Bobby Darin - (Excelsior Editions) by David Evanier (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A multilayered portrait of this brash, gifted artist, whose restless voice and spirit seem as alive today as ever.

A performer who rivaled Sinatra, Bobby Darin rose from dire poverty to become one of the biggest stars of his generation. Dogged by chronic illness, he knew that time was not on his side, and so, in a career full of dizzying twists and turns, he did it all, moving from teen idol to Vegas song-and-dance man, from hipster to folkie and back. In this biography, David Evanier offers a multilayered portrait of this brash, gifted artist, including the dark side of his celebrated marriage to America's sweetheart, Sandra Dee, and the incredible family secret that tore him apart at the end.

Review Quotes

"Informed by scores of interviews with Darin's friends and associates ... Evanier's book paints a picture of a ruthlessly ambitious musician ... Sinatra may have had the bragging rights to 'My Way, ' but Darin lived out the lyrics." - Publishers Weekly

"This biography percolates with cool ... [Evanier has] written a book so charged with intimacy, so heartbreakingly ebullient with life, that you feel that any moment the pages are about to snap their fingers and break into song." - Caroline Leavitt, Boston Globe

"Evanier's portrait ... is one of a bright talent that soared quickly and erupted in a flash of glory." - David Hajdu, The Atlantic

"For [a] slightly darker look at Darin, hole up for the holidays with the latest book about Darin's rollercoaster life." - Janet Maslin, "Top Ten List of Books for Gifts," New York Times

About the Author

David Evanier is the author of Woody: The Biography, All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett, and eight other books.