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Deconstructing The Rat Pack: Joey, The Mob and the Summit
"Deconstructing the Rat Joey, The Mob and the Summit" is a new look at the true creation of the group of entertainers that rocked the world. For twenty-eight consecutive nights in February 1960, a dusty town called Las Vegas became the epicenter of the world. All eyes were on the party happening at the Sands Hotel and Casino, the new headquarters for The Chairman of the Board— Frank Sinatra. In celebration of the Rat Pack's Sixtieth anniversary this book details the meteoric rise of this infamous group. For the first time, this outrageous, explosive tell-all book brings the inside scoop of how The Mob, The Future President and five of the greatest entertainers took the world by storm.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
253 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 19, 2020
105 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 10, 2021
There are two amazing things about this book. One, someone wrote a biography of the life of Joey Bishop. Two, I actually read a biography of the life of Joey Bishop.
For the bulk of the world who doesn't remember Joey Bishop, he was the sad-faced comedian who probably counted as the lowest ranking member of the Rat Pack, the Superstar ensemble of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford, and Joey. These guys essentially created the image of Las Vegas as a place for cool, hip, misogynistic middle-aged men in the very early 1960s. Their shows at the Sands casino were sold out months in advance. Their heist movie Ocean's 11 was one of the top-grossing films of 1961.
The first four men in the Rat Pack were simply at the top of their game. But Joey was a hanger-on who was suddenly thrust into superstardom by his affiliation with these men. And for better or for worse, that sudden fame and success destroyed him.
Bishop was born Joseph Gottlieb in Philadelphia in 1918. In his teens, he started doing comedy in amateur shows with friends, and as they left the act he became a solo. You know how everyone talks about Frank Sinatra's friendship with the Mafia? it was really Joey Bishop who was friends with the Mob, as they ran all the comedy spots in the 1930s through the 1960s. In the late 1940s Joey came to the attention of Frank Sinatra, who was trying to rebuild his career. Bishop struck Ol'Blue Eyes as the perfect opening act -- a comedian who was funny, knew his place, could do a reliable 25 minutes every night, yet who wouldn't be too exhausting for an audience the way Jerry Lewis or Don Rickles could be.
(I've done stand up comedy -- Joey's act is hard to define. He didn't really tell jokes, and he didn't really do observational comedy. He just said funny things, with a permanent deadpan face. The nearest analog I can think of would be Stephen Wright, but Joey Bishop was about 1/3 as funny.)
Bishop's Rat Pack affiliations led television networks to come calling, and before long he was the star of The Joey Bishop Show, a mid-1960s situation comedy. Unfortunately, Joey Bishop was no actor. Joey Bishop could barely learn lines. The Joey Bishop Show -- and its star -- was flailing almost from the moment it got on the air. And as numerous coworkers interviewed for the book will testify, when Joey Bishop is in a panic he is a total 100% prick.
Independently wealthy from a series of wise investments, Joey Bishop never really had to work for a living after his show was canceled in December 1969. He thought that he could continue his future in showbiz on his own terms; he would work only when he wanted to. Unfortunately, Bishop quickly found out that when the world thinks you're an evil miserable prick, you're working only when they let you. And for the last 25 years of his life, that meant working not at all.
For the bulk of the world who doesn't remember Joey Bishop, he was the sad-faced comedian who probably counted as the lowest ranking member of the Rat Pack, the Superstar ensemble of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford, and Joey. These guys essentially created the image of Las Vegas as a place for cool, hip, misogynistic middle-aged men in the very early 1960s. Their shows at the Sands casino were sold out months in advance. Their heist movie Ocean's 11 was one of the top-grossing films of 1961.
The first four men in the Rat Pack were simply at the top of their game. But Joey was a hanger-on who was suddenly thrust into superstardom by his affiliation with these men. And for better or for worse, that sudden fame and success destroyed him.
Bishop was born Joseph Gottlieb in Philadelphia in 1918. In his teens, he started doing comedy in amateur shows with friends, and as they left the act he became a solo. You know how everyone talks about Frank Sinatra's friendship with the Mafia? it was really Joey Bishop who was friends with the Mob, as they ran all the comedy spots in the 1930s through the 1960s. In the late 1940s Joey came to the attention of Frank Sinatra, who was trying to rebuild his career. Bishop struck Ol'Blue Eyes as the perfect opening act -- a comedian who was funny, knew his place, could do a reliable 25 minutes every night, yet who wouldn't be too exhausting for an audience the way Jerry Lewis or Don Rickles could be.
(I've done stand up comedy -- Joey's act is hard to define. He didn't really tell jokes, and he didn't really do observational comedy. He just said funny things, with a permanent deadpan face. The nearest analog I can think of would be Stephen Wright, but Joey Bishop was about 1/3 as funny.)
Bishop's Rat Pack affiliations led television networks to come calling, and before long he was the star of The Joey Bishop Show, a mid-1960s situation comedy. Unfortunately, Joey Bishop was no actor. Joey Bishop could barely learn lines. The Joey Bishop Show -- and its star -- was flailing almost from the moment it got on the air. And as numerous coworkers interviewed for the book will testify, when Joey Bishop is in a panic he is a total 100% prick.
Independently wealthy from a series of wise investments, Joey Bishop never really had to work for a living after his show was canceled in December 1969. He thought that he could continue his future in showbiz on his own terms; he would work only when he wanted to. Unfortunately, Bishop quickly found out that when the world thinks you're an evil miserable prick, you're working only when they let you. And for the last 25 years of his life, that meant working not at all.
September 14, 2021
By the end of the book, Joey Bishop, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. barely spoke to one another. They all seemed disgruntled at one thing or another. The author did a good job of narrating their trip through show business and the heights and pitfalls that lay ahead.
I enjoyed the first half more than the second half, but overall an enjoyable read.
I enjoyed the first half more than the second half, but overall an enjoyable read.
November 25, 2020
Rick Lertzman draws on his vast sources of personal interviews he has conducted over the last 45 years to paint a vivid and different portrait of the Rat Pack. Joey Bishop stands at the center of this book which is well worth your time.
January 16, 2021
Entertaining, Fun And Scathing!
Deconstructing The Rat Rack by Richard Lertzman is a well-researched and well-written book based largely on his catalog of recoded interviews over many years with a who’s who of show business, political and underworld figures, many of whom contributed into turning a little-known town in Las Vegas into the entertainment capital of the world.
But more than that, this book is an unscathing book about one show business figure (arguably) considered to be one of the most iconic entertainers of all-time. He played the top nightclubs of the day, had his own network television sitcom, hosted The Tonight Show more than 200 times, was the star of his own late night talk show that ran for about four years, hosted the Emmys multiple times, and appeared in more than a dozen movies and countless TV shows as a guest star. Not to mention being one of the quartet of stars that created an act in the 1960s that helped raise Las Vegas entertainment to a whole new level.
This man was Joey Bishop.
He was also, if you believe this book, one of the most disliked, if not hated, men in show business.
If you decide to read this book, I think you’ll find that in addition to Deconstructing The Rat Pack being a fun and insightful read, it is a book that provides an unsparing look at how a top entertainment star could fall to earth through very human foibles.
Despite my overall enjoyment of this book, I found that at various times it tended to get somewhat repetitive in regards to opinions expressed about Bishop by others, as well as by Bishop expressing opinions about himself. For this reason I deducted one star from my rating.
Deconstructing The Rat Rack by Richard Lertzman is a well-researched and well-written book based largely on his catalog of recoded interviews over many years with a who’s who of show business, political and underworld figures, many of whom contributed into turning a little-known town in Las Vegas into the entertainment capital of the world.
But more than that, this book is an unscathing book about one show business figure (arguably) considered to be one of the most iconic entertainers of all-time. He played the top nightclubs of the day, had his own network television sitcom, hosted The Tonight Show more than 200 times, was the star of his own late night talk show that ran for about four years, hosted the Emmys multiple times, and appeared in more than a dozen movies and countless TV shows as a guest star. Not to mention being one of the quartet of stars that created an act in the 1960s that helped raise Las Vegas entertainment to a whole new level.
This man was Joey Bishop.
He was also, if you believe this book, one of the most disliked, if not hated, men in show business.
If you decide to read this book, I think you’ll find that in addition to Deconstructing The Rat Pack being a fun and insightful read, it is a book that provides an unsparing look at how a top entertainment star could fall to earth through very human foibles.
Despite my overall enjoyment of this book, I found that at various times it tended to get somewhat repetitive in regards to opinions expressed about Bishop by others, as well as by Bishop expressing opinions about himself. For this reason I deducted one star from my rating.
September 15, 2022
What candy is to some people juicy and informative books are to me. This book is so entertaining, so eye-opening, and so much fun that I read 3/4s of it at one sitting...and then couldn't wait to get back to it. As a comedian I was especially pleased that it is Joey Bishop who is the core of the story. Yes, we learn about everyone else who contributed to "the Rat Pack", but we find that it's a very well planned out PR stunt that really put Vegas on the map in a very big way. We learn that it is Joey who had the real mob connections (they brought him up in the business and remained his friends). We learn of Frank's efforts in helping to change the race situation in Vegas. We are told the truth about why the heck Peter Lawford was on a stage with truly great nightclub performers. And there is an awful lot about the Kennedy family. This book is an amusement park ride that you will not want to end. And the story of the ill-fated Joey Bishop Show, both the sitcom and the talk show is worth the price of the book alone. The author actually interviewed the people involved and the facts are truly incredible.
I didn't like Joey Bishop then. I still don't like him now. Apparently, many others agree.
I didn't like Joey Bishop then. I still don't like him now. Apparently, many others agree.
December 13, 2020
Interesting book about an old time comic
I didn't know much about the private life of Joey Bishop. I remember seeing him on TV variety shows back in the day. I thought of him as stable and quiet, a more everyday personality than his Rat Pack buddies.
Turns out Joey Bishop was a depressed, neurotic, mean-tempered comic. Maybe if he was a nicer guy he would be remembered by his peers as more talented. In the book it's clear that the opinion of others in show business regarding his talent is directly influenced by their dislike of the guy.
How his fellow comics saw him surprised me. In the 1950s and 60s, he was considered hot, funny, a comic who put on a good show. But by the end of the 1960s he was out of step with the times and considered old fashioned and a mediocre talent.
After he died people crawled out from under rocks to grab his considerable fortune. It appears his only child, a son, and his grandchildren were cut out of the will. Sad ending for sure. And confusing. Why didn't his son contest the will? Everyone else seems to have done that!
Interesting show business biography, ell written and researched. Worth a read.
I didn't know much about the private life of Joey Bishop. I remember seeing him on TV variety shows back in the day. I thought of him as stable and quiet, a more everyday personality than his Rat Pack buddies.
Turns out Joey Bishop was a depressed, neurotic, mean-tempered comic. Maybe if he was a nicer guy he would be remembered by his peers as more talented. In the book it's clear that the opinion of others in show business regarding his talent is directly influenced by their dislike of the guy.
How his fellow comics saw him surprised me. In the 1950s and 60s, he was considered hot, funny, a comic who put on a good show. But by the end of the 1960s he was out of step with the times and considered old fashioned and a mediocre talent.
After he died people crawled out from under rocks to grab his considerable fortune. It appears his only child, a son, and his grandchildren were cut out of the will. Sad ending for sure. And confusing. Why didn't his son contest the will? Everyone else seems to have done that!
Interesting show business biography, ell written and researched. Worth a read.
April 29, 2021
JOEY BISHOP STARTED IT J.F.K. HELPED IT
367 PGS THIS IS MORE ((NARRATIVE)) THAN BIOGRAPHY THAN ANYTHING TO ME IT WAS BORING BUT TO OTHERS IT WOULD BE INTERESTING IT WAS LAID OUT WELL AND WELL ORGANIZED
BISHOP BROTHERS MOBBED UP RONDELLIS ITALIAN RESTAURANT 1959
SETTING THE TRAP
JOEY AND SYLVIA BISHOP
JACK PARR
VEGAS BABY
SANDS
RAT PACK BLUE PRINT
OCEANS 11 ((MOVIES))
PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY
THIS ALL ADDS UP TO 1960S HISTORY GOING BACK IN TIME IF YOU LIKE THAT SORT OF THING AND STAGE AND AUDIENCES A MALE SINGERS SINGING TO YOU THIS STORY LINE FOR YOU WITH DETAILED NARRATIVE
367 PGS THIS IS MORE ((NARRATIVE)) THAN BIOGRAPHY THAN ANYTHING TO ME IT WAS BORING BUT TO OTHERS IT WOULD BE INTERESTING IT WAS LAID OUT WELL AND WELL ORGANIZED
BISHOP BROTHERS MOBBED UP RONDELLIS ITALIAN RESTAURANT 1959
SETTING THE TRAP
JOEY AND SYLVIA BISHOP
JACK PARR
VEGAS BABY
SANDS
RAT PACK BLUE PRINT
OCEANS 11 ((MOVIES))
PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY
THIS ALL ADDS UP TO 1960S HISTORY GOING BACK IN TIME IF YOU LIKE THAT SORT OF THING AND STAGE AND AUDIENCES A MALE SINGERS SINGING TO YOU THIS STORY LINE FOR YOU WITH DETAILED NARRATIVE
November 29, 2021
An era that will never repeat itself. A time when many entertainers epitomized “cool” from the post war years up to the late 1950s and early 1960s culminating by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and to a lesser extent Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. Although the book details Joey Bishop’s career in entertainment, there is enough insight of the others mentioned and how they impacted the field of night club and concert venues of this unique era of American cultural history.
March 2, 2021
This is basically a biography of Joey Bishop with all his pluses and many minuses, with some of the Rat Pack history thrown in. It's well-written and obviously well-researched. I heard about it on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast 9which is a riot!). The only thing that bugged me was the author's use of "the author" instead of "I", which seems intrusive and old-fashioned--but that doesn't affect the content in any way.
If you're interested in show biz history, it's well worth a read!
If you're interested in show biz history, it's well worth a read!
May 15, 2021
A disappointment
This is a poorly written book which could have used extensive editing. For example, in the text, a writer is said to be George Clayton Thomas. A few pages later there's a picture of a cover for the book and the writer's name is George Clayton Johnson! A lot of the book is just reprints of other writers' and interviewers' work. The writing itself is just bad, sometimes to the point of being incomprehensible.
This is a poorly written book which could have used extensive editing. For example, in the text, a writer is said to be George Clayton Thomas. A few pages later there's a picture of a cover for the book and the writer's name is George Clayton Johnson! A lot of the book is just reprints of other writers' and interviewers' work. The writing itself is just bad, sometimes to the point of being incomprehensible.
January 12, 2022
I went into this knowing next to nothing about Joey Bishop. The book fulfilled its function in that it was informative about Bishop and the Rat Pack. It was okay but could have been much better with some additional editing. It feels unfocused at times and overly long. Lertzman also uses long excerpts from other sources which could have been pared down or paraphrased. The whole thing ends abruptly with no sense of closure.
January 11, 2025
Sometimes seems a bit repetitive. No surprise, Joey Bishop was at best a "B" comedian that rose to fame with his proximity to Frank Sinatra, only to blow up the relationship, flounder on his own and vanish to obscurity. I was dismayed to find his horrible treatment of some of his co-stars. Most notably Marlo Thomas. He continuously berated and made her miserable all the while her father, Danny Thomas was producing the Joey Bishop Show! Seriously.
November 5, 2020
Exceptional and fascinating truthful telling about the Rat Pack. Incredible interviews and a wonderful fun read. Brand new info and explosive stories brings a new perspective to the Rat Pack, Vegas, Sinatra and more. One of best books in years
January 19, 2021
It was Joey Bishop, so who cares.
Not much to say. This book wrings out the last drops of the rat pack legend. Nothing new to report from this book. Only for the due hard rat pack fans. 'nuff said.
Not much to say. This book wrings out the last drops of the rat pack legend. Nothing new to report from this book. Only for the due hard rat pack fans. 'nuff said.
April 26, 2021
A. Very long book
Enjoyed it. If you are rep for a long read. You'll love it. Alot of detail. Ready for a long interesting read
Enjoyed it. If you are rep for a long read. You'll love it. Alot of detail. Ready for a long interesting read
June 12, 2021
this was ok. It gave some more insight to Joey Bishop, than just the man we saw on TV. It is a good companion piece to other Rat Pack books I have read.
July 4, 2024
Too repetitive after about the 5th Chapter
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews