Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party

This book is a gossipy, lurid, but always readable account of the rise and fall of the Rat Pack – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. It charts how they came together in the first place (the name Rat Pack was given to them by Lauren Bacall, the wife of Humphrey Bogart, who Sinatra regarded as a hero), talks about their glory years when they seemed to rule the entertainment world from Las Vegas, and then the inevitable fall into, variously, drug abuse, alcoholism, bankruptcy and depression, leaving behind them a trail of broken marriages, broken hearts and more.

The book is not a biography of any of the Rat Pack members – their childhoods and very early careers are barely touched upon – and show more shouldn’t be read as such. Instead, it covers the most successful and most volatile parts of their various careers, including such things as Sinatra’s involvement with the Mob, and the Kennedys (and both together at some stages). Sinatra is the main focus of the book, with the others seeming to orbit around him – with the exception of Dean Martin, who, it seems fairly apparent, would kowtow to nobody.

Actually, despite the author’s obvious and understandable love for Sinatra’s singing, Frank does not come out of this account very well. He is shown to be domineering and paranoid, unpredicatable – apt to change his mood in a moment – and a womaniser, who had little respect for anybody other than those he feared. Dean Martin came out of it a little better – at least he was his own man. Sammy Davis Jr was probably the most interesting of all of the Rat Pack members, for me anyhow. The racism and abuse he had to deal with was shocking – while hotel and casino managers were happy to have him perform and entertain a crowd, they certainly were not about to let him mingle with that same crowd. The section about the eventual desegregation in Vegas was illuminating and very interesting. Sammy also seemed to be out of his depth in the Rat Pack – detested by white people because of the colour of his skin, and detested by black people for being friends with white men like Sinatra and Martin, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. Peter Lawford came across as a sad character – born to looks, charm and charisma, Frank spat him out after he believed that Peter had double crossed him, and it’s sad to see how such a beautiful man as Lawford ended up sinking into a haze of drugs and alcohol, which cost him his life. Joey Bishop was possibly the most enigmatic of the group – seemingly able to rib Frank without fear of reprisals, and remaining his own man as far as possible within the confines of such a group.

The Kennedys feature in the book – Frank was an ardent admirer of the family, and an overt campaigner for JFK when Kennedy was running for the democratic presidential nomination, and then the president. The family as a whole do not come over well(!) Also covered extensively was Frank’s connection with various gangsters – who were happy to use him, but clearly had little respect for him.

It was nice to read about a time when Las Vegas was a genuinely cool, sexy and glamorous place to be, unlike the commercial money making machine which it is these days; what a place it would have been to visit at the time!

The slang used in the book emulates the period covered, with mention of broads, dames and swells routinely peppered throughout the book. This may annoy some viewers, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. Overall I very much enjoyed the book, and it has whetted my apetite to find out more about the various Rat Pack members. show less

The 60s were, apparently, a swinging time and nothing swung harder than Las Vegas, particularly when the Rat Pack were in town. "Rat Pack Confidential" gives us the background of each member of the Rat Pack; Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, and the two most people forget, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop.

Sinatra comes across as a bit of wanker, which will come as no surprise to most readers, Martin does whatever wants, Davis cops racist treatment wherever he goes (including from his Rat Pack colleagues), Lawford drinks himself into a sad state and Bishop is really just a hanger-on.

What catches ones attention most is the chapter where Levy lists every woman Rat Pack members are known to have slept with. It goes on for many pages.

The Sinatra Martini. It's vivid blue and composed of I don't know what, but it made me think of this book and how these dudes made everyday vices so electrifyingly cool. Swingers. This book has an unfortunate tendency to focus on Ol' Blue Eyes, which isn't bad as he's The Leader, but it would have been nice to get much more on his cohorts. It's a great intro to folks discovering their style and a Vegas some of us never knew.

I used spirits for medicinal purposes only.
I manufactured it for medicinal purposes only.
And then I started drinking what I manufactured, and I drank myself out of a hell of a business...for medicinal purposes only.
('Mr. Booze' from ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS)

Sammy with his wicked early 1960s suits, Dean-NO with his show more innate sense of wicked humor, Lawford with his wicked bizarreness, Bishop with his wicked sarcasm, and Frankie with his wicked vocal chops...ice cubes swimming along before assassinations changed the world.

Dean: You'd think they'd put a little heat in this room, I'm freezing.
Frank: Take your hand out of the ice bucket.
Dean: Oh.

Book Season = Summer (fly me to the moon) show less

A look at the infamous Rat Pack at it's height during the making of "Ocean's Eleven" in Vegas in the 1960's. The best part is the light, ring-a-ding tone the book takes while providing real insight to the men and that time

A bit glib, but will appeal to those into the The start of this book was not promising - the brief introductions to the members of the Ratpack - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop - with writing that felt contrived: trying a bit too hard to be edgy and hip. But as the book progresses it improves (or perhaps this reader just got used to it).
In telling the story of a group of entertainers, it inevitably ends up focusing on the most successful - in this case Frank. We learn a lot about his connections to the mob, and the Kennedys, but relatively little about his personal and family life. The other characters are mainly painted in regards to their relations to Frank, and therefore they come across as show more bit players supporting a single star - perhaps they were.

I learned a lot i didn't previously know - such as Sinatra's relationship with the Kennedys. But ultimately I felt this book was a bit shallow - perhaps the Ratpack just weren't as fascinating as they would have liked to think they were. show less

Good job of capturing the flavor of the times. The breezy, hip writing style helps make you feel you are there in 1960's Vegas.

Enjoyable, if elaborately written, biography detailing the lives of the Rat Pack. The main concentration is on Frank Sinatra and the book suffers because of this.