Few celebrities have captivated the sport's world for as long, or with such depth, as Joe DiMaggio. Here, for the first time, is the definitive story of his life, as told by the award-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer. In Cramer's hands, DiMaggio's complicated life, from the first game with the Yankees in the 1930's, his marriage to Marilyn Monroe and his rise to hero status, becomes a story of the media, the invention of a national celebrity in America, and the ways in which fame can both build and destroy. Using his renowned investigative skills, Cramer has uncovered startling, even shocking, information about DiMaggio's life and presents them with his trademark combination of 'jarring, unsentimental prose' (THE NEW YORK TIMES).