Frank Sinatra: History, Identity, and Italian American ... (ISBN 1403966559)

Book Description:
No one represents the Italian American journey from undesirable outsiders to embraced citizens better than Frank Sinatra. From impoverished beginnings in an immigrant, single-parent household to world renown as "Chairman of the Board," he beat the odds to become one of the most influential and best-loved artists of the twentieth century. Sinatra's symbolic role to the millions of Italian American immigrants who looked up to him as proof of the American dream was far-reaching. From teenage crooner to civil rights activist to Reagan Republican, his shifting identity resonated deeply in Italian American culture. Now, a gathering of distinguished historians, journalists and critics explore Sinatra's impact on American culture, from questions of politics and civil rights to Italian mothering, morality, and ethnic stereotyping. These insights place Sinatra at the fulcrum of many controversial and timely issues that lend his influence a new depth and power, not only musically but in a broad historical context.

The best of both worlds: Frank Sinatra & Italy:
This book wasn't actually for me, it was for my father-in-law, who is 100% Italian, and probablly Frank Sinatra's biggest fan! So for Christmas I was on a mission to bring his 2 favorite things together... Although I didn't read the book, he was very excited about the book, and has told us that he enjoyed it very much :o)

A New Look at Old Blue Eyes:
Stan Pugliese's book is outstanding. It outlines the way Italian American culture was shaped and influenced by Frank Sinatra by putting together a series of scholarly articles dealing with the history, politics, identity, and representation of Sinatra's life. It is an entirely new perspective on an old story. The book was written in order to cast a scholarly light on some hazy issues that have been overlooked in the past. All of the articles are written by collegiate historians (all of whom have impressive working bibliographies). This is an excellent source for anyone interested in researching Sinatra because it is written with a modern perspective (c. 1994). This is not intended to be a biography, and reading it with a background knowledge of Sinatra is helpful. This book is only really meant to be geared toward historians or scholars that are familiar with Sinatra's life. The book is extremely well-written and well-researched, and I would recommend it to anyone who is familiar with Sinatra and his life (which also means being familiar with the context of his life). For researching purposes, the book was extremely helpful.