JOE & MARILYN: A Memory of Love

by Roger Kahn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1986

The passionate romance and brief marriage of superstars DiMaggio and Monroe in the mid-50's, and his well-publicized torch-carrying after her suicide, have grown into mythic legend. But Kahn's (The Boys of Summer) promised ""memory of love"" is in reality an objective, anecdotal, meaty biography of Joltin' Joe, a fisherman's son who many call the world's greatest ""natural"" ballplayer. The thoughtful, non-idolatrous view of the aloof, proud enigma behind Joe's legend carefully parallels the rise and fall of a movie star, and draws perceptive conclusions about their attraction and struggles with the price of fame. Woven among tales of his shining Yankee rookie seasons, salary disputes, nights out with the boys, failed first marriage and Sicilian background, is a whimsically bittersweet portrait of Marilyn: from abused child to ambitious starlet; luscious sex goddess to one of the walking-wounded of Hollywood's ruthless machine. Wafting in and out of the DiMaggio narrative like perfume is vulnerable, delectable, unstable, infinitely desirable Marilyn, a misguided victim, at once greedily calculating, and pathetically powerless. DiMaggio has refused to discuss the great love of his life and has, Kahn assumes, ""set off to spend the rest of his life alone,"" armed only with silence, his sole weapon against the eternal invasion of his privacy. Thus the portrait of the two together is a scant blend of speculation by anonymous friends, the press and Hollywood myth-makers. Despite the misleading title (a publicity grabber, to be sure), a lively, frank, sensitive portrait of the ""Yankee Clipper"" that conveys that shimmering blend of legend, nostalgic summer twilights, and idol worship unique to baseball (despite the nasty human frailties of many baseball legends). As one writer recently remarked, being left anywhere with DiMaggio is no imposition.

Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION