Product Description

Among the recent books about frank sinatra, many critics picked this as the best-now in paperback.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1221256 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Library Journal
With The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Viking, 1991) on his roster of publications, Clarke is a creditable author in the pop music field. This latest, masterfully written effort--well researched and exemplifying an easy-to-follow style--should extend his reputation. Sinatra grew up the spoiled only child of Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, and his mother predicted he would turn out to be a bum. Singing was his only aspiration, and he chased this dream with all he had. Sinatra remains one of the best-selling entertainers of the 20th century, but Clarke does not gloss over the singer's dark side--his involvement with the mob and his numerous, stormy love affairs, for instance. As evidence of his enduring popularity, about a dozen biographers have honored him in only the last two years, including his daughter. This work, however, is among the best and should circulate well in most public libraries. --Regina L. Beach, Mississippi State Univ. Lib, Starkville
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A fascinating and flowing story, replete with details . . . This book has much to recommend it, and it is an excellent place to start reading about Sinatra." -- Leslie Gourse, Jazz Notes

"By far the best and most complete of the spate of books about Sinatra . . . takes an honest, non-judgmental tone with the singer's life, but doesn't sugarcoat anything. It is a far more elegant work than the bottom-feeders . . . Sinatra fans will want to pick up Clarke's book." -- Mark Chapman, Boston Sunday Herald

"Effectively conveys a sense of the time and place in which Sinatra was important." -- Publishers Weekly

"The most objective view of Sinatra's extraordinary life is to be found in Clarke's All or Nothing at All . . . Clarke's astute and succinct appraisals of Sinatra's albums and live performances are the best." -- Terry Lawson, Knight-Ridder

About the Author
Donald Clarke is the author of The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Wishing on the Moon: The Life and Times of Billie Holiday. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Customer Reviews

A third-rate book written by a second-rate writer
You get the feeling reading this book that Donald Clarke sees himself as a far more noble and heroic character than some mere mortal like Frank Sinatra. Clarke has taken self-righteousness and developed it into something approaching an art form. A waste of time, a waste of money, a waste of paper, glue, ink, and whatever else was needed to print this "biography". By the way, give the word "biography" the loosest interpretation possible. Donald Clarke has even less of a clue as to what the word "biograpy" means and his book is the best evidence to support my thesis.

An Excellent and Opinionated Book
Frank Sinatra was always a puzzle -- he sang like an angel, behaved like a jerk, and yet was apparently an extremely generous individual who kept his many charities secret.

Donald Clarke sits with all the contradictions of Sinatra, both musical and personal, without attempting to simplify them. The reviewer below who complained that the book is like an extended essay is right. Clarke does not attempt, in this relatively slim volume, to write the definitive biographical work. It is instead a shrewd, opinionated, and often funny review of the man and his music.

I'm not a FS fanatic, but I do own about 40 or 50 of his albums, which I guess makes me more than a casual fan. I almost always agreed with Clarke's musical judgements (although I think rather more of "Live at the Sands" than he does) and found a lot of value in the way he attempts to separate Sinatra's own bloviations from the facts (e.g. was Mitch Miller really responsible for how bad much of Sinatra's mid-50s work is? Not really, says Clarke, and gives reasons for this opinion).

This book is not a replacement for a full-length biography -- if you want the details on who slapped who first in every fight he had with Ava Gardner, you'll have to go elsewhere. It's also not a replacement for an annotated discography, although it made me hungry for one -- I thought I had a pretty good handle on Sinatra's recorded output, and Clarke made me realize there's a lot I don't know.

As for Clarke's writing style, I say "bravo." Judging by the impish grin he's wearing in the jacket photo, I'd say he's well aware of how provocative some of his comments are, but there's nothing arrogant about this book. Clarke has his opinions, and states them very strongly, but it's clear the reader is welcome to his or her own. If you're the sort of reader who is secure enough to enjoy strongly held and amusingly stated beliefs rather than be upset by them, I recommend this book most highly.

Don't Pay Cash For Trash!
There isn't a single word in this book that's worth the time it takes to read it. The reader below who claims that "five stars isn't enough" is either related to Donald Clarke or else he's an employee of the publishing company. No book that was ever written about Frank Sinatra (including Kitty Kelley's) is more deserving of going out of print. Let's all hope that it happens sooner rather than later. It's Mr. Clarke himself who apparently doesn't know the meaning of the word "biography". I suggest he try reading anything written by Peter Guralnick to see how it's done.