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corrie's review
5.0
“In the winter of 1965, writer Gay Talese arrived in Los Angeles with an assignment from Esquire to profile Frank Sinatra. The legendary singer was approaching fifty, under the weather, out of sorts, and unwilling to be interviewed. So Talese remained in L.A., hoping Sinatra might recover and reconsider, and he began talking to many of the people around Sinatra—his friends, his associates, his family, his countless hangers-on—and observing the man himself wherever he could. The result, "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold," ran in April 1966 and became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, a pioneering example of what came to be called New Journalism—a work of rigorously faithful fact enlivened with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction. The piece conjures a deeply rich portrait of one of the era's most guarded figures and tells a larger story about entertainment, celebrity, and America itself.”
To be honest, I was only interested in Frank Sinatra has a Cold, so I didn’t bother with the other essays (the one’s about DiMaggio, Castro or O’Toole) that appear in this book. As I am currently working my way through a biography about Ava Gardner and listening to an audiobook about Frank and Ava’s tumultuous affair it seemed like the perfect time to dive in.
5 stars
To be honest, I was only interested in Frank Sinatra has a Cold, so I didn’t bother with the other essays (the one’s about DiMaggio, Castro or O’Toole) that appear in this book. As I am currently working my way through a biography about Ava Gardner and listening to an audiobook about Frank and Ava’s tumultuous affair it seemed like the perfect time to dive in.
5 stars
alicetragedy's review
4.0
Unfortunately, I rushed through the first half of this essay collection, impatient to read the title essay "Frank Sinatra has a cold", lured by the many positive reviews and the urban legend that Talese wasn't given the possibility to interview Frank and had to build a story around the man instead, by getting to know his whole entourage. Well, curiosity killed the cat and the Frank Sinatra essay wasn't as good as I had expected it to be, however the father of "New Journalism" tugged at my heart elsewhere: in his precise, beautiful, heartfelt description of every day people and in his timeless language, my favorites being "Mr. Bad News" and "The Brave Tailors of Maida". Gay Talese's charismatic writing is a joy to read.
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