Dinner with DiMaggio
Memories of An American Hero
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- ¥1,900
発行者による作品情報
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Unassuming Manhattan podiatrist Rock Positano considers his close friendship with baseball icon Joe DiMaggio (1914 1999), which lasted through the Yankee's last decade. Positano notes that the relationship started with his treatment of DiMaggio's damaged right heel, an injury that benched him for 65 games in 1949 and forced his retirement two years later. He falls short of hero worship as he sums up the tale of "the Yankee Clipper," the son of a San Francisco fisherman, who became one of the greatest players in baseball. There's never any doubt about the doctor's admiration for DiMaggio as a man of honor, who spoke frankly to his pal about people such as Lou Gehrig, Joe Louis, Mickey Mantle, Frank Sinatra, and the Kennedys, Hollywood, as well as topics such as women and faith. The narrative provides wonderful glimpses of DiMaggio's integrity, kindness, and sensitivity, portraying him as a complicated man who jealously guarded his image.
