"Pries open Joltin’ Joe’s perpetually buttoned-up privacy. . . . A rare, intimate portrait of a man so audacious that he left Marilyn Monroe."
Dinner with DiMaggio
Memories of An American Hero
Description
A revealing account of the great Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio from the man who knew him best in the last ten years of his life—“a rare, intimate portrait…that pries open Joltin’ Joe’s perpetually buttoned-up privacy” (The New York Times) with stories about the Yankees, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and other celebrities.
In 1990, Dr. Rock Positano, a thirty-two-year-old foot and ankle specialist, met Joe DiMaggio. Despite the forty years between them, an unlikely friendship developed after the doctor successfully treated the baseball champ’s heel spur injury. Joe mentored Rock but came to rely on his young friend to show him a good time in New York, the town that made him a legend. In time, the famously reserved DiMaggio opened up to Dr. Positano and talked about his joys, his disappointments, and his sorrows as he reflected on his extraordinary life. The stories and experiences he shared with Dr. Positano comprise an intimate portrait of one of the great stars of baseball and icon of the twentieth century.
“Readers do not have to be baseball fans to be captivated by this memoir, which explores such universal themes as friendship, celebrity, aging, and mortality” (Library Journal, starred review). DiMaggio was a complicated figure—sometimes demanding, sometimes big-hearted, always impeccable, loyal, and a true stand-up guy. This memoir of a decade-long friendship reveals the very private DiMaggio as “a wholly human portrait of an American icon navigating his way through an adoring yet relentlessly demanding public” (Booklist, starred review), while serving up illuminating stories and rare insights about the people in his life, including his teammates, Muhammad Ali, Sandy Koufax, Woody Allen, and many more.
Reviews
“His baseball accomplishments, impressive and historic as they are, do not alone explain why DiMaggio's name still resonates as it does. His importance is connected to a particular place and time in the history of the game, and the country. Hemingway referenced DiMaggio. So did Paul Simon. A line from the early 40's song ‘Joltin' Joe DiMaggio’ by the Les Brown Orchestra goes like this: He lives in baseball's Hall of Fame, he got there blow-by-blow, our kids will tell their kids his name, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio. Turns out that was true.”
“The narrative provides wonderful glimpses of DiMaggio's integrity, kindness, and sensitivity, portraying him as a complicated man who jealously guarded his image.”
“So many special things about Joe DiMaggio are revealed by this book: his love of children, his contempt of pretense, and his iconic place in American history. Joe was quiet, not silent, about the pivotal events of the twentieth century, and he shared them with Dr. Rock Positano: Marilyn, the Kennedys, Frank Sinatra, and so many fascinating anecdotes add flesh to the bare bones of this iconic American. He was a true American original.”
