent what Ben Cramer's motivation was. Ironic, is it not then, that Ben Cramer calls DiMaggio greedy?
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: Cramer apparently did a great deal of research on this project and he seems to leave no stone unturned. What Joe D did on the field is not disputed, we have objective stats and all of those championships as proof of his quality and consistency. Some of the more lurid personal details, I guess, are the meat of the book. I think that Cramer did his best to state these things objectively, although some label this a "hatchet job." I believe that if Joe D were alive today, there would be less of that as this gives the appearance of "piling on" after the man is dead and cannot respond. The book is well researched and well-documented, although the accuracy of conversations and impressions is surely subjective 60 years after the fact. It is a good period piece (his playing days) and an excellent treatment of how the media produces sports heroes and how these people don't typically measure up to the inflated expectations. I am sure this will be interesting reading even for non-baseball fans.
Rating:
Summary: Eccentric or a harbinger of the future ?
Review: Is DiMaggio an eccentric or just a man who saw the future of the endorsement/licensing business. Is his approach to his name any different than Michael Jordan's or Arnold Palmer's? He was the biggest star of his era. Nine championships in 13 years. 10 World Series appearences. With all due respect to the Musial and Williams fans, they do not touch this kind of winning. A compelling story of the most famous baseball player of his era. If you are a sports fan or a fan of pop culture, this is a must. Ignore the man's warts and pay attention to his world and what they asked of him. Owners exploited players. Everyone wants a piece of Dimaggio. He figured out how to live his life and earn his money. Let's read about it.
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