Bobby Darin: A Life [Hardcover]

Michael Starr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2004

Bobby Darin fit more into his 37 years alive than most people fit into longer lifetimes. By the age of 22, Darin was a pop idol with chart-toppers "Splish Splash" and "Dream Lovers." A year later, he reinvented himself as a Sinatra-style crooner with "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea," winning a Grammy Award, the adulation of millions, a Hollywood contract, and a starlet wife, Sandra Dee. His sense of urgency drove him throughout his life and if it seemed as though Darin was trying to do it all, he was: a rheumatic heart doomed him to an early death. Bobby Darin examines the entertainer's entire life, from his boyhood in the Bronx, where he was born Walden Robert Cassotto, to his rise as a musical sensation, his rocky marriage to Sandra Dee, and the evolution of his career from pop idol to swingin' crooner to folk singer. Also detailed is the shocking secret Darin learned later in life—that his "sister" Nina was actually his mother, and that Polly, the woman he thought was his mother, was actually his grandmother—and how he spent the last five years of his life consumed by bitterness and anger over the betrayal. Interviews with such close friends and relatives as Steve Blauner, Darin's best friend and business manager, Gary Walden, Darin's half-brother, Dick Clark, Wayne Newton, Neil Sedaka, Tony Orlando, and many others will give the book a special intimacy and provide a deeply revealing portrait of the man.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this straightforward biography, New YorkPost entertainment columnist Starr (Mouse in the Rat Pack) relates the abbreviated life of singer and mid-century youth icon Darin (1936–1973). Born Walden Robert Cassotto, Bobby was a sickly child eventually diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease. As Starr explains, Darin was propelled to stardom by the knowledge that his life would be short: by 22, he had worked his way out of the South Bronx and recorded his first hits, "Splish, Splash" and "Dream Lovers"; the following year he transformed his teeny-bopper image with the swinging, finger-snapping tune written by Kurt Weill and first popularized by Louis Armstrong, "Mack the Knife." He topped the song charts, appeared in movies (the first of which, Come September, starred his soon-to-be wife, Sandra Dee) and hosted his own variety show. He could be charming, arrogant and sometimes cruel: as a nightclub entertainer, he "shattered [the Copa's] old attendance record held by Frank Sinatra"; as an embittered son he died leaving nothing to his immediate family. Though it lags in spots, Starr's solid biography offers colorful quotes from Darin's friends, family and music business associates.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A quick and fluid read, Starr's book succeeds at bringing Darin the human being to life. (James E. Perone Library Journal )

Starr's solid biography offers colorful quotes from Darin's friends, family and music business associates. (Publishers Weekly )

Starr succinctly tells the story, warts and all, of the meteroic career of this highly talented entertainer. (Joe Guidry, Elaine Fantle Shimberg, Amy Smith Linton... Tampa Tribune )

This book will serve as a tribute...excellent. (books-on-line.com )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing; 1st Taylor Trade Pub. Ed edition (September 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589791215
• ISBN-13: 978-1589791213
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,618,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER BK ON THE GREAT BOBBY DARIN: THIS ONE MISSES THE MARK, August 13, 2005

By 

The Yid Kid - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bobby Darin: A Life (Hardcover)

I've been a Bobby Darin fan most of my life and as such have read pretty much everything I could get my hands on concerning this sadly underrated entertainer. For obvious reasons I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately, Mr. Starr failed to deilver the goods. Why? Quite frankly because he got so much obvious information just plain wrong, it leaves the reader doubting anything new the author may have uncovered. Indeed, the interview quotes are colorful but for the record: Bobby Darin's character in Captain Newman M.D. did NOT "Come to terms with his grief and is sent home a happier soldier" as Starr writes on page 126. Watch the movie all the way to the end Mr. Starr and you'll see what I mean. Also, where did he get the idea that Gary Busey won an Oscar for the Buddy Holly Story as he writes on page 219? These are just 2 quick examples of known mistakes from a text that also derides movie magazine articles and then quotes from them extensively as source material! By the way, a bibliography would've been a nice touch so the reader can see where the author may have made his mistakes. All in all a nice try that missed the mark on a fascinating subject. Better luck next time. . . . .

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cookie Cutter Bio, November 14, 2005

By 

Lots "junewonder" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bobby Darin: A Life (Hardcover)

This book reads as if were written in a week. It is truly a cookie cutter biography, full of copious quotes from old movie magazines. What a disgrace to the memory of the great Bobby Darin. Awful.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Special, January 11, 2008

By 

Lola "Freddie Mercury Obsessed!" (SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bobby Darin: A Life (Hardcover)

I was disappointed with this book. It is just the same things in the other books about Bobby warmed over. You don't learn anything new. The best book I read on Bobby was Roman Candle, The Life of Bobby Darin and Dream Lovers, but especially the Roman Candle book. If you want to find out everything about Bobby (the good things) read the Roman Candke book. This book is waste of time.