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: Life vs. Joltin' Joe.
Review: The private life of the man behind the public image can be a stark contrast. Regardless of Joe DiMaggio's wholesome image of grace, style, and manly courage, doubts and fears plagued him. He needed constant reassurance that he was the best. Author Richard Ben Cramer quickly gets on a first name basis with his subject, and writes as if he knows exactly what went on in Joe's head. Cramer's description of Joe's career as the Yankee Clipper is great baseball history. Cramer also writes honestly of Joe's dark side. To DiMaggio, money was the ultimate yardstick of success. His great fear was that someone was unfairly trying to make a buck by exploiting him, both on and off the field. Frequently, Joe's fears were right on target. These inner demons made DiMaggio personally unapproachable, and even downright hateful. But, heck, that didn't bother Joe. That was exactly the way he wanted it, as long as he was paid top dollar. Cramer's narrative includes juicy insider details and wry humor. Beyond baseball, the book examines DiMaggio's relationship with friends, family, and wives, most particularly Marilyn Monroe. Joe's need to be controlling doomed his marriage to Marilyn. Ironically, they were well on the road to reconciliation when she died. After Marilyn is gone, the narrative fast-forwards from her funeral in 1962 to 1989. This unexplained gap is the only weakness of this otherwise fascinating book. The last ten years of DiMaggio's life are presented as the final decade of a miserly crank who profits from baseball memorabilia events, for which he insisted on his own unforgiving rules and regulations. Considering the walls Joe DiMaggio built around himself the author's ability to dig out details is impressive. Cramer handles a difficult subject very well. This is highly recommended reading. ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: Chip on the author's shoulder
Review: This book, it seems to me, is written with a definite, preconceived bias against Joe DiMaggio the man. It seeks to portray him as an insensitive, rather stupid, monumentally selfish, and above all greedy jerk, in contrast of course to the myth of "The Great DiMaggio." In addition to having severe questions about the source of some of the material, which is written as though the author were right there, among other places, by Joe's deathbed which he obviously wasn't, I question the need for this type of book debunking a great American icon. Do we really care that the man had personal foibles? What's the point? Moreover, a lot of this material appears recycled, for example I recognize verbatim dialogue from a more balanced and searching essay by Gay Talese from the 60s entitled Silent Season of a Hero. Joe's brother Dominic was very opposed to this book and it isn't hard to see why. I mean, it is one thing to trash a political figure, but a baseball player? Count me as a dissenting voice. Surely this distinguished author is capable of better.
Rating:
Summary: A lousy book by an average writer
Review: It is amazing that this guy won a pulitzer prize for writing. Except for the information on DiMaggio's playing days, the book is negative, racist, and extremely one-sided against the ballplayer. It makes one wonder if Ben Cramer had a personal vendetta against DiMaggio. If the author was attempting to make a point that our public images of athletes are false, then he could of done so with far less damaging material. It was overkill. I objected to his use of the word Dago, not in reference to DiMaggio's nickname (because he allegedly liked it), but to italian food. It is called Italian Bread not Dago Bread. The author slams DiMaggio for making money off of his autographs, but this is common for former stars to do. I suppose that Cramer thinks that the former athletes should allow millionaire sports memorabilia dealers to profit exclusively. I give this book one star for the information about Dimaggio's playing days. Reading beyond those initial chapters is a waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Exactly An Icon
Review: This book kind of shatters the image I had of Joe Dimaggio. No doubt he was one of the greatest players in baseball history. But this book gives a real inside look at what drove Joltin' Joe. If you want to remember Dimaggio as the quiet giant of baseball, then don't read this book. It paints a picture of a man driven throughout his life by selfishness and greed all of which seemed to get worse as he grew older. The author definitely did his homework and the insight is remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: "Say It Ain't So, Joe." The Dark Side of the Hero Game
Review: Richard Ben Cramer's biography of Jo DiMaggio is an indictment of our culture of hero worship. That an individual so thoroughly despicable could be so idolized and worshiped says a lot about what's wrong with where America puts its values. No doubt, DiMaggio was one of the greatest atheletes of the 20th century. He was also a legendary womanizer who cavorted with mobsters and took mob money on the side. He broke off all relations with his son (who died a victim of his father's fame shortly after he did) and had little to do with his own siblings, two of whom were also major leaguers. He was a man capable of cutting off frendships that had lasted decades over the tiniest perceived slight. The only touching aspect of his life was his genuine love affair with Marilyn Monroe, a woman whose life he tried to save even as he physically abused her. Cramer is a first rate journalist and his lively prose makes "Joltin' Joe" come to life for the reader, warts and all. Cramer manages to get inside the head of the man behind the myth despite the fact that he received no cooperation from his subject. Cramer has the proper respect for DiMaggio's on field accomplishments and the proper amount of dismay at the bitter, stingy, thoroughly dislikable old man DiMaggio became. The closing of the book shows DiMaggio as a greedy huckster so willing to cash in on his own name that he was still attempting to autograph baseballs for cash on his deathbed. This is one of the absolute best recent sports biographies. And if it should happen to cause some people to re-examine their passion for sports memorabilia, so much the better.
Rating:
Summary: NOT a hatchet Job!
Review: I have to disagree from some of the reviewers. This is not a hatchet job. Oh, for sure, there is alot of "dirt", and whenever I have read a book from this genre, I have always felt "sleazy". But not this time. Cramer does not dwell on only the bad things (and boy, are there alot). He does try very hard to explain how Joe got his hero status, and why he probably deserved it. Believe me, I was a person who revered Joe D. I'm not sure if I've totally changed since reading this book. This was a GREAT biography. It illustrates how a legend was born, but also how legends are mortal, and have their flaws. Most disconcerting in the book for me was the sleazy dealings in the autograph trade (I personnally "met" Joe D. three times at these "meat markets", and have to admit a little disappointment in knowing his disdain for the common man. But hey, that's who he was -- take the good and the bad. As I said, I feel Cramer was evenhanded in his portrayl, and recommend this book to every baseball fan. Especially the younger ones -- this was baseball's golden age, and today's game pales in comparison. I cannot say enough good things about this book.
Rating:
Summary: Bigotry on display
Review: This book is well written. Beyond that, it is hard to say anything positive, or for that matter polite about this blistering and unnecessary attack on an American icon. The author is clearly a bigot. Had this book been written about a member of almost any other ethnic group it is doubtful it would have ever been published. If you enjoy the "Soprano's" and believe that all Americans of Italian heiritage are ignorant, pasta-eating members of the mob, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste your time. For after having read it, all I know "new" about DiMaggio was that he put his pants on the same way I do.
Rating:
Summary: Tabloid Bio
Review: Cramer does not have one good, decent thing to say about his subject. A hatchet job; completely unbalanced. Cramer evidences the research skills of a biographer but its mostly tabloid stuff. Methinks he doth protest too much. Certainly Joe D was guilty of greed but Cramer's telling would be more persuasive if it were balanced. I was hoping for a full portrait, warts and all, but its not in this book; its warts only. I suspect Cramer is a long time fan of the Dodgers.
Rating:
Summary: why write a book about someone you hate
Review: mr cramer is a bigoted and small man writing about a complex larger than life hero. he is anti-italian, demeaning, glib and fails to explain to me anything about the inner life of a man who seems a contradiction of drive, shyness, pride, paranoia, and sadness. as an italian i was insulted by the author's tone of disrespect to italians in general. he demeaned joe's parents, their professions, their family relationships and their true selves. he never dealt with the underlying reasons for joe's extreme shyness, and discomfort with other people. instead he made fun of his dependence on others to be with him and talk for him. the author seemed particularly proud to "dig up dirt" about joe's connections but did little to explain the italian american world into which he was thrown, a world both good and bad. i don't understand why this author chose to write a whole book about someone he clearly disliked so intensely. after reading this book i could only wonder what this complex man was really all about.
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