Sinatra and Me

December 1, 2020

Famous for breaking the Watergate story with Bob Woodward, Bernstein backtracks to his early-1960s experiences as a teenage reporter at the Washington Star in Chasing History. Structured around Gwendolyn Brooks's "We Real Cool," Punch Me Up to the Gods recounts award-winning poet/screenwriter Broom's upbringing in Ohio as a Black boy crushing on other boys, falling into wild sex and drug use, and finally finding his way. Laden with Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG, and Grammy honors, Foxx pivots here to talk about raising two very different daughters in Act Like You Got Some Sense (400,000-copy first printing; originally scheduled for October 2020). In The Windsor Diaries, published posthumously, Howard records staying with her grandfather at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park during World War II and befriending princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan, a viral sensation, pulls out the Southern charm to tell funny stories about life and celebrity in How Y'all Doing? (100,000-copy first printing). Having started the YouTube channel Dad, How Do I? to hand out the fatherly advice and how-to tips he wishes his dad had been around to give him, Kenney here reiterates that advice while surveying his childhood and how the channel went viral (75,000-copy first printing). In Sparring with Smokin' Joe, Lewis, director of journalism at York College, CUNY, recalls the months he spent in 1981 in the gym and on the road with boxing great Joe Frazier. Brat Packer McCarthy relates a life that encompasses acting, directing, and working as an award-winning editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler. In Sunshine Girl, Margulies shows how she created order amid the chaos of a difficult childhood to become an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actress. In Sinatra and Me, Oppedisano, a longtime confidant and key member of the singer's management team, reflects on Sinatra's life, loves, and commitment to his craft (100,000-copy first printing). Finally, in The Wreckage of My Presence, actress/podcaster Wilson offers funny but heartfelt essays ranging from the joys of eating in bed to her obsessive need to be liked (100,000-copy first printing)

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 17, 2021
Oppedisano debuts with a remarkable look at the final years of one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The author was in his early 20s playing gigs at jazz clubs in New York when he met Frank Sinatra in 1972, “in the middle of his self-imposed (and short-lived) retirement,” and became part of the singer’s entourage. By the mid-’70s, he’d joined Sinatra’s comeback tour as road manager. Throughout, Oppedisano describes countless late-night sessions spent talking and drinking with the notorious night owl, reminiscing about the singer’s past glories performing with friend and prankster Dean Martin (who once gave Sinatra a mood ring so he could “know whether I’m addressing Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde”). In a moving recollection of the singer’s final concerts, he recalls Sinatra’s decision to wind down his performances after returning from a tour in Japan in 1994: “He wasn’t willing to perform as a shadow of his former self.” As Sinatra’s health deteriorated, Oppedisano became a trusted aide to his daughters, Nancy and Tina, and to Sinatra’s wife, Barbara—the only other person with him when the singer, whom Oppedisano “loved like a second father,” died. This fascinating and intimate account stands out among the dozens of books written about the celebrated legend. Agent: Alan Nevins, Renaissance Literary and Talent.

May 15, 2021
Many Frank Sinatra fans prefer to glance over the star's later years, as his voice weakened but he continued to perform. There is one man, however, with a very different view of the iconic singer in decline. Tony Oppedisano met Sinatra in the early '70s and quickly established himself as part of the entourage, hanging out with Jilly Rizzo, New York nightclub owner and Sinatra's number-one guy at the time. ""Tony O"" gradually became closer to Sinatra and eventually, after Rizzo's death in a car accident in 1992, became the singer's road manager and closest friend. Written with coauthor Ross, Oppedisano's account of his years with Sinatra is a fond remembrance of a deep friendship, formed through all-night conversations, fueled by Jack Daniels, in which Sinatra regaled Tony with tales of his life and career. Many of the stories are familiar, but Tony O's version reveals a vulnerability in the Chairman of the Board that is often quite moving. James Kaplan's two-volume biography remains the definitive account of Sinatra's life, but this heartfelt memoir offers a tender, if rose-colored, coda.

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May 15, 2021
A revealing memoir from the legendary singer's road manager. When it comes to celebrities as famous as Frank Sinatra, those who know don't usually talk. That alone would make this detailed memoir from his road manager and friend special enough, but it goes beyond that. Oppedisano (b. 1951), a Long Island singer who became part of the Rat Pack's inner circle after befriending famous club owner and Sinatra confidant Jilly Rizzo, offers plenty of eyewitness details from the legend's final years. He also recounts Sinatra's side in various famous relationships and disagreements. Was Sinatra part of the mob? Did he have an affair with Marilyn Monroe? Is he secretly Ronan Farrow's father? Oppedisano tackles all these open questions and more along with showing us the inner workings of the Sinatra family and the Rat Pack. While some of the author's answers may seem a little too simple when compared to other more complicated accounts of Sinatra and his actions, Oppedisano does seem to reliably report what he has seen, including the occasional angry outburst or unexpected surrender. "All his secrets are hidden in plain sight," he writes. "The real man reveals himself: his strengths, his weaknesses, his loves, his regrets, and his humor, all in his music. Frank was an autobiographical singer." Whether doting conclusions like that are true or not, it is hard to question the author's access to Sinatra, especially in his final years. He was the Chairman of the Board's loyal companion, and when they weren't on the road together, they spent plenty of time at Sinatra's home. Oppedisano was with Sinatra and his wife, Barbara, when the legendary entertainer passed away in 1998, and he reveals those moments and the final family battles that followed. A must-read for Sinatra fans, this lovingly written, sweetly devoted account may even solve some pop-culture mysteries.

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