Joe DiMaggio Audiobook By Richard Ben Cramer cover art

Joe DiMaggio

The Hero's Life

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Joe DiMaggio

By: Richard Ben Cramer
Narrated by: Richard Ben Cramer
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.07

Buy for $15.07

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

In the hard-knuckled '30s, Joe DiMaggio was the immigrant boy who made it big. He was the dominant star in the New York Yankees dynasty. As World War II loomed, Joltin' Joe launched a 56-game hitting streak - and the nation literally sang his name. In the age of postwar ease and plenty, he became Broadway Joe, the icon of elegance and class - marrying Marilyn Monroe, the most beautiful girl in America.

In 1962, when he lost that girl for good, Joe was everyman embarking on a decade of national bereavement. Joe DiMaggio mirrored our best self, but he was also the loneliest hero we ever had. A nation of fans would give him anything, but what he wanted most was to hide the life he chose.

In this groundbreaking biography, Richard Ben Cramer presents a stunning, often shocking portrait of the hero nobody knew. It is a story that sweeps through the 20th century, bringing light to America's national game, movie stars, mobsters, as well as the birth - and the price - of national celebrity.

This is the story that Joe DiMaggio never wanted to tell. It is the story of his grace and greed, his dignity, pride, and his hidden shame.

©2000 Richard Ben Cramer, All Rights Reserved (P)2000 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All Rights Reserved, AUDIOWORKS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Art & Literature Authors Baseball & Softball Entertainment & Celebrities Sports Celebrity Funny
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
Good account of struggles everyone experiences in life and relationships. DiMaggio was loved by so many but died alone.

Life is hard

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I really did enjoy the listen. Have no doubt I will listen to this audiobook again.

Good listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Richard Ben Cramer will always be known as the great political writer of What It Takes. It is, after all, the best piece of presidential political writing in America. Here he writes a brilliant biography of Joe DiMaggio which is both tender and enthralling. The true heroine here is Marilyn Monroe and makes one pine for Mailer's book/photo essay on her. One will miss the short, erudite oeuvre of Mr. Cramer.

Joltin Joe

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Very interesting book. I have read just about everything on Joe D and this was a great take on his life. Very well done!

A true American hero

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is about 2/3rds baseball and 1/3rd Ms. Monroe. I enjoyed the book, but found it one of the sadest stories I've heard in a very long time. Joe was a great baseball player, perhaps the best. But, at the end of the day I was glad I didn't have his life.

Joe DiMaggio

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

First off I didn’t know that this was going to be abridged until after the final sentence. The whole story was only four hours. I would say more than half of it was Joe’s unhealthy obsession with Marilyn Monroe. I wanted to hear more about Joe DiMaggio the man than countless stories about Marilyn Monroe. I wonder if there was an unabridged version whether they were talk more about Joe.

Joe’s Marilyn Affair

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I wish I'd have known this was the abridged edition. Seems this is a port of the old audiobook CD from ages ago. This edition jumps from Marilyn's death all the way to the World Series in 89. Lots of points missed. Is there an edition of this audiobook that's complete?

abridged

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I did not realize that this was an abridged version of this well-reviewed biography until it was over.
Almost his entire life for the nearly 50 years after he retired from baseball was as much about Marilyn Monroe as Dimaggio. Surely he had other activities or there was more to learn than that. Perhaps a reader would have to go to the unabridged/printed version to find out

Listener beware-Abridged

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.