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Sinatra and Me

The Very Good Years

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Not many people were allowed inside Frank Sinatra's inner circle. But Tony Consiglio was a boyhood friend of Sinatra's who remained his friend and confidant for over sixty years. One reason Sinatra valued Tony's friendship is that he could be trusted: Sinatra nicknamed him "the Clam" because Tony never spoke to reporters or biographers about the singer. From the early days when Sinatra was trying to establish himself as a singer to the mid-1960s, Tony worked with Sinatra and was there to share in the highs and lows of Sinatra's life and career. Tony was with Sinatra during his "bobby-soxer" megastar days in the 1940s, and he remained loyal to Sinatra during the lean years of the early 1950s, when "the Voice" was struggling with a crumbling singing and acting career—as well as his tumultuous marriage to Ava Gardner. Tony also had a front row seat to Sinatra's comeback in the 1950s, starting with his Academy Award–winning role in From Here to Eternity and a string of now-classic hit recordings. Tony's friendship with Sinatra allowed him to rub elbows with the Hollywood elite, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Kim Novak, Ava Gardner, and many others. It also brought him close to the political world of the early 1960s, when Sinatra campaigned for John F. Kennedy and then helped plan the Kennedy inauguration. Tony was even at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis, Massachusetts, when the election results came in. Sinatra and Me will shed new light on the real Frank Sinatra—from the man who knew him better than anyone.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 25, 2013
      Consiglio’s memoir centers on his years spent as the personal assistant to entertainment icon Frank Sinatra, and the friendship the two men shared over many decades. As Consiglio recounts a treasure trove of colorful anecdotes featuring a jaw-dropping cast of celebrities and public figures, narrator Norman Dietz lends him a streetwise but unassuming persona and distinctive Italian-American dialect. Dietz delivers spot-on pronunciation and annunciation, and never falls into the trap of affected stereotypes. He also takes great pains to remain faithful to Consiglio’s prose; passages that recount Sinatra’s mercurial temperament are delivered in a stoic, earnest, just-the-facts manner, free of irony or labored introspection. Dietz also allows the author’s concern for such troubled Sinatra friends as Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland to shine through with sincerity. A Tantor paperback.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 7, 2013
      Consiglio, a friend from Frank Sinatra's New Jersey boyhood, was present during the star's formative years in his career. Before his death in 2008, he shared with Douskey intimate details of Sinatra's rise to fame, during which he accompanied the performer to nightclubs, Las Vegas casinos, and meanderings through the Hollywood scene. Although many of these accounts were previously the subject of rumor rather than verifiable anecdote, from hard times to success and excess, Consiglio reports on the women, the shady characters, and the foibles and generosity for which Sinatra was known. It is believed that in Sinatra's lifetime, "he raised more than a billion dollars for his charity work," while once he performed for free to help out a club owner in hock to the mobster Sam Giancana. Thanks to Sinatra's connections, Consiglio was a regular at the Kennedy White House and schmoozed with film stars like Ava Gardner. But it's not all glamour, as Consiglio reveals the internal struggles of Tommy Dorsey's band and the work Sinatra put in to maintain his voice. This isn't Hemingway, but for Sinatra fans and those who love a dishy story, this is a grand read. b/w photos

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  • English

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