The Death Of Frank Sinatra - [Hardcover]

Michael Ventura - (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Henry Holt Publishing -; First Edition edition (1996)
• ASIN: B000OPIHTC
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,451,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First rate, March 11, 2000

By 

Frank Demarco "[e-mail]" (Charlottesville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Death of Frank Sinatra: A Novel (Hardcover)

Michael Ventura really knows how to tell a story that's more than just plot or characterization, but also SAYS something. I bought this book, read it right through, and then re-read it in bits right away, just for the enjoyment of it. This is as good as it gets.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A 'Must Read' book!, January 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Death of Frank Sinatra: A Mystery (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I live in Las Vegas and have read over forty books about it, trying to get a handle on the bewildering nature of this carnival town. Believe me, no author comes close to capturing the soul of this monster city the way Michael Ventura does.Ventura is a brilliantly funny cynic and it took an illuminated mind like his to write this definitive Las Vegas novel. He may be the most underrated author of our time. This is revolutionary and courageous writing and Ventura knows exactly what rules he is breaking every step of the way. He writes more between the lines than he does on them. This book throws a spiritual mirror in front of the face of contemporary society through the two day story of a Las Vegas Private Eye and his personal resurrection (and hopefully, by osmosis, our's also). I loved this book and if you like break-thru literature, you will too."Nobody comes to Vegas to be innocent"."Fremont Street just after dawn. It's not on any postcards". "What a perfect place for human beings, a place where you could do anything yet leave no mark- except upon yourself". "The city...It'll sing and cry and strip for strangers. One big dancing hooker of a town, leading everybody on with neon in her eyes".

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technicolor Noir, February 17, 2002

By 

Richard DeLisi (Dulles, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of Frank Sinatra: A Novel (Hardcover)

OK, I picked up "The Death of Frank Sinatra" as an impulse-buy $2.99 hardcover from the "used library books" aisle...so I was pretty much purchasing it by-the-pound...no expectations, other than it was Vegas-fiction and sounded fun.

Now, I feel like I owe somebody. Which is not a good feeling in the hardboiled world Ventura describes so bristlingly.

I have been turned on to a fusion of genres so rich and bountiful, that a full $24.99 pricetag seems only fair. So...if anyone wants to collect the remainder, no pistol-whipping will be necessary.

It's quite simply pulp poetry.

Crackling descriptions of the blood-in-your-urine doings of a Vegas private dick, featuring characters that jump off the page to pin your arms back while kicking your nuts and a geo-real Vegas that resonates with anyone who can "recite" the Strip from the Alladin to the Sahara and whose secret desire is to be buried at the YESCO graveyard.

It's great stuff, and if you've never heard of Michael Ventura, (cause I sure as hell hadn't) you'll soon be saying the same thing I am now..."How the hell is this guy not being read on every Flight 711, instead of Grisham?"

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