Critic Reviews
Mixed
Based on 7 reviews on
The story of Frank Sinatra's second act, Sinatra finds the Chairman on top of the world, riding high after an Oscar victory--and firmly reestablished as the top recording artist of his day. Following Sinatra from the mid-1950s to his death in 1998, Kaplan uncovers the man behind the myth, revealing by turns the peerless singer, the (sometimes) powerful actor, the business mogul, the tireless lover, and--of course--the close associate of the powerful and infamous. It was in these decades that the enduring legacy of Frank Sinatra was forged, and Kaplan vividly captures "Ol' Blue Eyes" in his later years. The sequel to the New York Times best-selling Frank, here is the concluding volume of the definitive biography of "The Entertainer of the Century."
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I’m reading James Kaplan's two-book Frank Sinatra biography and I’m up to the late ‘60s and he’s trying so hard to stay relevant and it’s just embarrassing for everyone because there’s nothing he can do about the fact that he’s fundamentally Of The Past. This is an #Oscars tweet
"Definitive, and irresistibly engrossing. . . . Piercingly perceptive." --USA Today
"Toward the end of . . . James Kaplan's magisterial biography of Frank Sinatra, I guarantee you'll begin to weep over the death of a massive and unforgettable talent whose style of living helped define postwar America and for an America that no longer exists." --The Washington Post
"Endlessly engaging." --The Wall Street Journal
"The Chairman never neglects the fact that beneath the fisticuffs and tabloid scandals Frank Sinatra was first and foremost an artist, as soulful and committed an original as this country will ever produce." --Vanity Fair
"Scrupulous, entertainingly eye-opening." --Elle
"Meticulously researched. . . . Kaplan draws from previous biographies and the memoirs of Sinatra's lovers and fellow travellers, but the pithy narrative is his own, as are his persuasive critiques of the music." --The Guardian
"[Kaplan uses] detail the way a novelist does--and weaves Sinatra in with the era he lived through." --Salon
"What sets both Kaplan volumes apart from other Sinatra biographies is the author's . . . exhaustive detail of the Chairman's single-minded passion for making the most of his gift." --The Washington Times
"[Kaplan does a] nimble job of tracing the singer's continued rise to international fame, and credibly explicates the alchemy behind the singer's collaboration with Nelson Riddle and their amazing achievement during the Capitol Records years." --The New York Times
"Monumental." --Financial Times
"The great singer-actor contains multitudes in this vast, engrossing biography." --Publishers Weekly (starred)
"Rich with fascinating detail." --The Daily Beast
"Hugely compelling. . . . Stunningly researched. . . . No one is ever likely more trustworthy about Sinatra than Kaplan." --The Buffalo News
"Riveting. . . . An appropriately big book for an oversized artistic presence." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Kaplan's two volume set is the definitive word on Frank Sinatra, as definitive as any biography of any public figure can be. It's jammed with something juicy on almost every page. It has been written with integrity and affection." --Liz Smith
"Remarkably insightful, gracefully, often eloquently written. . . . [Kaplan is] as astute in his psychological analysis as in his music criticism." --Booklist (starred)