Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture: Essays on an American Icon [Hardcover]

Leonard Mustazza (Editor), Charles L. Granata (Collaborator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275964957 | ISBN-13: 978-0275964955 | Publication Date: December 30, 1998

Frank Sinatra's influence on American popular culture has been wide reaching and long lasting. This diverse collection of essays written by historians, music critics, and popular culture personalities offers a myriad of perspectives and commentaries on this multitalented legend. The essays attest to the interest in Sinatra that has spanned six decades and shows no sign of diminishing--even after his death. From singer to actor, from mass media personality to humanitarian and cultural trendsetter, the many contributions of Frank Sinatra are brought to life in this entertaining volume. Written to appeal to Sinatra fans, these unique essays, including one by Frank Sinatra himself, are organized into three sections. The first examines Sinatra's fame and the ways in which his image was formed, the second looks at his music, and the final group of essays are personal reminiscences by the people who knew him. Together these essays will provide new material for the ever-growing dialogue about Frank Sinatra's place in and influence over twentieth-century American popular culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

This collection of 18 essays (including a 1945 plea for racial harmony by Sinatra himself), 13 of them new, is a mixed bag of superb musical and technical insight, interesting cultural studies analysis, and pure blather. In his concise and well-judged introduction, Mustazza (English and American Studies/Penn. State Univ.), the author of two previous books on the Chairman, makes a case for Sinatra as ``an iconic hero'' and promises a volume that will explore ``the factors that led to the sculpting of the iconic Sinatra, and the nature of the changing culture that fashioned it.'' The best (and longest) essay in the collection, written by Sinatra archivist Charles L. Granata, is a fascinating detailed recounting of Sinatra's recording history, showing how he developed his mastery of song and the studio; rather than an academic analysis of pop culture, this is music history at its most sophisticated and, unlike most of the other contributions here, genuinely illuminates the art on which Sinatra's reputation is based. By comparison, everything else in the book pales, but there are some notable offerings. Perhaps the most convincing and offbeat is Roger Gilbert's essay placing Sinatra in the context of other 50s icons of troubled masculinity, Marlon Brando, Jackson Pollack, Robert Lowell, and Miles Davis. Although he has too little space here to completely develop the notion, Gilbert makes an interesting case for Sinatra as ``the classic embodiment of fifties culture [who] fully articulated [the] contradictions, anxieties and ambivalences'' of maleness in that decade. Those contributors who focus directly on the musicWill Friedwald and Richard Iaconelli among themhave the most to offer. Other essays border on the embarrassing; the worst is a stunning piece of self-aggrandizement by psychiatrist Lloyd L. Spencer. The Granata essay is almost worth the price of this volume. If he ever writes a Sinatra book, it will be one to look for. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

“A useful addition to popular music and culture collections at academic and public libraries.”–Choice

“This collection of 18 essays (including a 1945 plea for racial harmony by Sinatra himself), 13 of them new, is a mixed bag of superb musical and technical insight, interesting cultural studies analysis, and pure blather.”–Kirkus Reviews

“[This] is the one book that will appeal to everyone who has ever listened to Sinatra, seen him in films, TV or in person or has simply heard his name and wondered what he was all about....Tying it all together is the Introduction by Leonard Mustazza, which is absolutely brilliant. The 19 pages he uses to tell us about Sinatra, is the BEST summation you will ever read.”–Ric Ross Sinatra Authority

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (December 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275964957
• ISBN-13: 978-0275964955
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,272,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( S ) > Sinatra, Frank