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Title: In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Wil Haygood ISBN: 0-375-40354-X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (12 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Not about Sammy
Comment: This is a very well written book. Unfortunatley it is not about the life and times of Sammy Davis Junior as it professes to be. It is an essay of the authors opinions of the racial troubles of the times, woven through the story of Sammy.A not so nice surprise to the readers!
Rating: 4
Summary: a fascinating take on The Candy Man
Comment: Sammy Davis, Jr. is probably best known these days as one of Frank Sinatra's sidekicks. But during his lifetime, Davis was a multi-talented performer who could both delight and infuriate his audience.My generation's main memories of Davis tend to be of a man who laughed too hard at jokes that weren't funny, went overboard in trying to be hip until he became a parody and someone who whose discomfort in his own skin was only too apparent.
Davis was a super talent but a complex human being. It would probably be impossible to encompass the whole of his personality in a single book but the author manages to get a good grasp of his subject. Haygood's prose tends to be overdramatic at times but he makes the reader understand Davis' confusion over his racial identity. He also explains the reasons behind many African Americans' ambivalence toward Davis. We also get a fuller and previously untold story about Davis' parents Sam, Sr. and Elvera whose tense relationship with her son was a contributing factor to many of his demons.
Thankfully, Haygood avoids the sleaziness and shallowness of Gary Fishgall's book Gonna Do Great Things. He also presents a fuller picture of Davis than Davis' daughter Tracy did in her book (a horrible work.) He writes of his subject's more questionable habits (sex and drugs) but doesn't lose sight of who Davis was.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great history book!
Comment: Overall, I think the book is great. It was well researched. The author puts the many milestones in Sammy's life in great historical perspective. We find out what type of indignities blacks entertainers endured beginning with the vaudeville era when they sought applause by performing in blackface to the `60s when they were not permitted to stay in hotels where they performed.
By understanding the times in which Sammy lived, the reader gets a better understanding of some of his disturbing behaviors such as the way he tolerated racist humor from his white friends and his adulation of white culture.
We also gain insight on the affect having an absent mother had on Sammy's relationship with women, his ambition and his constant need to be loved.
I would highly recommend this book!
Sammy is a true show business legend.
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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: Gonna Do Great Things : The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Gary Fishgall ISBN: 0743227417 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Last Good Time : Skinny D'Amato, the Notorious 500 Club, & the Rise and Fall of Atlantic City by Jonathan Van Meter ISBN: 0609608770 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 17 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Sammy Davis Jr. Me And My Shadow by Arthur Silber Jr. ISBN: 0965567559 Publisher: Samart Enterprises Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Natalie Wood : A Life by Gavin Lambert ISBN: 0375410740 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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