The Rat Pack: Neon Nights with the Kings of Cool

Rating:
Summary: CLIFF "RAT" NOTES
Review: Here is the deal. If you are just starting to get into the Rat Pack or any of the players individually. Then this book is a good start. I would call it the Cliff notes of the individuals and their movies. If you have seen all the movies including the Matt Helm movies or if you have already read books on Dean, Frank, Sammy's biography then you are way ahead of this book and pass it by.

But if you have not seen the movies and want to learn the basics of each man and then from there search into each one of them seperatly then this is a good starter. There are some great books on all the guys but you will finded Sammy's Biography to be the most fun. Remember to check out deanmartinfancenter.com for more info on the Rat Pack. For the guys who wrote this you could have given us some fun facts or answered some questions, instead they read everyone else book and put together their own version.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: I've always heard about the rat pack and wanted to know more about them. The only thing I learned is that this is not the book to find out anything about the "kings of cool." The aspect of the book that I found most disturbing (perhaps the most telling) is that the authors mention the music of the three main men only in passing. You'd think that the music that three of the great popular singers of the last half century would merit some discussion. Instead the authors concentrate almost entirely on the movies, and then they only seem to care about Frank and Dean bedding so many women during the filming of the movies. A typical chapter mentions that Frank decides to make a movie, all the guys are more interested in partying than in making the movie, the movie is finished and stinks despite an occasional funny moment or glimpse of talent from one of the rat pack or the supporting cast. And by the way, Frank and Dean and Sammy sure had a lot of women during the filming. This is not a good book, and I don't know why I even read the whole thing. I'm ashamed of myself.

Rating:
Summary: Ratty
Review: The blurb on the cover of THE RAT PACK says "They had fun" but there's precious little fun to be found here. This book is a tedious listing of (mostly negative) events. It lacks any sparkle and vigor, and if I believed half of it, I'd have to wonder just what the appeal of this group of overgrown adolescents could be. There had to be more.

The Chairman of The Board is the centerpiece as an egomaniacal bully who uses his star power to make the world feel indebted to him. His reported temper tantrums seem utterly absurd. Anyone who used his fists or threats of mob violence as much as the authors claim Sinatra did, should have and would have been locked up, "different era" or no. The Frank Sinatra in these pages wouldn't be a "King of Cool". He wouldn't be anything much.

The rest of the boys orbit around Frank like some kind of an inebriated solar system. The boozing and skirt-chasing is leaden, so where's the thrill? Where are the laughs? If this book is at all accurate (and it isn't, listing Dean Martin's date of death incorrectly), it means that this group of supremely talented entertainers valued nothing, not even themselves.

The bulk of the book is made up of mostly scathing summaries of the Rat Pack movies. Nary a word is said about either Frank or Dean's musical careers. Sammy Davis Jr. is dismissed as little more than the Rat Pack houseboy. Peter Lawford is depicted as a sexually confused drug addict craving the attention of the others. Joey Bishop is virtually forgotten. The Rat Pack Mascots (Shirley MacLaine and Angie Dickinson) get barely honorable mentions (MacLaine far more than Dickinson). One has to wonder why Shirley MacLaine would continue to associate with The Rat Pack after being assaulted by mobster Sam Giancana twice in their company. The book begs an answer. MacLaine is no slouch, so obviously more and better was happening with the "Clan" than this sordid book deigns to tell us. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Save your dough
Review: The only reason I give this book one star is because zero stars wasn't an option. It took two guys to write this tripe? One monkey could have done a better job. This book is lazy and poorly written and I am ticked off that I wasted my money on it. The definitive book on the Rat Pack has got to be Shawn Levy's. After reading the first two pages of Levy's book I was hooked. The difference between a real writer and a couple of hacks.