Dimensions
156 x 227 x 12mm
"I am a symmetrical man, almost to a fault," Sinatra once said. It is a peculiar statement, because Frank Sinatra was precisely asymmetrical. How to reconcile the enchanting crooner and the explosive bully? What to make of the smooth tones of his voice and the rough edge of his persona? To find the true correspondence between the public and the private Sinatra is no easy task. John Lahr, drama critic for the "New Yorker" and one of today's finest writers on the performing arts, has done just that in this book.
Lahr traces the trajectory of the "solitary latchkey kid" from Hoboken, New Jersey, into the stratosphere of fame. He kept company with presidents and mobsters; he put up the front of a happy family life while consorting with some of the most desired women in the world, including Ava Gardner, Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe. He led a life of manic gregariousness, yet spoke to the romance and loneliness of the "wee small hours of the morning."
The artist and the man: Sinatra epitomized control and he raged uncontrollably, destroying friendships, love affairs and a plate-glass window or two; he won fans around the world across three generations, created an unparalleled body of recorded work and almost single-handedly invented the postwar American swagger, the image of perfect individualism.
John Lahr's elegant, penetrating essay, alongside dozens of fascinating photographs from all periods of Sinatra's life, make this an essential book on the greatest popular singer the world has ever seen.
