Why SINATRA Matters

Silver Lining:



After a devastating Anay Attack
annihilated my collection of
Maxim and Stuff magazines from my swinger days,

I was forced to check every nook and cranny
of my bedroom/library/storage area,
and was pleased to find that my vintage Spider-Man
comic collection (worth thousands of $$$!!!),
was safe and sound.

Along the way,
I discovered one of my most precious books,
which I thought I had lost long ago,
safely ensconsed in a forgotten, dusty "karton".



Call it serendipity, fate, karma, destiny, or kismet,

but those awful termites inadvertently
made this bookworm weep tears of joy ",

From Publishers Weekly

Like a musical Elements of Style,
Hamill's slim meditation on Frank Sinatra is confident, smart and seamless.

Since (and immediately before) Sinatra's death in May 1998,
countless tributes have been made to the singer;
Hamill (A Drinking Life) seems to be writing to set the record straight,
for he knew Sinatra and, before that, knew the singer's music.

But Hamill doesn't fawn over Sinatra
the way other, younger writers have recently done.

Rather, he elegantly tells the Sinatra story,
dwelling on the singer's best recordings,
dismissing "the Rat Pack, the swagger, the arrogance,
the growing fortune, the courtiers,"

because in the end, he writes,
they are "of little relevance."

What matters, according to Hamill,

is THE MUSIC.