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Frank: The Voice (2010)

by James Kaplan(Favorite Author)

3.92 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0385518048 (ISBN13: 9780385518048)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Doubleday

review 1: Don't pay too much attention to my 3 stars. I really liked this book! In particular, the descriptions of the music - the sessions, the songs, the arrangements, the musicians, the Voice! - are fabulous (or as Frank would say, "marvelous"), written by and for a real music lover, full of insight and wonder. The portrait of Frank Sinatra as an artist is excellent. But I have to agree with the reviewers who complain that the book has too much of the ups and downs with Ava Gardner (hundreds of painfully detailed pages), or that it describes scenes and dialogue and details that no one could have possibly reported, or that it ends abruptly, midway through a life that had more than four decades still to go! All that aside, what IS there is a pleasure to read. So 3 stars for the boo... morek it is, and 2 invisible stars for the book it could have been. P.s. A wonderful side effect here is that I listened non-stop to Frank music while reading. Knowing his moods and state of mind when he was recording some of these iconic songs makes them so much more powerful and poignant. I always thought of him as invincible, like made of solid rock. But he was fragile, vulnerable, mercurial, passionate, conflicted... a crazy cocktail of swagger and self doubt. He absolutely was one of the most important artists of the 20th century.
review 2: James Kaplan covers Frank Sinatra from his birth in 1915 to his Academy Award in 1954. Much of the research is from other published biographies (of which there are many) but, this is not meant to be a documentary biography. These 700+ riveting pages are meant to develop the complex personality and character of Frank Sinatra. The style of Kaplan's prose fits his subject. It wouldn't work for a bio of Lincoln or Pavarotti, but it suits Sinatra to a tee.Besides an interpretive look at the familiar stories and issues, there is a lot here that was new to me, and probably new to others. Not that I've been following Frank that closely, but I did not know of his birth mark, his mother's occupation, his suicide attempts or that he had seen a psychiatrist. I presume, since his death, those who would never have spoken up in his life have put these things on record for history's sake.Kaplan covers Frank's early family life, pressures, and rise to fame. He shows the scrappiness he learned or inherited from his mother. He describes how Hearst and other right wing media outlets slammed him for his politics (they portrayed him as a communist), alleged mob connections (and indirectly his Italian ethnicity) and non-enlistment for WW2. Just about everyone slammed him for his messy personal life.While the Ava Gardner story has been covered many times, this is the most detailed treatment I know of and also the only one that I know of to lay out how toxic it was. These two large size personalities stoked by alcohol, promiscuity and the resulting jealousy, Ava's soaring career and Frank's declining prospects devolved into argument and physical abuse.Even if there were no Ava, you can see how Frank was not cut out to be a family man. Kaplan shows how he did and didn't fulfill his responsibilities as a father and how Nancy (Sr.) survived and adjusted to the divorce. Kaplan has facts that counter what may be wishful thinking in daughter Nancy's reminiscences. The presentation is both straightforward and empathetic. Kaplan gives you insight into the pressures and intensity.As I'm writing this I'm listening to old Sinatra tunes. Through the index I can go back and re-read about when and how they were recorded. Kaplan notes when the songs have relevance to Sinatra's life at the time. For some there are aesthetic observations or critiques. You'll get a new appreciation for one of Sinatra's later signature tunes "That's Life". The chapter "Icarus" shows a long, humiliating "shot down in May."My only complaint is the photos. Kaplan describes photos in a way you want to see them. Not all of them are included in the book, such as Sinatra entering Cuba with "the" brief case or the telling pre-split photo of Frank and Nancy. The photos that are included are all good and add to the text, although the page placement isn't always exact. On p. 66 there is Sinatra's mug shot from his 1938 arrest. The author notes his air of confidence, I note an uncanny resemblance to the young Mick Jagger.It is very fast reading, because you can't put it down. There is no hint of a volume 2 or 3, but this will certainly be anticipated by anyone who reads this book. less

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