The Rat Pack: The Hey-Hey Days of Frank and the Boys

Sinatra and his entourage—Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and a bevy of hangers-on—performed, gambled, and boozed it up in the lounges of Las Vegas' Sands Hotel and Casino. The Rat Pack explores the antics of this "royal court" and examines the continued fascination surrounding the pack and why they are still cultural icons today.

Quirk and Schoell's rehashing of the biographical details of Frank Sinatra and the rest of his crew is only intermittently able to disguise its contempt for their personal and professional lives. If there's an opportunity for a pot shot, rest assured this book will take it, from the admittedly deserved (Cannonball Run II, anyone?) to the probably uncalled for (a charity performance for a halfway house for ex-convicts is dismissed with snide comments about Sinatra the wannabe gangster). Much of the source material is drawn from Quirk's footwork as an entertainment reporter in the 1960s; interviews that he conducted with Peter Lawford over the years also provide some juicy tales of sex and drugs, as well as the inside scoop on his ouster from "the Clan" after brother-in-law President Kennedy backed out of his planned Palm Springs vacation at Frank Sinatra's home. (The same stories, with much less venom and some more pizazz, can be found in Shawn Levy's Rat Pack Confidential.)