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Title: Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams by Nick Tosches ISBN: 0-385-33429-X Publisher: Delta Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 13 April, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.72 (29 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A look into Dino's brain: accurate? Who the heck knows!!!
Comment: Nick Tosches tried to do the impossible here, and you're guess is as good as mine as to whether he accomplished it: namely, to give us insight into what made Dean Martin tick; what motivated him, what turned him on, what turned him off, etc. The book has excessive detail, which I thought was a kind of filler or stalling technique when you realize that in spite of all the misc data out there on Dino; amply supplied in this book; none of it amounts to a hill of beans. In the end, you have to take a leap of faith that somehow, through tireless research and interviews, Mr Tosches developed an intuitive sense of what made Dino tick. The book was strong on the Jerry Lewis years, due to his interviews with Lewis. Also, Jeannie Martin gave some unique perspectives as well (ex: Dean said his prayers faithfully every night). Lets face it, there's no way to be analytical about such a complex and private individual. No doubt Mr Tosches hit the mark at times, and missed by a country mile at others. I found myself asking "does Dino really not give a crap about anything, as Nick Tosches suggests?" If so, why pray to the Lord each night? Without Dean's actual thoughts, I don't know how anyone could come closer to figuring this guy out than Nick Tosches did. I mean, even his wife didn't have a clue! If excess (and unnecessary) profanity doesn't turn you off, give it a try. I especially enjoyed the occasional thoughts in Italian! Nice job, Mr Tosches!
Rating: 4
Summary: Insincere Balladeer: Tosches' Dino
Comment:
Ornate, pretentious, entertaining and ultimately depressing, Nick Tosches' souped-up take on anti-legend Dean Martin (born Dino Crocetti) is an essential work on an underrated performer. Make no mistake, however: this is a thesis-bound book, and in no way qualifies as adoration, or even respect.
Tosches portrays Dino as a virtually schizoid burn-out waiting to happen, a man so distanced from his own humanity that casual sex, hard drinking, and a laissez-faire work ethic are the inevitable results. A frightening
image - but is it the "real" Dean Martin? Likely we'll never know, as Martin never revealed much of himself to his public (or, apparently, to his loved ones either). It's a forced choice, then: take Tosches' account as the closest thing there is to fact, or dismiss it entirely; in either case, still no Dean. As he'd have liked it, no doubt.
I'm a fan of Martin's music, film and television work; as such, it seems to me that Tosches invests so much time attempting to reveal the unknowable that he loses all sight of the performer. Perhaps he's right - that the entirety of Martin's life and career was an increasingly flimsy and facile put-on, that his status as an entertainer was rooted in a sinkhole soul and not in the desire to bring even fleeting joy to his fans. But he did anyway. With all due respect, Mr. Tosches, you can't take that away from me.
Rating: 4
Summary: True or False - A Great Read
Comment: Here is a question for you to ask about any biography that isn't about, say, George W. Bush -- how much do the facts really matter? Do we care that Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" is far less than 100 percent accurate as far as the facts go, or do we, as strangers to all the people in the book (who are now dead anyway), simply enjoy a great read?
I am no expert on Dean Martin or the Rat Pack. I read this book because I continually saw it referred to in reviews of other books as a classic show biz bio. And it is a wonderful thing to read, with much to say about the shady milieu of mob-controlled clubs that Martin came up out of.
Parts of it read like fiction to me. Tosches writes often from Martin's perspective, giving us his sometimes bitter, mostly don't give a damn sardonicism about everything going on around him. I don't know where Tosches got this stuff. I'm not sure I trust it. How can he know a dead man's thoughts?
But it feels true. It feels right to the character that Tosches evokes -- Martin as a guy who was accidentally famous and can't take much seriously. If it were a novel, it would feel true. Tosches has shown himself to be a good enough reporter here and elsewhere that I'm willing to believe what he has his Dino say here. (There's certainly plenty of backup documentation among the notes.)
For the average reader -- what does it matter? Here is a chance to get inside another person's head. This is the rare gift literature allows us -- we can understand another human being.
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Title: Martini Man: The Life of Dean Martin by William Schoell ISBN: 0878332316 Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey, & the Last Great Showbiz Party by Shawn Levy ISBN: 0385495765 Publisher: Main Street Books Pub. Date: 20 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin by Ricci Martin, Christopher Smith ISBN: 0878332723 Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Backstage at the Dean Martin Show by Lee Hale, Richard D. Neely ISBN: 0878331700 Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Last Opium Den by Nick Tosches ISBN: 158234227X Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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