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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
I literally cannot believe I finished this, but I did it! 800 pages on Frank Sinatra.
I think that the mark of a good biography is showing the humanity of your protagonist. If you’re too critical of their mistakes and condemn them, or on the flip side, too obsessed with them to see their flaws and idolize them, the result will be lifeless and ingenious. After all, Frank Sinatra was FRANK SINATRA, but he was also just a little guy from New Jersey who could sing pretty good. This book shows us the very best and very worst of him without judgement, but also without turning a blind eye. “Frank: The Voice” is complete picture of a fairly complicated human being.
I liked this enough to buy the second volume…it’s also 800 pages. Wish me luck
I think that the mark of a good biography is showing the humanity of your protagonist. If you’re too critical of their mistakes and condemn them, or on the flip side, too obsessed with them to see their flaws and idolize them, the result will be lifeless and ingenious. After all, Frank Sinatra was FRANK SINATRA, but he was also just a little guy from New Jersey who could sing pretty good. This book shows us the very best and very worst of him without judgement, but also without turning a blind eye. “Frank: The Voice” is complete picture of a fairly complicated human being.
I liked this enough to buy the second volume…it’s also 800 pages. Wish me luck
It's very easy to reduce Sinatra to a Piscopo-esque caricature but Kaplan does a great job showing his subtler sides. I was disappointed that this one only covered up to 1953. Hopefully the author is hard at work on volume 2.
Drenched in uncomfortably lewd language, which would be more tolerable if it wasn't for Kaplan occasionally sexualizing teenage girls (including Sinatra's eldest daughter). The author's first attempt at writing a biography, and it shows.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I have no love for Frank Sinatra. I’m told he has an incredible voice, but his magic doesn’t work on me. But there is no denying that he is a formidable cultural figure and ranks up there with Presley and The Beatles. I just had to read a biography of Sinatra, because to understand him is to understand early pop music.
Kaplan has done an incredible job here. His tone is perfectly pitched. He has a lightly conversational style. He never pretends he’s walking through a narrative as it happens and happily explains the later relevance of whatever is happening. At the same time he uses the argot of that time and place to give us a sense of the time.
I read Guralnik’s biographies of Presley a short while ago and it is fascinating to see the comparisons between these two men. Only sons with timid fathers. Surrounded by posses of men and unable to get through the night without the company of a woman (any woman). Explosive tempers that terrified everyone around them, fuelled by uncertainty and wavering confidence. A stronger control of their music than many would credit them with driven by a powerful sense of who they should be. And the frequent use of pharmaceuticals.
If you are fascinated by music biographies then this is essential. I’m really looking forward to reading the second volume.
Kaplan has done an incredible job here. His tone is perfectly pitched. He has a lightly conversational style. He never pretends he’s walking through a narrative as it happens and happily explains the later relevance of whatever is happening. At the same time he uses the argot of that time and place to give us a sense of the time.
I read Guralnik’s biographies of Presley a short while ago and it is fascinating to see the comparisons between these two men. Only sons with timid fathers. Surrounded by posses of men and unable to get through the night without the company of a woman (any woman). Explosive tempers that terrified everyone around them, fuelled by uncertainty and wavering confidence. A stronger control of their music than many would credit them with driven by a powerful sense of who they should be. And the frequent use of pharmaceuticals.
If you are fascinated by music biographies then this is essential. I’m really looking forward to reading the second volume.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A biografia conta os primeiros 40 anos da história de Frank Sinatra que cruza o seu caminho com grandes estrelas da música e do cinema dos EUA durante sua trajetória de sucesso.
O autor nos conta todos os lados de Sinatra, como um grande artista, mas com todos os seus defeitos e inseguranças.
Uma obra incrível de um dos maiores cantores americanos do século XX.
O autor nos conta todos os lados de Sinatra, como um grande artista, mas com todos os seus defeitos e inseguranças.
Uma obra incrível de um dos maiores cantores americanos do século XX.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Listened to the audiobook.
This is a really fascinating look at Frank Sinatra's life up to 1954. I learned a lot!
I will be reading the second part of the biography duology about Frank at a later date, for sure.
This is a really fascinating look at Frank Sinatra's life up to 1954. I learned a lot!
I will be reading the second part of the biography duology about Frank at a later date, for sure.
James Kaplan has penned what is one of the most spectacular biographies I've ever read. A rabid Sinatra fan; it was thrilling for me to discover lots of things I hadn't learnt about Ol Blue Eyes :) definitely can't wait to read book 2 :)