The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra

As a long time Sinatra fan I was expecting behind the scenes anecdotes, real and never before captured moments and not boring stuff about contracts and commissions. Man writes like an accountant. Worse, there is nothing there most fans didn't already know.

The way it was : my life with Frank Sinatra by Elliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi is a great book to have because it touches on parts of Sinatra's life never told before. There have been many books about Sinatra but none that are so up close and personal. Paul Anka is such a talent for writing lyrics and music and two of his songs are introduced in the book, i.e., My Way and Let Me Try Again. I had to hear the song Let Me Try Again, and I went on the internet to hear Sinatra sing it and I cried. His great love for Ava Gardner is evident in the story of the song and he didn't like performing it. I can't blame him because he'd probably cry. You know from his history how much he loved her but they couldn't make it together.(His DVD, Ol' Blues Eyes is Back ) has the song on it and I ordered it from Amazon. He's gone. This year marks his 102 birthday on Dec. 12. He will never be forgotten as we have many venues of his talents that immortalize him in our hearts and minds. The book is an easy read and full of information for those of us starved for anything Sinatra.

Very interesting account of someone who was close to the greatest entertainer and singer we have ever seen! This is not a sycophantic View but an objective account warts and all.

Starts slow, second half is really good.

I found the book fascinating, especially telling in the chapters on Frank's declining years and the sad reality of letting go and leaving the stage for good in 1995. Everyone who saw Frank in concert in the waning years left the auditorium worried about his health and the Alzheimer rumors abounded. But I think we all knew that he loved performing so much that once he stopped his downward spiral would really accelerate. It was reassuring to read that his wife Barbara was consistently looking out for his welfare, but my opinion of the children really nosedived after reading how money grabbing and self centered those offspring were. I will always remember Sinatra, warts and all, as the greatest performer of my lifetime. The seven times I had the pleasure of seeing him live on stage remains one of the high points of my life. There will never be another like him, ever.