A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Book Description

Frank Sinatra forever altered American art and culture. His life and work is mythified in countless books and essays. This book offers a much-needed fresh approach to The Chairman of the Board. Artists from all varieties of media have used Sinatra to create their own works and, in many cases, their own Sinatras. Sinatra's legacy is not confined to the music he created--his shadow, his aura, and his mere existence helped to inform the lives and works of generations. Gigliotti examines how genre and literary fiction, lyric and satiric poetry, rock and folk music, and even domestic drama have conjured and symbolically employed the legendary singer. Each of the eleven chapters of A Storied Singer details a different use of Sinatra. Subjects include the lyrics of Sammy Cahn, recent novels such as The Death of Frank Sinatra, and the many songs that are about or mention Old Blue Eyes. Gigliotti also examines Sinatra as seen through international eyes, from British songwriters and Spanish novelists to American expatriates and Israeli filmmakers, providing an unusual and fascinating look at a major American figure.

Frank Sinatra: History, Identity, and Italian American Culture (Italian & Italian American Studies)

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A New Look at Old Blue Eyes
The best of both worlds: Frank Sinatra & Italy

Frank Sinatra: History, Identity, and Italian American Culture (Italian & Italian American Studies)

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Frankly - Just Between Us: My Life Conducting Frank Sinatra's Music
The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra (Rough Guides Reference Titles)
The Frank Sinatra Reader
Sinatra: The Life
Why Sinatra Matters

ASIN: 1403966559
Release Date: 2004-09-23

Book Description

No one represents the Italian American journey from undesirable outsiders to embraced citizens better than Frank Sinatra. From impoverished beginnings in an immigrant, single-parent household to world renown as "Chairman of the Board," he beat the odds to become one of the most influential and best-loved artists of the twentieth century. Sinatra's symbolic role to the millions of Italian American immigrants who looked up to him as proof of the American dream was far-reaching. From teenage crooner to civil rights activist to Reagan Republican, his shifting identity resonated deeply in Italian American culture. Now, a gathering of distinguished historians, journalists and critics explore Sinatra's impact on American culture, from questions of politics and civil rights to Italian mothering, morality, and ethnic stereotyping. These insights place Sinatra at the fulcrum of many controversial and timely issues that lend his influence a new depth and power, not only musically but in a broad historical context.

Customer Reviews:

A New Look at Old Blue Eyes.......2007-04-10

Stan Pugliese's book is outstanding. It outlines the way Italian American culture was shaped and influenced by Frank Sinatra by putting together a series of scholarly articles dealing with the history, politics, identity, and representation of Sinatra's life. It is an entirely new perspective on an old story. The book was written in order to cast a scholarly light on some hazy issues that have been overlooked in the past. All of the articles are written by collegiate historians (all of whom have impressive working bibliographies).

This is an excellent source for anyone interested in researching Sinatra because it is written with a modern perspective (c. 1994). This is not intended to be a biography, and reading it with a background knowledge of Sinatra is helpful. This book is only really meant to be geared toward historians or scholars that are familiar with Sinatra's life.

The book is extremely well-written and well-researched, and I would recommend it to anyone who is familiar with Sinatra and his life (which also means being familiar with the context of his life). For researching purposes, the book was extremely helpful.

The best of both worlds: Frank Sinatra & Italy.......2007-01-09

This book wasn't actually for me, it was for my father-in-law, who is 100% Italian, and probablly Frank Sinatra's biggest fan! So for Christmas I was on a mission to bring his 2 favorite things together... Although I didn't read the book, he was very excited about the book, and has told us that he enjoyed it very much :o)

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Quick read
Light fun and then the dark fall of the Rat Pack
Rat Pack Confidential
A Curiosity
Rat Pack Confidential Review

Rat Pack Confidential
Shawn Levy
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sinatra: The Life

ASIN: 0385487517
Release Date: 1998-04-13

Amazon.com

If you're not inclined to read individual biographies of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., Shawn Levy's Rat Pack Confidential is a perfect one-stop resource. Less a group biography than a series of impressionistic snapshots, the book is loaded with can't-miss material--the dirt on the making of Ocean's Eleven, information about Sinatra's wild stint as a casino owner, deep background on Peter Lawford's habit of introducing Jack Kennedy to glamorous starlets, wiretap transcripts of mobsters Sam Giancana and Johnny Formosa discussiong Dean Martin's lack of respect.

Levy, whose previous book, King of Comedy, is a serious consideration of Jerry Lewis's life and career, offers similarly well considered insights into the members of the Rat Pack. He covers Davis's lifelong struggle against racism and the complicated intertwinings of the Kennedy political machine and "the Clan," as the performers preferred to be called (they often denied anything like the Rat Pack even existed and resisted collective references).

The book's debts to its predecessors are often apparent; much of the material on Sinatra's friendship with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, for example, appears to have been gleaned from recent Bogart biographies. The writing style, which tries to capture the ring-a-ding-ding feel of the era, also owes serious debts to Nick Tosches by way of James Ellroy, while only intermittently reaching their level of mastery. But these are minor quibbles. As a synthesis of thirty years worth of journalism and celebrity biography, Rat Pack Confidential succeeds in portraying the supernova blowout of old-school showbiz in all its dazzling glory.

Book Description

For the first time, the full story of what happened when Frank Sinatra brought his best pals to party in a land called Vegas.

January 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie.

One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of the day. One is a short, black, Jewish, one-eyed, singing, dancing wonder. One is an upper-crust British pretty boy turned degenerate B-movie actor, brother-in-law to an ascendant politician. And one is a stiff-shouldered comic with the quintessential Borscht Belt emcee's knack for needling one-liners.

The architectonically sleek marquee of the Sands Hotel announces their presence simply by listing their names:

FRANK SINATRA.
DEAN MARTIN.
SAMMY DAVIS, JR.
PETER LAWFORD.
JOEY BISHOP.

Around them an entire cast gathers: actors, comics, singers, songwriters, gangsters, politicians, and women, as well as thousands of starstruck everyday folks who fork over pocketfuls of money for the privilege of basking in their presence. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack.

They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side--over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance--took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same.

Acclaimed Jerry Lewis biographer Shawn Levy has written a dazzling portrait of a time when neon brightness cast sordid shadows. It was Frank's World, and we just lived in it.

Customer Reviews:

Quick read.......2007-07-24

Not a lot of new knowledge in this book. Most of it has been written about before but it was interesting to see how the author linked the lives of these men together to show how their relationships evolved over time. I enjoyed reading this book.

Light fun and then the dark fall of the Rat Pack.......2007-04-29

Rat Pack Confidential gives a 101 level course of the group, highlighting the fun they had together makes movies and showing off at the Vegas clubs. It then chronicles the toubles they had together (Why did Sammy alientate himself from Frank?) and then their downfalls as indvidiuals (Dean's descent into alcoholism). Longer books could (and have been) written about each of them indivdiually, but this succinctly captures their spirit in both the glamour and their squalor. It accomplishes what it sets out to do.

Rat Pack Confidential.......2007-03-31

I found this book to be enlightening and enjoyable, filling in some gaps in my knowledge of the Rat Pack. It did, however, suffer from something that happens fairly often in popular histories, and that is a shading of facts to fit the premise of the book. In this case, the premise is that "It's Frank Sinatra's world, we're just living in it". Author Shawn Levy makes that point over and over again at every turn, sometimes making bold statements about Frank's superior style or entertainment abilities, which really was unnecessary and took away from the book, in my opinion.

All-in-all, a good and informative read for Rat Pack fans.

A Curiosity.......2006-07-10

The author sets the scene well in the prologue. He paints the conductor of this orchestra of self-absorption, Frank Sinatra, as a revered singer and actor, who somehow decided to set up a situation where people he was curious about would be set up around him, so he could watch them, contrast them and influence them.

The stage thus set is almost like an extended form of performance art. "T am so unique and so invulnerable that I can make this happen, and make people like it." Many "American Idols" have done this, but few did what Frank did: set up a group like the Rat Pack to bounce along with.

Two figures of great significance emerge outside the perimeter in this story: John Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. The former seems most similar to Sinatra himself: glad to have others feel that they are taking advantage of him, while constantly doing just the reverse. The latter is just awfully sad: a directionless icon who loses all sense of life purpose and whose end is almost a relief.

The part I liked the best was how Frank builds an extensive compound, including Secret Service and helicopter support, which Kennedy completely spurns. It was a comeuppance that Frank totally deserved.

You'll enjoy this book. And, as others have observed here, Nick Tosches' book, "Dino," is a natural companion.

Rat Pack Confidential Review.......2006-03-16

Several things to say about this book. It's a great anthology of the Rat Pack during their Vegas years. I'm a big fan of Sinatra et.al, and find this book to be very fascinating reading for anyone who is enamoured with these entertainers and their great era.

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The ideal family album
Sinatra-Viewed Naked & Still Beautiful
The Review
A MARVELLOUS SCAPBOOK
Everything you want to know about Frank is in this Book

Frank Sinatra: An American Legend
Nancy Sinatra
Manufacturer: Stoddart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sinatra
His Way: An Unauthorized Biography Of Frank Sinatra
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ASIN: 1575441152

Book Description

He had many names: Ol' Blue Eyes, the Chairman of the Board, the Sultan of Swoon, the Voice. Ultimately, we will all remember Frank Sinatra as the World's Greatest Entertainer. The Voice lives on in this commemorative pictorial tribute to the life and 50-year career of the man who changed the face of music and movies from a humble beginning in Hoboken, New Jersey to his death on May 14, 1998 at age 82. In addition to being written by Nancy Sinatra, Frank's first-born daughter, this is the ONLY book done with the full cooperation of the Sinatra family. Reviewers rave "priceless," "a visual knockout," "a must-have for any Sinatra fan." Rare or previously unpublished photos and dozens of private stories told by his most intimate friends separate myth from the real deal and make this an extremely revealing--and truly poignant--testament to the legend who did it his way. Also features a complete discography and filmography.

Customer Reviews:

The ideal family album.......2003-07-23

No wonder this book is so thick- it's filled with numerous photos of Frank Sinatra, his family, and friends over the years. I love looking at these pics, and so will any other Sinatra fan. There is detailed info throughout the book as well. This is one worth having in your collection.

Sinatra-Viewed Naked & Still Beautiful.......2003-07-14

Here is Sinatra stripped of everything who leaves me knowing he has deserved my love and admiration all these years. With Sinatra, he drove himself through life going after whatever he wanted and risking the consequences. We get to look at his ups and downs and his prides and his falls. We see him suffer at love and sing about it. We see him finally, after all the aborted tries, finally sink himself into a relationship with his last wife that kept him happy until he died.

Life for Sinatra was all or nothing at all and he did life his way and fell into lots of tender traps and led some into his own tender traps, like one famous movie star I will let you discover on your own.

What so special about Nancy's book is that she is amazingly organized and objective in her account of her father's life. And the CD, well the CD is everything. You get to hear Sinatra on Sinatra, unabashed.

Everyone on the planet needs to buy and read this book to learn what life can be when you go for it all every day!

Kudos to Nancy for a biography well, well done.

The Review.......2003-02-26

This book has excellent pictures with the most vital information for a biography project. A great buy and great read for interested fans of Ol' Blue Eyes.

A MARVELLOUS SCAPBOOK.......2001-03-07

This scrapbook is a real treat to any true SINATRA fan.It is full of pictures of everybody who was important in his life from his parents to collaborators like arrangers NELSON RIDDLE; all his wifes from NANCY to BARBARA;the legendary LOUIS B. MAYER etc.Better than most biographies because it is based on facts not rumours.The early pictures from his beginnings are alone worth the price.I was fortunate enough to get this book at the third of it's price and i went through it very fast because once you open it, you simply can't take your hands out of it.If FRANK became the singer of the past century, it's not by accident, he worked hard at it.I was particulary touched by his loyalty to his true friends.FRANK SINATRA is a mirror of his country. He was the son of immigrants who lived the AMERICAN dream to the fullest.Where is the AMERICAN dream today now that it's last legend is gone?Let's not complain too much ,because everything that FRANK SINATRA ever recorded is now available on cd.Nostalgia when you think of it is a very good thing.SATURDAY is not the loneliest night of the week anymore thanks to the chairman of the board.If you are not already a fan, this book should do the trick.

Everything you want to know about Frank is in this Book.......2000-08-29

I had to get this book after seeing how low the price came down.The original price was 40 dollars. Nancy Sinatra's book on her Father has everything in here.I couldn't believe Frank weighted 13and a half pounds when he was born on December 12,1915.The Doctor ripped and scarred his ear,check,and neck,plus puncturing his eardrum.Frank wasn't breathing,so his grandmother Rose held the baby under cold running water until he gasped his first breath and cried.This book is like a Diary.It goes from year to year,sometimes month to month.All of Franks movies,records,concerts,TV shows,songs,and the name of the songwriters are in here,plus hundreds of pictures,starting with Frank's baby photo, ending with a touching family photo taken in 1996.There's a wonderfull picture of Marilyn Monroe taken with Dean Martin sitting ringside at the Sands..All of the stars are in here,and family pictures we've never seen before.If you are a Frank Sinatra fan,you have to get this Book.Its huge,and the pictures are fantastic.

Legend: frank sinatra and the american dream

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Legend: frank sinatra and the american dream
Ethlie Ann Vare
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1572970278

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Local to National Celebrities Interviewed
What a great concept for a book!
A Unique Look Into the Minds of Well-Known Celebrities

Celebrities as Fans
Mary Johnstone-Guerra
Manufacturer: Nadine Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0976930706

Product Description

Over 60 Celebrities answer the questions: 1. Whose fan club would you consider joining out of sheer admiration for that person? 2. Have you ever had the good fortune to meet that person? 3. If yes, what happened? If no. what would you say or ask?

Customer Reviews:

Local to National Celebrities Interviewed.......2006-03-20

This is a great book for anyone who is a fan, but also a real treat for people living in the metro-Detroit area, as a few of the celebrities asked are local TV and radio stars. She wrote to a lot of people over the years and has a great collection of stars' heroes, from Soupy Sales to Les Paul and of course Davy Jones! It's neat to find out who inspired the celebrities to be who they are today.

What a great concept for a book!.......2006-02-14

Mary Guerra is an authority on fandom as she is a member of a fanclub or two herself. I know this since she belongs to the fanclub I run for Davy Jones, Davy Devotees. Though the concept of fandom is normally perceived as being something the nonfamous possess, Mary spent years contacting various celebrities asking them just who they consider themselves a fan of and what fanclubs they would join if they could! She received personal responses from legends in the field of entertainment like RoseMarie and Phyllis Diller to Les Paul, inventor of the electric guitar, Richard Petty, of racing fame, columnist, Liz Smith and "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe. Shirley Jones, Peter Noone and Mary's personal favorite, Davy Jones of The Monkees, are just a few of the many other highlighted celebrities. If you've been a fan of anyone at anytime, this book gives you an interesting look at who those we admire actually admire. At times the featured celebrities provide laughs and at other times intriguing revelations. Overall this is a fun read with a lot of heart!

A Unique Look Into the Minds of Well-Known Celebrities.......2006-01-30

This book is fabulous. My husband and I found it to be a quick, entertaining read. We particularly enjoyed the entry from Mike Clark, our favorite radio DJ. It's interesting to see what people celebrities find heroic, and it conveys more of an inside look into their personality as well.

Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture: Essays on an American Icon

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Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture: Essays on an American Icon

Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0275964957

Book Description

Frank Sinatra's influence on American popular culture has been wide reaching and long lasting. This diverse collection of essays written by historians, music critics, and popular culture personalities offers a myriad of perspectives and commentaries on this multitalented legend. The essays attest to the interest in Sinatra that has spanned six decades and shows no sign of diminishing--even after his death. From singer to actor, from mass media personality to humanitarian and cultural trendsetter, the many contributions of Frank Sinatra are brought to life in this entertaining volume. Written to appeal to Sinatra fans, these unique essays, including one by Frank Sinatra himself, are organized into three sections. The first examines Sinatra's fame and the ways in which his image was formed, the second looks at his music, and the final group of essays are personal reminiscences by the people who knew him. Together these essays will provide new material for the ever-growing dialogue about Frank Sinatra's place in and influence over twentieth-century American popular culture.

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Frank Sinatra at the Movies
Roy Pickard
Manufacturer: Robert Hale & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0709061013

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Frank Sinatra: A Celebration
Stan Britt
Manufacturer: Schirmer Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Ring A Ding Ding Guy For Real

Sinatra: A Tribute

Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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GPX C3948BI Ultra-Slim CD Player with 40-Second Anti-Shock Protection and Car Kit

ASIN: 0553456253
Release Date: 1998-06-02

Book Description

Sinatra: A Tribute is an all-encompassing aural portrait of Francis Albert Sinatra's life, from the beginning of his career to his death.  A performer of international renown, Frank Sinatra was one of the most potent figures of popular culture, changing the face of music history and defining style for years to come.

Sinatra: A Tribute includes:

Portions of actual interviews with Sinatra over the years about his life, his career, his family and his beloved charity work
Conversations with his friends and acquaintances such as Mia Farrow and Martin Scorsese
Extracts from media coverage of the milestones of his life and career

Written and Narrated by Geoffrey Giuliano.  Geoffrey Giuliano is the writer and narrator of the recent BDD Audio bestseller, That Fateful Night:  True Stories of Titanic Survivors in Their Own Words.

Customer Reviews:

The Ring A Ding Ding Guy For Real.......2002-10-12

We loved you Frank and because of this great audio presentation now we remember why! First class.

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