Product Description

The first biography of the Rat Pack -- Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop et al -- the original Swingers. Brilliant and beautifully written story of their rise and fall, and their connections with the Kennedys and the Mafia. They alit in Las Vegas for a month to make a movie and play a historic nightclub gig they called the Summit; they hit Miami, the Utah desert, Palm Springs, Chicago, Atlantic City, Beverly Hills, Hollywood back lots, illegal gambling dens, saloons, yachts, private jets, the White House itself. It was sauce and vinegar and eau de cologne and sour mash whiskey and gin and smoke and perfume and silk and neon and skinny lapels and tail fins and rockets to the sky. It was swinging and sighing and being a sharpie, it was cutting a figure and digging a scene. It was Frank and Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin and Peter Lawford for a while and Joey Bishop when they asked him and Jack Kennedy and Sam Giancana and tables full of cronies and who knew how many broads. It was the ultimate spasm of traditional showbiz -- both the last and the most of its kind. It was the Rat Pack. It was beautiful. 'Rat Pack Confidential' -- you're never far from a cocktail, a swingin' affair and a fist-fight.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59657 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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 discussing 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 Toches by way of James Ellroy, while only intermittently reaching their level of mastery. But these are minor quibbles. As a synthesis of 30 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.

About the Author
Shawn Levy is the author of King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, Movieline, Film Comment, and Pulse! He is a former senior editor of American Film.

Customer Reviews

Ice cool
This is a highly readable account of the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford) and their entourage (various Mafia characters, Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, et al.). It captures what made the period cool, evokes the atmosphere of Las Vegas at its peak, and goes a long way towards explaining the popularity of these entertainers and their work. It's the kind of book you wolf down in a few sittings, written in a lively, colloquial, funny style. Recommended.

A must for all Sinatra fans
This book is bad for your health. I read it in one sitting with only one toilet break and one food break! THe first 100 or so pages are fantastic and the last 100 or so are almost as good. The book does dip somewhat in the centre pages but what the heck, the best read I've had in years. A worth purchase.

Stars, Hoodlums and Dishonest Politicians
A riveting expose of the life and times of the Rat Pack and it's interaction with organised crime and crooked politicians. A very stimulating read for all ages, but in particular, for those born between 1940 and 1970 who wish to understand how Las Vegas has become the tourist attraction it is today. Stars, hoodlums and politicians walk into and out of the limelight from time to time. Underlying the book's showbiz nature there are the true signs of the racial tensions amongst the nation's most popular entertainers and politicians, and the desire to use any means to win election to high political office. Despite John Kennedy's subsequent support of human rights and racial equality, this book shows him, and his family for what they... in many peoples eyes remain; gangsters! A book of great research value for any student of the Rat Pack and it's times