Sinatra: The Life

by Anthony Summers, Robbyn Swan

From the best-selling author of The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe, the first fully documented, comprehensively researched, birth-to-death biography—the definitive life—of Frank Sinatra.

Sinatra is the story of an American icon who held the imagination of millions for more than fifty years and whose influence in popular music was unsurpassed in the twentieth century. As a child, he said, he had heard “symphonies from the universe” in his head. No one could have imagined where those sounds would lead him. Tracing the arc of this incredible life, from the humble beginnings in Hoboken to the twilight years as a living legend in Malibu, Sinatra follows a career built on raw talent, sheer willpower—and criminal connections.

Drawing on a treasure trove of documents and interviews, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan reveal stunning new information about Sinatra’s links to such Mafia figures as Sam Giancana and Lucky Luciano. And we see for the first time where the Mafia connection began, how and why it lasted, and how it impinged on others, not least President John F. Kennedy.

Here, too, is the core of the private Sinatra—alternately caustic and sympathetic—that the singer so long concealed. The heartbreaking truth about his passion for Ava Gardner emerges from never-before-published conversations with Gardner herself. In exclusive, intimate interviews, the women who loved Sinatra—some of them unknown to the public until now—share memories of the joy and pain of their relationships with him. And we learn what it was like to be the friend of a man who was generous and loyal to a fault, yet—as some of his fellow Rat Packers discovered—who could turn abruptly into a vindictive brute.

Dramatic, eye-opening, and unfailingly fair-minded, Sinatra is masterful  the revelatory story of a brilliant artist and an infinitely complex man.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, History, Audiobook, Pop Culture

576 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2005

About the author

Anthony Summers is the bestselling author of eight nonfiction books. His investigative books include Not in Your Lifetime, the critically acclaimed book about the assassination of John F. Kennedy; Official & Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover; and most recently The Eleventh Day, on the 9/11 attacks—a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for History.

Reviews

[Jay Schutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catching up with one of my forgotten reads from long ago. Remember it was quite good with lots of name dropping, of course.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Listen to Dead People

I grew up thinking Elvis was strictly for dead people and Frank, Bing and all of those guys were beyond dead, even zombies thought they were too dead. All those guys were The Enemy, but us young generation were off their radar, we were free of all of those crap songs for swinging misogynists. Then years later I discovered actual old music, by which I mean stuff from the 20s and 30s. It was a kind of revelation - pre-Beatles music could be great. Well, I was young, I had to find this stuff out. Nobody was handing it to me on an ipod, I had to chisel out the carter Family and Mississippi John Hurt from the sheer rockface. So I kind of inched my way back through the 20th century, musically, thinking I'd probably written off a lot of good stuff in a sneer from the arrogance of youth. I encountered a few difficulties, one of which is that I dislike 90% of jazz and 101% of swing.

So of course I got to Frankie.

Frank Sinatra thought rock & roll was strictly for morons, a cretinous three chord racket played by juvenile delinquents. He wasn't alone in that view. If you set Nice Work if you can Get It or Night and Day beside Get a Job and Twenty Flight Rock you can see his point. It took rock music years to attain the kind of sophistication and wit which was standard in the 1920s. (Great exception to this rule, lyrically anyway : Chuck Berry). Frank lived to see rock and roll eat up his swing music and spit out the bones. Naturally, after a few years Rock became another hideous bloated corporate beast, but that's how it goes.

Frank was pretty good, I guess. His ring-a-ding stuff still sends me hurtling for the remote control but he had a way with the slow miserable ballads with his mournful foghorn of a voice. He's a bit too self-regarding a singer. You can hear it in the records, there’s a subtext that chimes out like a bell which says it just don’t get any better than this. I don't care for him very much. But when it comes to towering icons, that's not important.

History Lesson 1 : panty throwing

By 1944 Frank had left the Tommy Dorsey Band and was solo. The girl-fan hysteria had begun in earnest:

On October 11, opening night at the Paramount in New York, Frank triggered a frenzy unprecedented in the history of music... the police estimated that 10,000 kids were queued up six abreast on 43rd Street... and another 20,000 were running wild in Times Square.

Swooning, panty throwing, the whole shooting match. Summers then comments:

The adulation of Elvis Presley ten years later, or of the Beatles in 1964, perhaps came close. The furor over Frank, though, was the first eruption of youthful idolatry in the twentieth century, and as great as any that has come since.

I take the point that Frank was the first but maybe Anthony Summers had forgotten the total craziness of the Beatles' arrival in America.
Their popularity, which was global, marks a peak of lunacy which I think no one will ever reach again. Tens of thousands of kids used to go to airports just to see the Beatles get off a plane. Now that's insane you know. And also that's the facts.

History Lesson 2 : Frank was a liberal Democrat!

I didn't know that in the mid to late 40s he was such a strong campaigner for racial equality, putting a lot of his own dough and time into various anti-racism projects. This at the same time as making all those endless Sammy Davis Jnr jokes. Man of contradictions for sure. So he followed Winston Churchill's well-known political trajectory - the man who is not a socialist in his youth has no heart, but the man who remains a socialist has no head. Something like that.

Frank’s Busy Member

By the late 50s Frank was embodying two very popular myths. On the one hand he appears to be the very acme of the male version of the Good Life – he’s rich, he wears good suits, he drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and he just doesn’t give a flying fuck, he shags and shags and shags and shags and shags and he gives even less of a flying fuck, he gets and spends, he ducks and dives, he makes vastly popular records and films – it gets to the point where he can leaf through a movie magazine and spot a new starlet, decide he wants to shag her, and he knows that in two or three days after two or three phone calls, he will. There are various versions of this particular male fantasy – Hugh Hefner marketed it quite successfully, as did and does James Bond. On the other hand – the other Popular Myth - according to this bio, he’s miserable and lonely, because the Great Love of his life, Ava Gardner (of whom I could never get the point) is even more of a petulant pouting martini-glugging shag monster than Frankie – touche! Haha! have at you, Frankie! One for the girls! So God does have a sense of humour after all.

So that’s all quite romantic then – he’s has everything but his life is essentially empty. Phew – I was just on the point of envying him – now I can see as I gaze upon my wife of 17 years and my 2 point 3 children that my meagre looks and income have brought me a much more fulfilled life than Frankie with his Italian cool, his millions, and his allegedly sizeable male member. Okay, I feel better already.

Actually, reading about all this boozing and chasing tail gets to feel like you’re having a bath with snails instead of water, very slimy indeed. And unfortunately the reason I was reading this thing – the music and the movies – is confined to the margins.

Summary : The first hundred pages is Frankie in bed with the Mafia, and the second hundred is Frankie in bed with a cast of thousands.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very very dense. Dates, names, references that needed to be remembered were easily in every paragraph. It's a 400 page book with over 100 pages of sources after that. That is nuts. The author went to great lenghts to obtain first hand testimony in regards to every topic brought forth. As expected I learned so much abour Sinatra, but also about the Kennedy's, Marilyn Monroe, the mob, and old hollywood. I was never fascinated with Sinatra's mob connections, I could give a shit, what I really wanted was stories relating to the timeline of his music. The book did that somewhat, but it was more a biography of an american hero than a musical bio. At the end of the book I was reduced to tears, because of course what happens at the end of a bio, the person dies.

I would recommend this book to fans of Sinatra for sure. I have always respected the man as he was loved by all walks of life and many generations. As I work in music, I have said the last couple of years is to "find my Sinatra," an artist that everybody can relate to and is simply talented beyond belief. Mind you, this book uncovers some not so pretty incidents that involved the man but I don't begrudge him anything. He is "The Voice," the Chairman of the Board, Ol' Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra.

Legendary.

[Lanko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating.

I knew nothing of the man or his music and got the book in a used bookstore essentially for the shiny cover after vising the place three times, as if the book begged me to pick it. I'm glad I did.

Sometimes grabbing a random book that would never appear as a recommendation on any feed for you or that would never cross your mind to read can get the best experiences out of the no expectations, all is mystery and surprise involved. This was one of those.

From humble origins as an Italian immigrant in a poor suburb to the involvement with the Mafia for his whole life would already be quite the railroad but there's still more to add to it: the genius singer who frequently flew into blind rage and numerous fights (literally fist fights) with plenty of people, mainly journalists and photographers. With the addition of having plenty of mafia goons to accompany him.

The extremity of the opposites: the man who so highly valued marriage but was also the "modern Casanova". He would propose and marry numerous times while constantly having affairs. The most popular artist of various decades, but also the most lonely man in his private life. From extremely generous and caring to various people in difficulty, for cutting close friends who had been with him for decades for the pettiest of perceived disloyalty or offense.

Campaigned hard for the Democrats, only to have the Kennedys betray the Mafia (both Kennedy brothers ended up assassinated), then turning to make campaign for both Nixon and Reagan (whom he called clowns previously), and all the homages he had wanted from Kennedy came from the Republicans mostly.

He had numerous falls and rises during the career, but it was quite sad at the end, to see every friend die, and also him losing many of the places that had been his home - both his casino and his 40+ years home (whom he built) at Palm Springs.

Despite having near 800 pages, the whole story is done at little more than 450, with 300+ pages just with bibliography citing the ridiculously large amount of sources. There are more than 300 books listed, and even more articles, news and interviews used.

I'm now glad I accidentally discovered Sinatra.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

👍. Great book

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough look at the man's life and legend. Long!!!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this not only to be a fascinating biography on Frank Sinatra, but also a revealing look at some of the other famous lives that Frank assocated with: Ava Gardner, Jack Kennedy, and Marilyn Monroe. An amazing singing talent, Frank lived life excessively in terms of drink, women, and his mafia associations. This book reemphasizes to me that fame and money does not ensure happiness, in fact, it rarely brings happiness at all. Frank dated (and married) some of the most beautiful women of his day, yet all his relationships seemed devoid of anything substantive. At the end of it all, I think he realized that if he'd just stayed with his first wife, Nancy, he could have lived a pretty happy life and avoided so much pain and loneliness.

In his later years, he depended heavily on alcohol and pills to ease his torment, yet through it all (and I've just watched some of his appearances on Youtube), he exuded so much power and confidence. His life was riddled with mistakes, misunderstandings, lost friendships and empty relationships. As often is the case with superstars that can have anything they want, this incredibly talented person led a private life of tragic chaos.

I thought this book was well-researched and very insightful.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd give this book ten stars if I could. What an extraordinary man! Even though I was a bit shocked to find out about his mafia connections - Mr Sinatra wasn't such a teddy bear that I first thought he was... Good fun to read a passage in the book from a man I have met many times and who was a POW in Japan during WW2. Even more fun to ask him about it the next time I met him!

[Joe Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a survey of the entertainment industry in the 30s through the 60s, great.
As a look into the reach and influence of the mob in American culture, great.
As a look into the psyche and life of Sinatra, pretty good.
As a look into the music of Sinatra, terrible.

[Edmund Roughpuppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the book much better than the man.

Frank Sinatra’s name kept popping up everywhere. I thought I should find out about this man who greatly influenced American music in the 20th century. I chose this biography by Anthony Summers and his wife Robbyn Swan, because I enjoyed Summers’ biography of another influential character, “Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover.”

To summarize, Summers came through again with a real page-turner. He structures his chapters carefully, giving each a pleasing, manageable length and ending with a stinger, propelling me into the next. Summers and Swan paint a detailed portrait of Frank Sinatra’s charmed life, his remarkable power over other people. Art historian, Camille Paglia wrote:

“Modern middle-class women cannot bear the thought that their hard-won professional achievements can be outweighed in an instant by a young hussy flashing a little tits and ass. But the gods have given her power, and we must welcome it.” —Vamps and Tramps

That is one kind of natural, inherited, unearned power, the female kind. The male kind has been called “alpha male charisma.” Comedian Bill Cosby played football with a character he called, “Golden Boy,” whom everyone else instinctively protected and deferred to. Frank Sinatra had it, head to toenails, and thus he was able to live a life the rest of us can only dream of.

1. He sold millions of records and made his female fans wet their seats. Frank’s belief in his own greatness never waivered:

“When a journalist asked about the ‘skinny little singer’ who sang so well, [Harry] James replied: ‘Not so loud. The kid’s name is Sinatra. He considers himself the greatest vocalist in the business. Get that! No one ever heard of him. He’s never had a hit record. He looks like a wet rag. But he says he is the greatest. If he hears you compliment him, he’ll ask for a raise tonight.’”

“‘Nobody loved Frank better than Frank,’ said Jeanne Carmen, who went with him intermittently over a lengthy period starting in the mid-1950s.”

Part of this life-long romance was Frank’s fictional, flexible autobiography:
“Frank evidently invented much of his image as the abused wop with a violent childhood. “He was never picked on because of his heritage,” said Nick Sevano. . . . As for boxing, said [a childhood friend], Frank ‘never had a fight. He is excitable and he gets loaded and then thinks he can fight, but he couldn’t knock your hat off with a ball bat.’”

2. He relentlessly created and promoted his idea of what music ought to be. When it appeared to be falling behind the popular mood, Frank renewed it for an enthusiastic audience.

3. The women. It is thrilling—in fact, exhausting—to survey the devastated landscape, trailing Frank’s libido.

“‘A star is a special thing,’ the social scientist Leo Rosten said on the Walter Cronkite program to mark Frank’s fiftieth birthday. ‘. . . We shower them with special license, like the royalty of an earlier time. We say, “Gratify your desires. Satisfy every whim. Don’t resist temptation. Live for us. Live as we would live if we were beautiful or brilliant or lucky and very, very rich.” Mr. Sinatra generates excitement. He tantalizes the public and defies it with his private escapades. He’s a complicated man. . . . He has an animal tension. A suggestion of violence, even of danger.’”

“He quieted down, stared out the window, and said, ‘I want to be married.’ According to [his valet, George] Jacobs, he then returned to his apartment and had a prostitute come over, before heading off to Las Vegas.”

3. He constantly threatened, intimidated and physically attacked his “enemies,” often calling in professional help. Almost every time, he got away with it. Part of Sinatra’s power was a near-universal immunity to punishment. Other golden boys share this immunity. Consider the well-known crimes of the 45th president of the United States, his two impeachment trials and the multiple indictments which followed. As of this writing, no significant punishment has reached him, while others have gone to prison for their involvement in his schemes.

Similarly, Frank’s fights could have resulted in death, serious injury or jail time for almost anyone else. Once, just once, Frank’s tantrum cost him two teeth and his dignity. This was the highlight of the book for me. It occurred on page 332. After Sinatra crashed through a glass window with his golf cart and attempted to set The Sands resort and casino on fire . . .

“Shortly before 6:00 A.M., having been woken, [Sands vice president Carl] Cohen joined Frank at a table in the restaurant. Frank called him a ‘son-of-a-bitch,’ ‘motherfucker,’ ‘rat fink’ and ‘cock sucker,’ and said ‘I’ll get a guy to bury you.’ Then he turned the table over on Cohen.
. . . Cohen reached out with his right fist, striking Frank Sinatra in the upper lip, resulting in the loss of two front teeth. Cohen stood over six feet tall and weighed about 250 pounds. Frank was knocked to the floor, but got back on his feet and screamed ‘You broke my teeth. I will kill you’—along with a new stream of invective. He again tried to hit Cohen and bashed a security man over the head with a chair when he intervened, opening a cut that required stitches. Then he left, having again threatened to have the casino boss killed. He phoned Mia [Farrow] sounding, she recalled, ‘bewildered and upset,’ his speech ‘unclear.’ Cohen had demolished much of the expensive dentistry on his front teeth.
Two of the usual heavies had been at Frank’s side during the fracas, and at one point, according to Sonny King, Frank ordered them to ‘get’ Cohen. Cohen responded, ‘You make one move and they won’t know which part of the desert to find you,’ and the heavies backed off. . . . Years later, when testifying before the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Frank dismissed the episode as having been ‘just an argument between two fellows’ that he would ‘rather not discuss.’”

The implications of this event overshadow it:
a. Frank often got his way—My Way—through intimidation, but when resisted, his hired thugs deflated, even though they were three against one! Did other victims give in to Frank unnecessarily? Did Frank himself fear his Mafia associates unnecessarily?
“Often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key.” — Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund

b. Every one of Sinatra’s associates witnessed him contracting and committing physical violence, repeatedly. None hindered him. None reported him to the police, not once. All were culpable: Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jerry Lewis, Peter Lawford, Mia Farrow.

People who could reign in alpha males do not. They protect and make excuses for them, instead. I think this is a biological program our brains run. In nature, following the leader is most often safer than challenging him. Remember this, you revolutionaries, when attempting to overthrow a golden boy. Don’t be surprised if your comrades turn tail and run back to Daddy.

4. But Frank Sinatra’s incomparable singing made up for his excesses, right? Not for me, no. His voice is weak, his pitch and his rhythm wander forever behind his band. This is not “genius phrasing,” only bad singing. If you want to hear what I’m talking about, listen to a comparison. First, Ray Eberle sings with the Glen Miller orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMP-4...
Then Frank sings the same song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTaN9...

Ray is the strong bus driver who’ll get you home. Frank is a tipsy Karaoke patron, lunging at the music from a basement in Toledo. Frank sounds like Ray’s less confident little brother.

I do respect Frank’s workman-like acting. Perhaps more discipline was imposed on him in that job. He wasn’t allowed to walk onto the set 10 minutes after his cue.

5. Summers and Swan write, more than once, that Frank shaped his thinking by reading great books. After expulsion from high school for violent pranks, he embarked on a serious study program. No titles or details follow, and I dismiss this idea. Their account of his life does not indicate any study or deep thinking, about anything. The late Christopher Hitchens delivered the same judgment on the Reverend Jerry Falwell:

“Anderson Cooper: You don’t believe he was sincere in his reading of the Bible . . . ?
Christopher Hitchens: . . . I doubt that he could actually read any long book, at all.”

When I visit my local library and run into Mike Tyson, I’ll look behind him for Frank Sinatra.

6. In conclusion, I loved this book. Summers and Swan tied many distant events and personalities together into a coherent biography of a shallow, alcoholic bully. His life’s story, as they tell it, is far more interesting than Sinatra himself.

[Jack Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The following is the last paragraph of this biography
He had decided never to write his autobiography, he had said, "because I'm not proud of too many things i've done." What he wished to be remembered for, he told an inter-viewer, was "to have succeeded in making popular music an art form_ to have reached people. ..." He had also once said: "Whatever else has been said about me is unimportant. When I sing, I believe."

point blank
Anthony Summers is not a good biographer. He is not a fair biographer. He is a BBC journalist who thrives on scandal and slander. He did not represent Frank Sinatra in any sort of good light, he failed to give an accurate account of what I wanted to read- A biography on Frank Sinatra's life.

Instead i got a messy account of his vast dealings with women, and every minute baseless claim about his dealings with the mafia. So much of this book is conjecture, and they wouldn't even disagree. I cannot tell you the number of times i was reading some outrageous story about how evil frank sinatra is, followed by "But the sources are not credible and the claims lack evidence" For heavens sake why are you wasting my time with this hogwash? This book is so dense. Dense with nothing of value. I do not need to know every woman Frank Sinatra ever engaged in a relationship with! I want to know about his life and his music!

To be fair- the first third of this book was pretty great. It provided a well balanced, great portrayal of his life and career. How he rose to fame and found stardom. But once Frank gains serious popularity the authors seem to get bored, and choose to focus on sensationalism instead of substance. Such a shame.
Read 150 pages then ditch the book and pick up a better biography.
Read a biography written by someone that actually likes Frank Sinatra. Anthony Summers makes it pretty clear in this book that he is not a fan of Frank Sinatra and his character.

(granted frank sinatra surely wasnt a perfect man... but for hells sake move on from a mans mistakes and tell me about his life!)

Don't read this book, look for another one trust me.

[Lauren Schnoebelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
I really wanted to read this for several years because my grandpa loved Frank Sinatra. This biography looked at a different side of the life of this famous singer. While including the main events of his career, it primary focused on his involvement with the Italian mod and his involvements in politics. This was super fascinating because we live in a time where we think it’s new for celebrities to be politically involved in campaigns. I listened to the audiobook of this. Even though it was extremely well read and the different voices of people throughout the book were distinct, it skipped over several parts and probably only covered about 2/3 of the book. For someone who follows along in the physical copy when listening, it made it really hard. But overall I still really enjoyed my time reading the book and it also made me feel a little bit closer to my grandpa.

[Kiril · Rating 3 out of 5]

През 1971 г когато Синатра решава да се оттегли от активна дейност той има зад гърба си над 900 песни, издал е 87 албума и е участвал в 45 филма. Никога не съм предполагал , че всичко напрвено от него е толкова мащабно. Близък до почти всички президенти от Рузвелт насам, неуморим почитател на жените, страстен пушач и любител на Jack Daniels. Книгата изобилства с информация за богатия му живот, връзките с мафията и прочие. Може би точно зараади това я оцених само с 3 звезди. Дойде ми твърде фундаментална, прекалено много информация, в много случаи за хора просто от обкръжението на Синатра. Може би интересна за американците в този аспект, но за мен се получи едно размиване на фокуса върху живота на Синатра. Да си призная прескачах цели пасажи, когато авторите се увличаха в подробности.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is based on the audio version as read by Scott Brick. Overall it was just too long. After a few hours of listening it was clear what the authors were trying to say - Sinatra had strong connections to the mob, and he often wasn't a very nice guy. As those hours started to drag on, the ongoing mob/not-a-nice-guy theme got more than just a little old. There were interesting sections about Sinatra and JFK, and women in his wife like Ava Gardner. But for me, the ratio of mob content to his singing career felt unbalanced.

[Mark Holencik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have owned this book for awhile. Though I like his music, I usually pick up Dean Martin when wanting to listen to a crooner. Getting to the bottom of the stack of stack, I read it. I am glad I did.

We all have regrets. We make choices that we have to live with and make peace with them. Like Frank, I do the best I can with what I have. He helped a lot of people. Made things happened. Did what he loved by using the talents he was given till the end. This book tells that story.

[Louisa Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story of a very angry and lonely man that was controlled, eventually, by his fourth wife, Barbara. When criticized, Barbara said that Atival controlled his mood swings.
By the time of his death, I don’t think Frank Sinatra had ever attained what he was looking for. Not through his connections to the mob, not through his many possessions, nor through his many affairs could he attain what he was looking for. I don’t think he even knew what could truly make him happy.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much here in this book on Sinatra. The time line exposes the mafia connections to the entertainment and government. Sinatra had so many connections to so many big name entertainers of the time, drinking of course seemed to rule many lives as well as love affairs. He was generous with his money. If you want to read this era, read this book. You may say like me "I was wondering about that".

[Katarzyna Konieckiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed picture of Frank Sinatra's life, full of sex, coincidences and good fun. This book shows how beautiful songs could be made by not a Perfect Man. Sinatra's closest friends and people who he worked with were not a good human examples which is on the opposite of songs he sang. That trulely suprised me and I will never listen to his music without this ambivalent feeling.

[Anna Dral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niesamowicie skrupulatna biografia gwiazdy światowego formatu. Myślę. że jej największą zaletą jest fakt, iż po lekturze można równie mocno kochać Sinatrę jak i go nienawidzić. To bowiem historia człowieka, który łączył w sobie oślepiające wręcz światło i niezgłębiony mrok, które autorom udało się świetnie opisać.

[Dorothy Knaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography with over 100 pages of notes, interviewed over 500 people, but no comments from wives or children; lots of his association with the Mafia. Author was a BBC journalist. Portrayed Sinatra with a life of drinking and loneliness. Never know how much is true but it was a very interesting read – not totally in chronological order – each chapter discussed certain people/period of time.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

people will rate this book lower than usual because it talks more about his private life? lame. if you want to know more about his music listen to his records - it's all there. use your ears. books are for eyes.

[Eugenia Brashovsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring and sometimes annoying voice, one-sided storytelling.

[Jackie Lyon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok for me

[Christine Mathieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was o.k.., but the biography by Kitty Kelley was better.

[Claire Biggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read into the very full life lived by Sinatra, the ups and downs and lots of twists and turns, how he took no prisoners in anything he said and did certainly a life that was lived

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Sinatra was a complex but flawed performer, often driven by his ego, temper and insecurities. This book is packed with details about his connections to the Mafia, involvement in politics and crowded love life. There's much to do with Ava Gardner here, who was the love of his life and the source of his greatest pain. The book shows how their passionate and turbulent affair affected both of them emotionally and professionally. "Where Are You?" is the title track of the album of the same name, which also happens to be my favorite Sinatra album (although I cannot listen to it, and have not done so since 2020), but it's so goddamn depressing and a gut punch to listen to; that song in particular and "Maybe You'll Be There". Sinatra recorded the album during his and Gardner's separation. He never got over her for the remainder of his life. I digress. This is a solid book that pulls no punches about Sinatra being a brutish, womanizing asshole despite his voice still being powerful as ever.

[Paul Pryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book - but less so the story, and even less again the man.
The books joins up a lot of the dots of information people feel they may already know, plus with some great insight into e.g. his legendary generosity.
All said and done - a good read.

[Miranda Levi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sinatra by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan

This biography qualifies for my 2016 reading challenge as the "book I own but never read." I've owned two copies of this book, hard back and audio, for many years now but I never 'found the time' to read either. I think in part because of the size, I knew it would be a large time commitment.

Let me start first by saying: It was worth every single minute, page, word committed.

The authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, thoroughly researched this book. It's been a long time since I've read such a strategically thought out biography. Truly. The structure followed (for the most part) from the beginning of Frank Sinatra's life and his parentage through his death, with limited veering from the timeline. Sinatra managed to cover some hot topics such as: The Mob, JFK Life and Death, The Mob, All 4 Wives and 400 Mistresses, The Mob, Singing Career, The Mob, Acting, The Mob, His Charitable Nature, and even The Mob...again. I always wondered how deeply rooted Sinatra was with the Mob, and this biography paints a very colorful story I'm sure would make the very private Sinatra roll in his grave.

Summers and Swan made me reassess the love of my musical life, a little. Like every person breathing, Sinatra was human. As humans we all make mistakes and some of them are worse then others. Sinatra lived a very... is 'active' (pun only partially intended) the right word here?... a very unique life.

Musically speaking I was a bit on the sheltered side. Some might argue the opposite, my parents for sure but it wasn't until I was 16 that I discovered life outside of 80s rock. This might be great for someone a few years older then myself but my formative middle and high school years were in the late 90s and early 2000s (graduating class of 2003 here). Growing up in the most north west corner of the united states meant that Canada was closer then Seattle, offered better hangout places, the only local TV and radio (also why my accent is accused of being Canadian - not that I'll admit to having an accent in the first place). Which effected my choices of what to watch and listen too- also this contributed to missing a lot of the very popular types of music and TV (Meh). This combined with the cost of CD players in the 90s and my lack of radio control all equaled believing that the coolest music in the world was accessed through my parent's record and CD collection. It was a lot of Guns and Roses, Heart, Meatloaf, Alice Cooper, Eagles, and Cindy Lauper. My first tape was a mix and my favorite song was Joan Jet's version of Crimson and Clover. In fact I think I still have it in a box somewhere. So sweet 16 came along and I got my first car. To me, this meant control over the radio. Holly shit world, there is so much music! Gods forbid I run with the crowd on this one, no... I fell in love with Sinatra instead. So while my friends were in the world of boy bands (which is a funny story for another time) I was in love with Frankie Blue Eyes.

Reading this book meant taking the chance that I'd be so disgusted with someone I loved. But I guess that's the thing about love. It means loving the person whole, flaws and all. Loving them for everything they are: good, bad, and the ugly. I worried for nothing. I still love Frank despite his severely rooted Mob ties, his drinking, the 400 mistress, and his often angry take on life. His music makes me swoon still today. I can't help but stop whatever I'm doing to listen. A girl doesn't take 10 years hunting down a specific record to find the only version of a song she loves, to fall out of love by some words in a book. Even if that book doesn't always paint the man so nicely. While this post has taken a mind of it's own, Sinatra was a gripping detailed portrait of a man the world loved through music and movies. I was no exception. While not always kind with words, the authors seemed to be as unbiased as possible in their work which I appreciated. At the end of the day when all is said and done, I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Kat Pisano · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know all of Frank Sinatra's dirty secrets, they are all laid out in here.

[Nathan Nipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've long been interested in Sinatra the artist and decided to pick this book up to learn more about the man behind one of the most famous voices of all time. Summers & Swan do an excellent job of chronicling the Chairman of the Board's big life, from his humble beginnings to his teen idol days and his 1950's resurgence as an older, more mature star. They devote considerable time to detailing Frank's long rumored(and long denied) connections to the Mafia.

One illuminating passage compares the episode in The Godfather(both book & movie)concerning the singer and would-be actor who gets some help from his Godfather who provides some "Persuasion" *Cough* Horse-head in bed *Cough* with the Mafioso who helped Frank's career rebound with his Oscar-winning part in From Here to Eternity.

Here also is Sinatra's many loves and losses, none more haunting than his 40+ year pursuit of Ava Gardner. There are multiple mentions of liaisons with all kinds of women (including prostitutes) and also allegations of sexual assault and rape.

Sinatra was a man of his time, and reading this book, I can't help but get the feeling that he would be miserable in our time. (not that he didn't have his bad days, and years) But given that the relatively tame media of his day could often provoke Sinatra to casual violence & crude behavior(He once peed on the grave of a reporter whom he had a feud with), today's relently 24/7 media circus, both on cable & online would had kept Sinatra on edge.

Still, despite his underworld associations, his womanizing, his brutish ways, the singer still has a way of coming through to us today, and his voice is as powerful as every.