The Sammy Davis, Jr. Reader [Paperback]

Sammy Davis Jr. (Author), Gerald Early (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2001

The life and times of the last great American hipster

Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-90) rose from childhood stardom on the vaudeville stage to become one of the most famous African American entertainers of the 1950s and '60s (and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack). At the same time, he spent most of his career surrounded by controversy and ridicule--over his affairs with white film stars like Kim Novak and Jean Seberg; his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt; his conversion to Judaism; his closeness to the Kennedys and, later, Richard Nixon; and his problems with alcohol and drugs.

Davis comes alive in this collection of writings about him, including a 1966 Playboy interview by Alex Haley; an excerpt from the 1983 autobiography of porn star Linda Lovelace; profiles from The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Saturday Evening Post; and articles from many prominent African American periodicals. The Sammy Davis, Jr. Reader is a composite portrait of a complex, self-conscious man and the society that treated him, for more than forty years, with passionate ambivalence.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Sammy Davis Jr. was a legendary and multitalented entertainer, but a "reader" devoted just to him is a bit over the top. Divided into four sections "Those Who Knew Him," "Sammy Davis Jr. and the Rat Pack," "Profiles and the Press," and "Interviews and Writings" this is nothing more than a compilation of previously published articles and chapters from books that pertain to Davis. Do we really need to reread what Linda Lovelace had to say about him in 1980? To his credit, editor Early (Speech and Power: The African-American Essay and Its Cultural Context, from Polemics to Pulpit; modern letters, Washington Univ.) has gathered some interesting period pieces that capture the racial climate of the times, such as "Why I Married Sammy Davis Jr.," a 1961 article for Ebony written by Davis's first wife, May Britt. Still, this seems like more than you will ever need on Davis. Better to read his autobiography, Why Me?: The Sammy Davis Jr. Story (1989) or, if you really care what Linda Lovelace had to say, her Ordeal (1980). Recommended only where there is need. Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Salinas, CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Fill the gap in the burgeoning Rat Pack collection with this swingin' festschrift for possibly the most interesting of the Sinatra-centered band of Hollywood bad boys who self-consciously swaggered through late-'50s and early-'60s pop culture. Besides assembling dozens of disparate writings about Davis, editor Early, in a scintillating introduction, treats Davis' "guilt for his lack of acceptance by blacks," his subsequent limp attempts to add "more 'soul' material to his act," and other intriguing matters. One standout in the collection is the excerpt from unwilling porn star Linda Lovelace's memoirs that recounts how she taught Davis her infamous "deep throat" technique, which he then tried out on her monumentally uncomfortable manager-tormentor-husband. Davis apparently considered it a horizon-expanding personal experience. Other highlights include May Britt's Ebony article, "Why I Married Sammy Davis, Jr."; Sidney Poitier's and Shirley MacLaine's remarks; a sampling of Rat Pack reminiscences; and some articles from Confidential , mid-twentieth-century America's number one sleazy scandal magazine. And besides such entertainingly raunchy stuff, there is serious consideration of Davis' cultural significance. Ring-a-ding-ding, indeed. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (October 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374253838
• ISBN-13: 978-0374253837
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,512,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fills in the gaps left by the autobiographies, October 24, 2001

By 

R. Moses (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sammy Davis, Jr. Reader (Paperback)

If you're interested enough in Sammy to have read "Yes I Can" and "Why Me?" (or at least the compiled "Sammy: an Autobiography"), then this book is an absolute must. Any autobiography is bound to have a flattering slant, but this collection tilts the balance back to level.

Editor Gerald Early offers a lengthy foreward which, at first, I thought a bit self-indulgent until I began to grasp the depth of affection he feels for his subject. Don't skip this foreward; it gets better in the later sections.

The writings in the collection are taken from various autobiographies and other texts about the era, and are insightfully organized. This book is not thoughtlessly thrown together; this is clearly a labor of love. In the first 50 pages alone I had enough of my personal Sammy myths dispelled to recommend the book. I can't help but think how I would have felt had I been the editor. The book certainly doesn't try to slam Sammy, but it does offer the bad along with the good, and it can't have been a painless decision to include some of this material. The excerpt from his daughter's book is particularly revealing, and the bit from Linda Lovelace's autobiography is nothing short of disturbing.

Sammy's own tellings of his life story are far from entirely flattering, but this excellent book brings the legend down from even that level, down to where we all live. Sammy was not a perfect man. He was a masterful entertainer. He was a lousy father. He had a heart of gold. He was into some horrifyingly self-destructive behavior. If you love Sammy the artist as much as I do, you owe it to yourself (after reading the autobiography, I think) to read this volume. It's a real eye-opener. And despite the ugly reality it sometimes offers, it hasn't diminished my love and respect for Sammy one bit. Quite the opposite.