Johnny Koutsoubos > Recent Status Updates

this one’s pretty interesting when paired with Kaplan’s two-volume opus. because it limits itself to a mere 200 half-size pages compared against the nearly 1600 full-size pages Kaplan dedicates to the man, it is fascinating to examine Hamill’s approach, thinking about why he included the things he did. if you’re a non-believer and want to know “Why Sinatra Matters,” I think this book a fine place to begin

according to the thoroughly deteriorated Kleenex I extracted from between this book’s pages yesterday, I conquered about 80% of the journey before—for some reason I cannot for the life of me remember—putting the book down. Now, instead of picking up where I left off, I’m gonna begin anew and conquer 100% of the journey this time.

If Ava Gardner was the domineering catalyst for Sinatra in “Frank: The Voice,” JFK is that same thing for Frank in “Sinatra: The Chairman” (of course, that could cease to be the case by the book’s conclusion since I have over 300 pages left…although, from what I understand, the Kennedys had something to do with Sinatra going from ardent democrat to staunch conservative in the 1970s)

I read the first chapter weeks ago. I actually liked it a decent bit. But I don’t think I’ll be able to pick this one back up (or any other book, for that matter) until I finish the Sinatra project I’ve undertaken. The sheer quantity and depth of that material has made the experience all encompassing. Maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll get back to this!

I’m a couple chapters into its second act, “The Chairman.” It’s brilliant. As brilliant as the first volume. Also revelatory. Sinatra’s famous (or rather, infamous) behavioural “quirks” littered the prior volume. But, as someone who, when he thinks of Sinatra, thinks of the genius artist of the 50s and 60s, it almost felt wrong at first to see that those didn’t disappear. They solidified. And grew.

Read the first 369 pages intermittently over the course of first and second year. Was captivated each time I picked it up, but ADHD is a bitch. It still holds up as one of the most well-researched and perceptive biographies I’ve ever read (even if I’m only 369 pages deep). So, now, I want to pick it back up and not put it down until I’ve finished. We’ll see how that goes.