My Father's Daughter: A Memoir - Softcover

Sinatra, Tina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1501124498 ISBN 13: 9781501124495

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2015

Synopsis

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sinatra’s birth, a startling, compelling, yet affectionate portrait of an American entertainment legend by his youngest daughter, who writes about the man, his life, the accusations, and about the many people who surrounded him—wives, friends, lovers, users, and sycophants—from his Hoboken childhood through the notorious “Rat Pack,” and beyond.

Frank Sinatra seemed to have it all: genius, wealth, the love of beautiful women, glamorous friends from Las Vegas to the White House. But in this startling and remarkably outspoken memoir, his youngest daughter reveals an acutely restless, lonely and conflicted man. Through his marriages and front-page romances and the melancholy gaps between, Frank Sinatra searched for a contentment that eluded him. Tina writes candidly about the wedge his manipulative fourth wife, Barbara Marx, drove between father and daughter.

My Father’s Daughter, with its unflinching account of Sinatra’s flaws and foibles, will shock many of his fans. At the same time, it is a deeply affectionate portrait written with love and warmth, a celebration of a daughter’s fond esteem for her father and a respect for his great legacy. Even now, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, the world remembers Frank Sinatra as one of the giants of the show business. In this book from someone inside the legend, Tina Sinatra remembers him as something more: a father, and a man.

About this title

Review:

For Sinatra fans, 2000 was a very good year. First came the discography Put Your Dreams Away; then, the newsy exposé of the Chairman's FBI dossier, The Sinatra Files; and now, his life story as seen by his younger daughter Tina. Besides inside family stuff, Tina knows about Frank's life from having produced the CBS miniseries about him. The most publicized item in the book concerns Frank's kind words with the Mafia on behalf of JFK's campaign. But, beware the common belief that the Mafia stole the election for JFK--this is dubious--and don't miss out on all of the more interesting stories in the book. There's irony: JFK personally persuaded United Artists to make Sinatra's best film, that classic of Presidential-assassination conspiracy, The Manchurian Candidate. There's squalor: Before the Mafia helped him through his career slump, Frank walked past an Eddie Fisher movie marquee and promptly attempted suicide. There's poignance: "I'm not home much, but I'm a pretty damned good father," Frank unconvincingly claimed. Nancy Barbato Sinatra--the mother of Tina, Nancy, and Frank Jr.--comes off as saintly. Ava Gardner was nice to the kids, but a comparably neurotic brawler with Frank. Mia Farrow, Tina's schoolmate, was delightful, inclined to intense relationships with father figures (Salvador Dalì, Yul Brynner), eccentric, and not as frail and malleable as she looked and Frank probably hoped: "She was just as career-driven as Ava, and probably more independent," writes Tina. "Mia was more of a day person, while the only dawns my father saw were on the back end of a hard day's night." Barbara Marx Sinatra, according to embittered Tina, made Frank's last 12 years a living hell. (Barbara has declined to comment on Tina's charges.)

In straightforward prose that's studded with interesting facts (did you know Frank would tip $200 if you parked his car?) and 86 photos, Tina Sinatra paints a lively portrait of her inconsolably lonely pop-star pop. And she did it her way. Deal with it. --Tim Appelo

About the Author:

Tina Sinatra is the youngest child of the American singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy Barbato Sinatra. My Father’s Daughter is her first book.

Jeff Coplon’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone, among other publications. He is the coauthor a dozen memoirs, notably with Tina Sinatra, Sarah Ferguson (the Duchess of York), and Cher. He is the author of Gold Buckle, the definitive treatment of rodeo bull riding (HarperOne, 1995). He resides in Brooklyn.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1501124498
• ISBN 13: 9781501124495
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368