That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin - Softcover

Martin, Ricci; Smith, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589791401 ISBN 13: 9781589791404

Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

As fascination with the Rat Pack thrives in films and on television, Dean Martin remains one of the group's most enigmatic members. The Hollywood image of Dean Martin with a martini in one hand and a woman in the other continues to dominate public perception. Now, Dean's son Ricci reveals the husband and father few people knew, a man who hated parties, adored his mother-in-law, and found utter contentment in a slice of buttered bread.
In That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin, Ricci Martin takes readers on a tour through his childhood, from the star-studded parties to the exploration of "three marriages, eight kids, one family," to the treasured one-on-one time he shared with his father. He also discusses Dean's first meeting with Jerry Lewis and divulges his father's version of the Martin and Lewis breakup. Ricci Martin addresses the key relationships in his father's life, allowing readers to view the Rat Pack years, "The Dean Martin Show," and Dean's divorce from Jeanne through a son's eyes.
That's Amore reveals the triumphs, tragedies, and escapades that colored Ricci's childhood, including his brother Dean Paul's death. More than 100 photos from the private Martin family album enhance Ricci Martin's portrait of his father, creating a complete, honest picture of the Rat Pack legend.

About this title

About the Author:

Ricci Martin is the youngest son of Dean and Jeanne Martin. That's Amore is his first book. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Christopher Smith is an award-winning journalist and the Washington D.C. Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune. He lives in McLean, Virginia.

From Publishers Weekly:

Celebrity-watchers keep tabloids in business hoping to catch a glimpse of the "real" side of favorite movie stars. This scattershot memoir by Dean Martin's youngest son proves that sometimes the image on the screen is a lot more colorful than the father who comes home and enjoys a slice of bread before dinner. Martin's affectionate, innocuous and slightly dull book of memories will be a treat only for true Dino fans, affording them an intimate look at the performer at home. The anecdotes have an "I guess you had to be there" flavor ("One of Dad's favorite jokes, which he would pull when we went out to dinner, was to be having a conversation and absent-mindedly butter his big hands as if they were pieces of bread") that should appeal to those who enjoy the humor in Reader's Digest. The younger Martin's focus is strictly Dino-as-Dad, with very few peeks into his father's work on screen or in the recording studio. Life at 601 Mountain Drive was pretty idyllic, with parents who didn't mind their kids shooting guns inside the house and who were blas‚ when older son Dean Paul bought a tank. The latter part of the book is sparked to life by a too-close-for-comfort association with Charles Manson and the tragic fatal plane crash of Dean Paul, which precipitated Dino's health deterioration. More than 100 b&w photos. (Feb.)Forecast: Those looking for a companion to Nick Tosches's definitive Dino: High Living in the Dirty Business of Dreams (1992) won't find much juice here.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1589791401
• ISBN 13: 9781589791404
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256