Customer Reviews

FRANK SINATRA: MY FATHER

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Unlike the recent book by Tina Sinatra (which I give five-stars) this book softsells any of FAS's well known liabilities. Nonetheless, it does contain some interesting details about his life. My one complaint is that Nancy Sinatra's other book "Frank Sinatra, American Legend" seems to be indistiguishable from this one, and indeed contains 80% of the same material yet was not published as a revision. This, earlier version is better in my mind because of her notes about each of his movies and albums at the end of the book. That material is missing in the American Legend version. Given her softsell, I do have to wonder what Nancy has to say about her sisters more forthright approach to their father's story.

I have loved Mr. Sinatra since I was very young, have heard most of the bad stuff about him, and it seems that this book's purpose is to discuss his GOOD qualities. Which is a proper perspective from a daughter. If a father has raised his daughter well, she will recognize his faults, but focus on the things that made him a hero in her eyes. Remember that notion? I lost my mother in death at about the same age that Frank and Nancy Sr. divorced, and I appreciate the closeness that developed between the man and his oldest daughter. It's a precious thing. It's a mistake to read the book without understanding that it's biased. But almost ANY book about him will be, as will any book written by a daughter about her father. I'm glad for both of them that their relationship was that sweet, and for us, that we get to see a glimpse of it.
Whatever else he was,the man was..... a man. And a father. And an incredible influence on our culture. I think all that shows up in this book, and I loved it. There's plenty of other people to demonize him, thank you Nancy for letting us see the other side.

This is Nancy Sinatra's biography on her father, the legendary Frank. There have been many stories about him over the years; his drinking, his suspected alliance to the mafia, his womanizing... In Nancy's world none of this existed. No, Frank was a saint according to her, with no faults whatsoever. The greatest man that ever lived! I am not interested in some kind of tabloid-style, gossip-based diving into the rumours about him, but it would have been interesting to read a more nuanced view of who Frank really was. Nancy ignores all of that, and her perpetual praise of him, page after page, is very tiresome. Also, she takes the opportunity to use the book as a sort of biography on her own career (almost a third of the book is about herself -that's OK but then the title is misleading, I think). The only credit I can give the book is that there is interesting detailed information on Frank's career and I learned a lot about the music industry in the 40's and 50's. But I would like to read an outsider's story about Frank, a more objective one.

Frank Sinatra had many sides to his personality, and, very rarely, have I ever read anything that portrayed him in a totally bad light. There have been countless stories about his generosity. That is one of the pluses of this book and sadly one of it's minuses.

It's great to hear about the wonderful father that Sinatra was, but at the same time, Nancy seems intent on making excuses to accommodate his bad behavior. Only once, and maybe by accident, does Nancy reveal an interesting tale about Sinatra's unstable paranoia. Nancy reveals the many times her father cut people out of his life, due to preconceived notions that these people were talking behind his back. For someone who did not want anyone believing the bad things said about him, Sinatra sure did it a lot to others. As for the other stories of his volatile temper they are completely downplayed or dismissed.

The good thing about this book is that we do get to see Sinatra as a loving and caring father, and that is a nice thing. We also get recollections from and about Gene Kelly, Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster, Grace Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr, and Dean Martin.

I would highly recommend this for another glimpse of Sinatra, but be aware of the sugarcoating element. No one is denying that Sinatra was a caring father towards his daughters. In fact Tina Sinatra also wrote a book about her father, which also put an emphasis on his caring attitude, but did not shy away from his darker elements. I recommend both, but Tina's is the more honest one.

Let's not forget that Nancy was and is, her father's daughter.

An extremely personal and honest portrayal of Frank Sinatra as told by his daughter, this book provides an insightful look into a singer that has become a legend. I love some of the details that Nancy Sinatra included which show the amount of work in effort "old blue eyes" put into making his work seem effortless.

You can really tell the pride this young lady has for her father as she recounts numerous stories which show - anecdotally rather than directly - the character of an incredibly talented artist. Aside from his work in equal rights, I love the anecdotal of how Frank S dealt with others. It will always be hard for me not to believe the mob connection rumors (as that really does add to the mystery and allure of his star persona), but I do think Nancy S has done a fantastic job of speaking up in defense of her family.

This is an easy and relaxing read for anyone who has interest in this amazing individual.

I liked the stories about Frank Sinatra told in this book. Any story or interview about him fascinates me, so that's an easy accomplishment. It was nice to hear stories about him from his daughter's POV. But please, spare me the talk of your own career. Write your own biography if you want to talk about that. Also, you can just so tell LOVES the fact that she is Frank Sinatra's daughter. Innumerable references to him as "Daddy" well into adulthood - who calls their Dad "Daddy" after the age of 10? Even in her speeches of today, she calls him that. OK. We get it. You're his daughter. Whoop dee doo. Get over yourself. Otherwise, this book is an interesting read and you learn a little more about the greatest singer that has ever graced the globe.

The photographs are fab,then you start to read ,and a little voice says wait a minute,espically as ive just finised his way by kitty kelley,i know he is dad ,and she's his little chicken,but how anyone in there right mind would fill a book cover to cover with such sugar sweet garbage,as this is beyond me,unless of course your ego and arrogance is higher than everest,now where would she have got that from,her explaining away the acts of voilence and cruelty,of one of the most feard performers to ever tread the boards,are airily brushed away with "hell get mad,and youll get mad",but if you face him them all will be well, ah shucks ,that is if your head is still on your shoulders,here and there,the veneer seems to slip,such as when descriping Richard Burtons,tribute to sinatra,at a luncheon in sinatras honour.She commends burtons tribute,then icily adds his words were by someone else, burtons diaries (Rich a life)leave no illusions of he really thought of sinatra,somehow i get the feeling this didnt escape her,its these little cracks in the facade, that show the true nancy, like father like daughter,sorry honey you dont fool me for one minute, little chicken,little vulture,more like it.

The photographs are fab,then you start to read ,and a little voice says wait a minute,espically as ive just finised his way by kitty kelley,i know he is dad ,and she's his little chicken,but how anyone in there right mind would fill a book cover to cover with such sugar sweet garbage,as this is beyond me,unless of course your ego and arrogance is higher than everest,now where would she have got that from,her explaining away the acts of voilence and cruelty,of one of the most feard performers to ever tread the boards,are airily brushed away with "hell get mad,and youll get mad",but if you face him them all will be well, ah shucks ,that is if your head is still on your shoulders,here and there,the veneer seems to slip,such as when descriping Richard Burtons,tribute to sinatra,at a luncheon in sinatras honour.She commends burtons tribute,then icily adds his words were by someone else, burtons diaries (Rich a life)leave no illusions of he really thought of sinatra,somehow i get the feeling this didnt escape her,its these little cracks in the facade, that show the true nancy, like father like daughter,sorry honey you dont fool me for one minute, little chicken,little vulture,more like it.