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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.092273
EAN num: 9780385495769
ISBN number: 0385495765
Label: Main Street Books
Manufacturer: Main Street Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: July 20, 1999
Publishing house: Main Street Books
Release Date: July 20, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 170406
Studio: Main Street Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
For the very first time, the full story of what happened when Frank brought his best pals to party in a land called Vegas
January 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie. One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of the day. One is a short, black, Jewish, one-eyed, singing, dancing wonder. One is an upper-crust British pretty boy turned degenerate B-movie star actor, brother-in-law to an ascendant politician. And one is a stiff-shouldered comic with the quintessential Borscht Belt emcee’s knack for needling one-liners. The architectonically sleek marquee of the Sands Hotel announces their presence simply by listing their names: FRANK SINATRA. DEAN num MARTIN. SAMMY DAVIS, JR. PETER LAWFORD. JOEY BISHOP. Around them an entire cast gathers: actors, comics, singers, songwriters, gangsters, politicians, and women, as well as thousands of starstruck everyday folks who fork over pocketfuls of money for the privilege of basking in their presence. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack.
They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulouse playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side–over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance–took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same.
Acclaimed Jerry Lewis biographer Shawn Levy has written a dazzling portrait of a time when neon brightness cast sordid shadows. It was Frank’s World, and we just lived in it.
Amazon.com Review:
If you're not inclined to read individual biographies of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., Shawn Levy's Rat Pack Confidential is a perfect one-stop resource. Less a group biography than a series of impressionistic snapshots, the book is loaded with can't-miss material--the dirt on the making of Ocean's Eleven, information about Sinatra's wild stint as a casino owner, deep background on Peter Lawford's habit of introducing Jack Kennedy to glamorous starlets, wiretap transcripts of mobsters Sam Giancana and Johnny Formosa discussiong Dean Martin's lack of respect.
Levy, whose previous book, King of Comedy, is a serious consideration of Jerry Lewis's life and career, offers similarly well considered insights into the members of the Rat Pack. He covers Davis's lifelong struggle against racism and the complicated intertwinings of the Kennedy political machine and 'the Clan,' as the performers preferred to be called (they often denied anything like the Rat Pack even existed and resisted collective references).
The book's debts to its predecessors are often apparent; much of the material on Sinatra's friendship with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, for example, appears to have been gleaned from recent Bogart biographies. The writing style, which tries to capture the ring-a-ding-ding feel of the era, also owes serious debts to Nick Tosches by way of James Ellroy, while only intermittently reaching their level of mastery. But these are minor quibbles. As a synthesis of thirty years worth of journalism and celebrity biography, Rat Pack Confidential succeeds in portraying the supernova blowout of old-school showbiz in all its dazzling glory.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
This book was as depressing as it was interesting. The author was a bit indulgent with some of the suppositions, and there was a bit too much information on the Kennedy family. Overall, I learned more about a group of very fallible human beings. I lost some respect for some, gained some for others and walked away a bit depressed. It also makes Las Vegas look about as seedy as it really is, which is refreshing.
Rated by buyers -
This book is an easy read. A lot of the information in it isn't new, but there is some confirmation on various subjects.
Frank Sinatra's loneliness powered his voice. He had a strong desire to have an entourage around him. This started with a group he called "the Varsity".
Sinatra's interest in politics is explained by his mother's involvement in local politics.
Frank's ties to the mafia are detailed and the relationship of organized crime with the Kennedy family are confirmed and detailed better than in some contemporary books. The Fischetti brothers, Sam Giancana, and other organized crime figures appear in the book. The real ownership of various casinos and how the entertainment industry was involved was interesting.
Frank's gifts to Lucky Luciano and Sam Giancana was a new item to me.
The Chapter entitled "One of these days it'll come out" has a ring of familiarity in it regarding JFK's assassination.
The author does a good job chronicling the lives of the "Rat Pack" and their associates. Frank Sinatra is the main subject, but the others are covered well also.
Entertaining book!
Rated by buyers 
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I WOULD GIVE THIS PIECE OF JUNK A MINUS 5 IF IT WAS POSSIBLE. THE AUTHOR IS PEDESTRIAN AND PEDANTIC. HE MEAN numDERS SLOWLY THROUGH THESE MEN AND ACTUALLY MAKES DEAN num AND FRANK DULL. THAT TAKES A REAL ABSENCE OF SKILL.HE USES IS OWN ERRONEOUS INFO AS FACT. THERE ARE SO MANY BOOKS FAR SUPERIOR. HE OBVIOUSLY IS A SINATRA FAN WHICH IS FINE BUT PALLEY FRANK NEVER CAME CLOSE TO CROSBYS HEIGHTS OR RECORD SALES.FRANK ON HIS OWN LABEL DIDNT OUTSELL DEAN num MARTIN EVER.DEAN num WAS THE NUMBER ONE SELLER AT REPRISE ALWAYS.ALSO SINATRA WAS BIG IN THE USA , CROSBY WAS GOD IN THE USA AND THE WORLD. WATCH CROSBY VS. SINATRA IN THEIR TWO FILMS TOGETHER AND CROSBY WIPES THE FLOOR WITH FRANK AND -ALL THE CRITICS WROTE ABOUT THAT OFTEN.SINATRA WAS A PUNK AND ALWAYS A PUNK WHO NEEDED SYNCOPHANTS TO YES HIM. CROSBY WAS A MAN AND WENT HIS OWN WAY. LIKE BOGIE SAID OF SINATRA- HES A BOY WHO HAS NO MANNERS AND WILL NEVER GROW UP. DONT BOTHER WITH THIS BOOK. IT ISNT GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOILET PAPER.
Rated by buyers -
Not a lot of new knowledge in this book. Most of it has been written about before but it was interesting to see how the author linked the lives of these men together to show how their relationships evolved over time. I enjoyed reading this book.
Rated by buyers -
Rat Pack Confidential gives a 101 level course of the group, highlighting the fun they had together makes movies and showing off at the Vegas clubs. It then chronicles the toubles they had together (Why did Sammy alientate himself from Frank?) and then their downfalls as indvidiuals (Dean's descent into alcoholism). Longer books could (and have been) written about each of them indivdiually, but this succinctly captures their spirit in both the glamour and their squalor. It accomplishes what it sets out to do.
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