Jose Canseco

Ernest hemingway once said, "Writing, at its best, is a lonely life," and no one understands that better than Jose Canseco. Since the publication of Juiced, Canseco's tell-all memoir, the author has been a household name without an ally. After being ripped by players he alleged or implied used steroids--and threatened with a libel suit by former Rangers teammate Rafael Palmeiro--Canseco struck back, offering to take a polygraph ... on pay-per-view TV. (No outlets took him up on the offer.) "That shows what his motives are," said Tony Saunders, an ex--Tampa teammate accused of taking steroids. "It's just a shame."

Juiced debuts at No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list this Sunday, but not all of the reading public is enamored of Canseco. One day after a Tampa book signing was disrupted by a screaming man with a sign that read traitor, Canseco canceled the rest of the tour when someone e-mailed him a death threat. "It's not that I believe Jose is in immediate danger," his lawyer, Robert Saunooke, said. "He's a black belt in three different kinds of karate, so he can take care of himself. We are more concerned about the people who come to the book signing." Canseco couldn't even forge a successful business relationship with a man willing to give him $40,000 for his 2000 World Series ring. After financial planner Ron Galen agreed to buy the ring on Canseco's website, Canseco last week reneged on the deal. Said Galen, "It just leaves a bad taste."

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BERENICE ABBOTT/COMMERCE GRAPHICS LTD. (JAMES JOYCE)

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MICHAEL ZAGARIS/MLB PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES (CANSECO)

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AP (ERNEST HEMINGWAY)

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COURTESY HARPER COLLINS (BOOK)