A Book to Read

Richard Ben Cramer's book on the 1988 Presidential primaries, What It Takes, is one of the best books on American politics. He exposes the wiring brilliantly and it is still worth reading now as we approach the 20th anniversary of the events.

So when I heard that Ben Cramer had written a sports book on the enigmatic baseball giant Joe DiMaggio, I was excited. DiMaggio was portrayed by David Halberstam as a symbol of a lost America, his stoic silent dignity contrasting with today's brashness.

I was right to be excited, for Ben Cramer's Joe DiMaggio is a magnificent piece of work.

The legend is made flesh. His silence explained as a strategy to hide the fact that he had nothing to say. His brilliance as a player undimmed by his failings as a man.

One of the most famous pictures of Joltin' Joe caught him leaving the area of a San Francisco earthquake with all the possessions he felt he needed in one black plastic sack.  Through such images DiMaggio became a symbol of American simplicity.

Ben Cramer found that the sack did not contain a few necessities. It was full of cash that had been left in DiMaggio's attic by a murdered Mafia boss.

In Halberstam's Summer of '49, he talks of DiMaggio's role in the Paul Simon song Mrs Robinson. The words "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?" were used to show that a simpler America had disappeared.

When that other great, Mickey Mantle, discovered that he was Simon's favourite player he asked the player why DiMaggio, not Mantle, was the star of the song. Not wishing to offend Mantle by explaining DiMaggio's iconic status, Simon simply told him that Joe DiMaggio scanned better than Mickey Mantle.

Great story. But Ben Cramer caps it.

When DiMaggio was introduced to Simon and told that he was the author of Mrs Robinson, he was unimpressed. "What do you mean, where have I gone?" he complained. "I just did a Mr Coffee commercial."