His Way
Kitty Kelley, 1986
★ 3.64 from 2.1k ratings on Goodreads
Kitty Kelley's unauthorized life of Frank Sinatra, built from the voices of family, lovers and hangers-on: a portrait of ambition, loyalty and the cost of being in the room. A gossipy, voice-driven biography that moves quickly through testimony, leaving a lingering unease about ambition and loyalty.
Feels like curiosity, unease and tenderness. About family, ambition and morality.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy oral-history portraits and are curious about the people around Sinatra, not just his music. Be ready for a draining, harsh account: the relentless focus on cruelty and abuse wears many readers down, and some found his music slighted.
Why read it
It gives you a chorus of firsthand voices on fame, family and loyalty, and a clear-eyed case for questioning the myth built around a powerful man.
A page from the book
What a man looks like after his wife has humiliated him.
“Marty came to my father’s house, and he was shaking,” she said. “He walked real slow and quiet, like he was a beaten man. Dolly made that man so low. He said, ‘Frank should respect his mother but when he doesn’t, she takes it out on me.’ You never embarrass an Italian man and make him low like that. As soon as I saw him I felt bad. He looked like a hobo at the door begging for something to eat. He didn’t even ask for help right away, but his face said it all. He was stunned when I let him in. He thought I was going to swear at him. My father came out and said, ‘You look bad. You want a shot of liquor?” What readers say
Readers found the biography gripping and thoroughly researched but often draining, with many disturbed by its relentless focus on cruelty and abuse. Some were entertained or fascinated; others felt the portrait was biased and neglected his music.
Kitty Kelley.Sinatra refused to cooperate with Kelley, so His Way is assembled from interviews with family, friends and former lovers — a chorus of voices.
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Questions readers ask
- Is His Way for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy oral-history portraits and are curious about the people around Sinatra, not just his music. Be ready for a draining, harsh account: the relentless focus on cruelty and abuse wears many readers down, and some found his music slighted.
- What is His Way like?
- A gossipy, voice-driven biography that moves quickly through testimony, leaving a lingering unease about ambition and loyalty. Feels like curiosity, unease and tenderness. About family, ambition and morality.
- What should I read after His Way?
- If you liked His Way, try The Laws of Human Nature (Robert Greene), A Season on the Brink (John Feinstein) and Who's Looking Out for You? (Bill O'Reilly).
A taste of the feed
He did not want a statue. He wanted a city that could live without him.
“I could give you many other reasons,” he concluded, “why you should feel confident in ultimate victory, if only you will make up your minds not to add to the empire while the war is in progress, and not to go out of your way to involve yourselves in new perils. What I fear is not the enemy’s strategy but our own mistakes.” The novelty of what he was proposing aroused great debate. Neither hawks nor doves were satisfied with his plan, but in the end, his reputation for wisdom carried the day and his strategy was approved. Several months later the fateful war began.
The Laws of Human Nature · Robert Greene
What a house sounds like when love and fear share a roof.
My home was a mixture of tradition and chaos. My father wasn’t Ozzie Nelson, the TV ideal dad in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but he wasn’t Ozzy Osbourne either. I wrote about my late father in The O’Reilly Factor, the book, and I think it is safe to say that I had a rough-hewn upbringing. Simply put: There was plenty of tension in my house. Along with a lot of yelling and martial arts. My father was the Kung and I was the Fu.
Who's Looking Out for You? · Bill O'Reilly
When the market stops following the rules, who is truly responsible for the collapse?
I was furious the situation had reached this point. A relatively small group of people—many on Wall Street, some not—had gambled that the housing market would keep booming forever. It didn’t. In a normal environment, the free market would render its judgment and they could fail.
Decision Points · George W. Bush
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