Rating: 
Summary: "Genius"
Review: It takes a "genius" like Nick Tosches to show us that Dean Martin had a sleazy side. Whoever would have guessed? But that's the genius of Tosches. As Nietzsche once said of Zola, Mr. Tosches "delights in stinking." And he can sniff out squalor even in the most unlikely places -- like Las Vegas in the 1960s. What's next for him I wonder? Maybe an expose of the dark underbelly of suburbia.
Rating:
Summary: "Genius"
Review: It takes a "genius" like Nick Tosches to show us that Dean Martin had a sleazy side. Whoever would have guessed? But that's the genius of Tosches. As Nietzsche once said of Zola, Mr. Tosches "delights in stinking." And he can sniff out squalor even in the most unlikely places -- like Las Vegas in the 1960s. What's next for him I wonder? Maybe an expose of the dark underbelly of suburbia.
Rating: 
Summary: A look into Dino's brain: accurate? Who the heck knows!!!
Review: Nick Tosches tried to do the impossible here, and you're guess is as good as mine as to whether he accomplished it: namely, to give us insight into what made Dean Martin tick; what motivated him, what turned him on, what turned him off, etc. The book has excessive detail, which I thought was a kind of filler or stalling technique when you realize that in spite of all the misc data out there on Dino; amply supplied in this book; none of it amounts to a hill of beans. In the end, you have to take a leap of faith that somehow, through tireless research and interviews, Mr Tosches developed an intuitive sense of what made Dino tick. The book was strong on the Jerry Lewis years, due to his interviews with Lewis. Also, Jeannie Martin gave some unique perspectives as well (ex: Dean said his prayers faithfully every night). Lets face it, there's no way to be analytical about such a complex and private individual. No doubt Mr Tosches hit the mark at times, and missed by a country mile at others. I found myself asking "does Dino really not give a crap about anything, as Nick Tosches suggests?" If so, why pray to the Lord each night? Without Dean's actual thoughts, I don't know how anyone could come closer to figuring this guy out than Nick Tosches did. I mean, even his wife didn't have a clue! If excess (and unnecessary) profanity doesn't turn you off, give it a try. I especially enjoyed the occasional thoughts in Italian! Nice job, Mr Tosches!
Rating: 
Summary: Superb.
Review: No better book has ever been written about show biz in America. Amazing reporting (the book lists 70 pages of sources) and intensely-felt superb writing.
Rating:
Summary: Baroque Star Bio of Dean Martin that has a lot of kick
Review: One of the best star bios I've read precisely because Martin is a star who couldn't give a damn about his stardom. Tosches writes in the style of a sportswriter for SI, lots of interior monologues, vivid impressionistic descriptions, aggressive language that captures perfectly the spiritually bankrupt posturing of Dean and his crew. In offering this anti-biography, Tosches points out that it is indeed impossible to really know a star and that the star himself runs the risk of never coming to grips with who he is. In the case of Dino, none of this ever seemed to matter to Dean
Rating:
Summary: A mesmerizing, almost dream-like quality
Review: Over the past few years I've read this book a minimum of four times. Many parts of it play out almost as movie within a movie. Tosches style in writing this book certainly makes this THE most unique celebrity biography I have ever read. It's a wonderful tale of Dino in a world that no loner exists. You gotta read the book, pallie!
Rating: 
Summary: nothing new
Review: Since I am a super hard core Dino fan, (since I was 8 1949), and have just about read everything there is on Dino, including every gossip magazine, and had 3 personal encounters with the man, I was very disappointed in this book. There was nothing in the book that hadn't been documented earlier, and the language Dino supposedly used and thought was unnecessary and annoying. I am convinced no one will ever be able to give clear insight into the man's life since he and his family carefully hid any deep personal information. Dean himself underplayed his entire life and what he really did not "give a damn" about is what anyone thought. I wish the best of luck to those who wish to produce a film about this man. About the only good thing we might get is a great soundtrack!! As for Mr. Tosches book, there were some great photos!!
Rating:
Summary: "Almost unreadable - Dino is why you keep reading"
Review: The author has no sense of time - he was all over the place. Some offensive phrases were used for no reason. The subject matter, however was very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: This book reveals little or nothing about Dean Martin.
Review: The book features endless, tedious details about the entertainer's life - his contracts, his recordings, his divorce papers, which agent represented him in what year - but we learn very little about what drove Martin, why he did the things he did. The author successfully makes the same point over and over: Dean Martin didn't care about anything, he didn't care about anyone but himself. But the author fails to tell us who Dean Martin was, what he thought and why he acted the way he did. Buy the book if you're interested in Martin's milieu: which mobsters he knew, which clubs he performed in, which Hollywood studios paid him how much money. But if you're interested in Dean Martin, then skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Giving Dino his due
Review: The seeds of 'youth culture' were planted in the 1950's with the emergence of rock and roll, but it was in the 1960's that it fully blossomed. The phrase 'generation gap' took its place in the language at that time, but some performers bridged it by appealing to a variety of age groups (Elvis and, I suppose, the Beatles). One of those performers was Dean Martin. I was too young to have more than a passing interest in the mop-tops from Liverpool, but was a fan of Elvis through his movies as much as his music. Yet, I always liked Dean Martin, and I wasn't the only one of my generation to tune in, every Thursday night at 10 p.m., to his NBC-TV show. 'Did you watch Dean Martin last night?' That question could often be heard at school the next day from kids whose closets were too crowded with blue jeans and T-shirts to accommodate a tuxedo. At the time, I snickered at Frank Sinatra whose scooby-doobie-dos made him seem only marginally more hip than Lawrence Welk. But Dean Martin was the genuine article. Nick Tosches's book about the man is the genuine article in its way, too: a big, exhaustively researched, and strongly written look at the culture that made Dean Martin the man that he was. But who was Dino? Tosches claims no one had the answer, and he quotes the second Mrs. Martin as saying 'He's either the most complex man imaginable or the simplest. There's either nothing under there or too much.' Tosches doesn't really seem to have a handle on the man either, except to suggest he was indifferent to everything. 'He simply no longer cared,' Tosches tells us at several points, adding that he never really did. Yet, many of the people he interviews portray a man who did care, but tried hard not to show it. Director Andrew V. McLaglen called him 'the most conscientious actor I've ever worked with.' But if Tosches fails to fully capture Martin's life (often choosing to imagine it instead), he does capture his times. Whether it's the Hollywood of the early 50's when Martin and Lewis ruled show business, or the Rat Pack era when Hollywood, Washington, and the mob formed an uneasy alliance, Tosches brings it alive in sharp, stunning prose. 'Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams' is a strange, even bizarre, book: a big 'literary' biography of a man whose own reading tastes allegedly ran to comic books, but it gives Dean Martin the due that others denied him. Because he didn't take himself seriously, it's often assumed that no one else should either. Tosches knows better, and so will those who read his book.
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