Legend: Frank Sinatra and the American Dream
Edited by Ethlie Ann Vare
Published by Boulevard, New York, 1995
“I have never known a world without Frank Sinatra. When I was five years old, and the only record I had was a recitation of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, I knew who Frank Sinatra was. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I knew he was important. And I was right.”
This is how this book begins, published in November 1995 and edited by Ethlie Ann Vare (1953), a journalist and writer who has worked for Billboard, ROCK, Elle, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among other media outlets.
In her introduction, Vare explains how her own perception of Frank Sinatra evolved—from youthful rejection to being captivated by him in the 1990s with the album Duets. She also summarizes how Sinatra uniquely embodies the legendary “American Dream.”
The book, spanning 222 pages, compiles a series of press articles and profiles about the artist born in Hoboken. These are organized into six chronologically arranged chapters, covering the 1940s through the 1990s.
Notable pieces include Peter Levinson’s “Watching Sinatra Record a Show”, published in the New York Herald Tribune in January 1961, Gay Talese’s “Sinatra Means a Big Party and Less Sleep for Another Guy at His Favorite Bar”, from The New York Times in 1965, and the press release issued by Reprise Records for the launch of the album She Shot Me Down in November 1981.
Of course, the rest of the book is also highly interesting, providing insight into how the world viewed the artist throughout his half-century career.
Although it features a beautiful cover with a portrait of young Frankie by Rhea Braunstein, the book’s design is quite austere, with a paperback format and a few black-and-white photos.
It can be found on the second-hand market at a very affordable price.
Article written by Mahnuel Muñoz (Al Mal Tiempo Frank Sinatra). https://www.facebook.com/groups/120950148274703
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