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Title: Rat Pack Confidential : Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party by Shawn Levy ISBN: 0-385-49576-5 Publisher: Main Street Books Pub. Date: 20 July, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.08 (37 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Rat Pack
Comment: I read this book after seeing the HBO movie 'The Rat Pack'. The characters in the movie fascinated me, and, knowing little about Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, or Joey, I decided to read this book. It was a wise decision. Levy's writing style, while not particularly original, was fitting, and reflected the hip, laid back attitude of his subjects. Of course the parts about Sinatra were good, Dean Martin seems to be as big of a mystery to Levy as he was to everyone else, and Sammy Davis Jr. comes off as he probably should have: the most talented entertainer in a group of talented entertainers. As for the minor members, Peter Lawford is just pathetic, and seems to use and get used by everyone, and Joey Bishop, an overlooked character in the movie, is the glue that holds them all together. This is a wonderful book the truly captures the personality of a bygone era.
Rating: 4
Summary: An impulse buy - great read, great history
Comment: I picked up 'Rat Pack Confidential' in the airport, looking for a way to kill time on a couple of upcoming flights. This book filled those needs and more. It's a very compelling read...a finely crafted and expertly researched work on the makings - and subsequent unmakings - of the Rat Pack.
There are excellent portraits of the main protagonsists - Sinatra, Davis Jr., Martin, Lawford and Bishop - and Shawn Levy draws a vivd portrait of Las Vegas at the beginning of the 60s. Levy's research brings up five distinct personalities...despite the perceptions of 'clanishness' that the public held about the Rat Pack, these were each very unique individuals.
Levy weaves together a series of threads to make up the core of the book, and one month after finishing it, there are three that linger in my mind...
1. Sinatra's 'using' of Peter Lawford as an inroad to JFK. [Sinatra derisely referred to Lawford as 'the brother-in-Lawford.'] Once Lawford was of no use to him anymore, Sinatra discarded him & Lawford never really fully recovered.
2. Sinatra's desperate attempts to curry favor with JFK, and the Kennedy Administation's efforts to keep him (and the Rat Pack) at arm's length.
3. Marilyn Monroe - caught in a downward spiral, her eerie presence haunts the latter-half of the book as powerful men use (and abuse) her.
I went into this book expecting a breezy show-biz-type read and was very pleasantly surprised about the serious matter of much of the material: the development of Las Vegas; Presidential politics; Mafia intrigue; and lives destroyed by excess. Great stuff.
Rating: 4
Summary: Better than I expected
Comment: I really enjoyed this book, much more than I anticipated. Mr. Levy admits upfront that it is a compilation of other books brought together in one place. His writing style is smooth and effortless, making for a fast read, but you get inside the group and the time really effectively. I knew quite a bit going into the book, but I learned much more, particularly about Sammy and Joey. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of any of these dudes, or to those who are only curious.
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Title: The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin' by Bill Zehme ISBN: 0060931752 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Mr. S : My Life with Frank Sinatra by George Jacobs, William Stadiem ISBN: 0060515163 Publisher: HarperEntertainment Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title:The Rat Pack Live at the Sands ASIN: B00005RGHW Publisher: Capitol Pub. Date: 20 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.99 |
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Title:The Rat Pack ASIN: B00005MKO9 Publisher: A & E Entertainment Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.46 |
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Title:Rat Pack's Las Vegas ASIN: B00005YUOE Publisher: Kultur Pub. Date: 29 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $17.96 |
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