Frank Sinatra

by Chris Rojek

Frank Sinatra was only one of a handful of popular entertainers who dominated Western popular culture for six decades. From his early fame as 'the Voice' in the early 1940s, through to the high rolling, fast living 'Rat Pack' era, to the protracted Lear-like farewell tours of his twilight years, Sinatra was the epitome of cool. This compelling, consistently insightful book portrays Sinatra in his many contradictory hues of ambition, generosity, menace and vituperation. The book asks why Sinatra's public character which mixed insufferable hauteur with soapy populism and nobility with the lowest kind of vindictive violence proved so enduring with the Western public? What model of masculinity was Sinatra projecting? Why did his recordings, concert performances and film work persuade audiences that he was really talking to them alone? What does his career tell us about the relationship between celebrity and popular culture? Sinatra may not have found his Boswell with this study, but our understanding of him will never be the same again. Rojek's is the first book to take Sinatra's cultural significance seriously. It is a landmark work in our understanding of celebrity and popular culture. The book will be of interest to students of Cultural, Media and Communication Studies, Sociology and, most of all, anyone who has bought a Sinatra recording or seen a Sinatra film.

Genres: Music

Paperback

First published October 15, 2004

About the author

Chris Rojek is Professor of Sociology and Culture at Nottingham Trent University, UK.
In 2003 he was awarded the Allen V. Sapora Award for outstanding achievement in the field of Leisure Studies.

Reviews

[Cara Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through a huge phase of everything Sinatra in my teens. What 15 year old in the 2000s has a poster of Sinatra on their door, right? So I stumbled on this book just recently by accident, decades after my personal fandom died down, and I'm so glad I did. It kept my attention so much that I didn't sleep the entire night. It didn't try to sugar coat nor vilify him. By the end it made it clear the impact he had on popular culture and didn't make any unfounded assumptions about him, i.e. it seemed fair and not slanted or idealistic. It also goes into interesting detail about the Rat Pack. I had no idea how deep their influence on pop culture went at the time. For such a long time. Very interesting stuff. So much so that I went back and watched a lot of his older films that I loved. I had no idea he was so prolific in his movie-making. Where did these guys find all the time? One part that stuck out to me was that the act of relaxing in itself was a competition. Almost like a pissing contest to see who has the most fun and reckless abandon. The irony being there of course that that is certainly counter-intuitive. They must have had very little true peace. I can't really fault him for being a dick to certain fans; that has to get arduous. People may scoff at this idea and expect celebs to be more gracious, but in all honesty he didn't "owe" them anything. His job was to perform and being "on" all the time has to do a number on anyone's psyche, even (and possibly especially) a narcissist. I can fault him, however for the terrible way he treated the women in his life. They say the eyes are the window to the soul and even in his films it appears that he has a hard time hiding the volatility of his personality. Maybe that's what makes him a good actor. Anyway it was very interesting food for thought one sleepless night. I recommend starting the book early in the day as it will keep you hooked.

[Lauren (: · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really nice look at Frank Sinatras life from an outside perspective. Was hoping it would be more biographical but still enjoyed reading the book and learning about his romantic life, his gambling problems and their connection to his political life and his lack of relationship to the mafia. Learned a lot about how he performed throughout his whole life and really made his career a life long instead just the brief period of popularity when he was known as “Ole Blue Eyes.”