Customer Reviews

Joe & Marilyn: A Memory of Love

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Just when we think there couldn't possibly be one word left to be written, said or whispered about the tragic life of Marilyn Monroe something else comes along. Roger Kahn (The Boys Of Summer) has chosen to focus on the sometimes passionate, sometimes stormy, ultimately caring relationship between Joe DiMaggio and Monroe. Often called "the dean of sportswriters," Kahn has an encyclopedic knowledge of sports figures and offers insights into DiMaggio's personality not previously explored.

Of course, one can never know what is truly in another's thoughts or heart yet Kahn has done a yeoman's job of relating Joe and Marilyn's story from their first meeting when she finds Joe attractive, really quite shy as she saw herself to be, through their courtship to their marriage and its dissolution a scant nine months later. Ultimately, there is DiMaggio's dawning realization that Marilyn cannot be saved and then the heartbreak of her too-early death. All that was left for him was to plan her funeral.

Topnotch voice performer Dick Hill brings respect and meaning to this story which has so often been sensationalized in the press. With an easy listening voice, nuance, and intonations he captures the couples and joys and sorrows. Many will remember the popular Hill from his previous audio book recordings. He has received three Audie Awards and been named a Golden Voice and a Voice of the Century by AudioFile magazine.

This is, in large part, a touching, sad story but also one of enduring loyalty and love.

- Gail Cooke

This is perhaps the most underrated book written by Roger Kahn.

From the opening pages where a Hollywood hack "mourns" the death of Marilyn Monroe, Kahn takes the reader on a touching journey of the life & times of Joe DiMaggio and Monroe.

As much a history of the pop culture as it is a biography, Kahn touches all the bases on how both were drawn to each other's fragility, but their love was virtually doomed from the start.

There are so many books that explore the couple for entertainment value only, as if Joe & Marilyn were living their lives in a drama on the large screen. Kahn addresses them as human beings who were not like the public personas created for consumption by fans or curious observers.

It is truly a memory of love, but also a tragic tale on how those with apparantly so much ultimately are so alone at the end of the day.

ROGER KAHN DOES A VERY GOOD JOB WRITING THIS VERY INTERESTING AND ENTERTAINING STORY. HE DOVOTES THE MAJORITY OF THIS BOOK ABOUT JOE, A SMALLER SEGMENT ABOUT MARILYN AND FINALLY A VERY SMALL BUT INTERSTING SEGMENT ON THEIR LIFE TOGETHER. SINCE THE MARRIAGE ONLY LASTED 9 MONTHS NOT MUCH COULD BE WRITTEN. THE READER GETS A VERY GOOD LOOK AT WHAT BOTH OF THEM WERE LIKE PERSONALLY. SHE CAME FROM A FAMILY OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND WAS VERY VULNERABLE AND INSECURE AND SEEKED THE LIME LIGHT. JOE CAME FROM A LARGE FAMILY AND WAS VERY QUIET, DISTANT AND COLD. HE PREFERRED HIS PRIVACY. SO RIGHT OFF THE BAT THEY WERE A HUGE MIS-MATCH. KAHN GIVES ALOT OF FACTS AND INFO ABOUT BOTH OF THEIR CAREERS AND DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB WITH BASEBALL STATS AND MOVIE TRIVIA. KAHN ALSO DISCUSSES THE QUESTION OF FOUL PLAY IN HER DEATH. ALL IN ALL I THINK THIS IS A NICE READ FOR ALL FANS WHO LIKE BASEBALL AND HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP. WELL WORTH READING.