|
My
Father's Daughter
Tina Sinatra
 You'd
think Frank Sinatra would have been the swingingest pop a girl
could hope for, and—unlike other movie stars, whose dreamboat
status did not always translate to real-life parenting—it's
practically true. In My Father's Daughter, Tina Sinatra
charts her father's life from the perspective of his youngest
child. She paints him as an attentive, loving father, a man to
whom family was as important as his eyes were blue. Even his nickname
for her, "Pigeon," makes your heart melt a little. Though
his two divorces and Rat-Packer image don't exactly jibe with
the way the public remembers him, Tina forgives her father his
inconsistencies and hypocricies.
The
first half of the book covers Frank's rise to fame from his boyhood
in Hoboken, New Jersey. Anyone seeking in-depth coverage of the
movies or recordings Frank made during this period will be sadly
disappointed. The point is, you can get that information anywhere.
What Tina shows us here is the flip side of Sinatra's life, the
time when he was a husband, father and friend. She tells us a
bit about his involvement with JFK's presidential campaign, as
well as his affiliation with the mob. A detailed account of Frank
Jr.'s kidnapping is covered here, and through that story, we get
to see the full dimensions and emotions of a man who epitomized
the word "cool."
It's
not really until the book's second half—titled "From
Hell to Eternity"—that you feel youčre getting some
truly juicy (and often sad) gossip. When Tina writes about Sinatra's
third wife, Barbara, the author's optimistic point of view begins
to wane. It seems Frank spent the last 25 years of his life married
to a woman who nagged, manipulated and interfered, especially
in areas concerning his finances and his children. In addition
to convincing Frank to annul his first marriage (with the mother
of his three children), it seems Barbara also kept his children
from saying "goodbye" to him as he died.
Tina
manages to tell Frank Sinatra's story from a fresh perspective,
even though you're left wishing for a happier ending. However,
the pictures of Old Blue Eyes in his glorious youth are sure to
cheer you up.
-Danielle
Bernato
|
