'Blockbuster' Hits Streets Tuesday, August 30

Some people say it will have heads exploding in Washington.
Others say it will send the mighty and powerful running for cover.
The whispers about it inside the beltway are beginning to get louder and soon they will turn to shrieks.
It's bold. It's brash. It's unapologetic.

No, I'm not talking about the recent earthquake or the upcoming hurricane Irene.
I'm talking about Dick Cheney's big new book, In My Time. Finally, The Sphinx speaks. And in this book, he's expected to tell all -- all the tales he's been keeping and holding through a long career that made him the penultimate Washington insider and culminated with his two terms as one of the most influential vice presidents in American history.
One thing that's already been revealed: As vice president, Cheney kept a secret letter of resignation hidden away in a safe because there really was no clear constitutional procedure in case he became incapacitated or unable to serve. And Cheney was concerned about his sometimes precarious health and how it might impact his ability to perform. So, the letter was ready in case it was needed and presumably those close to him knew how to access it if necessary. Even in a state of incapacitation, Cheney was determined to be the master of his own fate -- at least as vice president, anyway.
In My Time hits bookstores and downloads on Tuesday, August 30. Watch for it.

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Sinatra's Salacious Secrets - But Only Till 1954

It's a tome of a book.
At more than 700 pages you would think that James Kaplan's big new book on Sinatra entitled Frank, The Voice would cover the entirety of Sinatra's life.
That's what I thought.
But I didn't bother to read the book jacket very carefully. This book only covers the years from 1915 to 1954. It chronicles Sinatra's rise and fall and then his amazing comeback via his Oscar-winning performance as Maggio in From Here To Eternity. The book proves the truth of an old saying: A setback is nothing more than a setup for a comeback.
I've lived that saying -- but that's another story.
And wow, did Sinatra have to work for his comeback. Still, his then-wife, the ravishing Ava Gardner really helped him to achieve his goal.
But Frank and Ava were just too much alike -- and too combustible. True, they were very much in love and their love was passionate. Yet, it was not to be. The fights were legendary and invariably involved wandering eyes, vivid imaginations and petty jealousies. She was so beautiful and alluring to men and he was so charismatic and attractive to women that they just couldn't seem to trust one another.
The stress of being one of the most famous couples in the world also got to them.
Was Ava an alcoholic? She could through them back alongside any man, that's for sure. She could match most men one-for-one. Was Frank bipolar? Even though the term didn't exist then, his mood swings were huge. He was volcanic one moment and sullen and introspective the next. He had to take downers late at night and uppers when he finally awoke in the afternoon.
Ava once said that the problems between the two of them were not in the bedroom. Rather, she explained the problems arose "on the way to the bidet."
Indeed, they were both said to be remarkably adept sexually, if only by virtue of their endowments. And those endowments allowed them to gain a good deal of early experience in the boudoir before they even hooked up. Ava was undeniably voluptuous and Frank, though relatively short and pencil-thin, was big in just the right place.
In this book there's a story about a reporter peppering Ava backstage during one of Frank's performances at a point in his career when Frank was hard-pressed to fill the seats in even a medium-sized auditorium.
"What do you see in him, Ava?" The reporter asked. "He's just a 119-pound loser."
"Yeah," Ava answered, "but he's 19-pounds of c - - k."
That was enough to silence the reporter.
And in early 1950s America, no reporter could print such a quote.
Anyway, it wasn't until I was more than 550 pages into this book that I realized that it only covered the first portion of Sinatra's life. I have a habit of picking up a book and reading the first 20 or 30 pages and if I like it, I just keep reading. I never look to see how many pages it has and I never jump ahead or skip pages.
I've always been this way with every book I've ever read ever since I was a child.
So, I was worried for the author because I could tell that I was about three-quarters of the way (or more) through the book and Kaplan was still chronicling the events of 1952. I should have known.
I presume that Kaplan will produce another volume. I hope so. He's a damned good writer.
Oh, here's another interesting fact from the book: While she was married to Sinatra, Ava Gardner slept with director John Farrow who was then directing her in one of her films. Farrow was the father of Mia Farrow who later hooked up with Sinatra for a notorious May-December pairing. So, Sinatra eventually married the daughter of one of his wife's lovers.
Ahhh . . . . . Hollywood!

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The Secret Torment Behind 'The Voice'

It's been said that his voice is heard somewhere in the world almost every moment of every day and perhaps even more often then that.
And in the digital age when sounds are bounced off satellites, his voice is also almost always somewhere out there in space.
In fact, the sound of that voice is/was so distinctive, so melodic, so genuine and so seductive that it has yet to be duplicated. His more than 1,300 recorded vocals have been termed "the soundtrack of our lives."
So, even today, when people say "The Voice" you know who they mean.
But behind Frank Sinatra's unique voice with its masterful phrasing, well-trained elocution and irresistible timing a secret torment (a deeper, darker personality) huddled in a corner: frightened, insecure, tempestuous, unpredicable.
In James Kaplan's definitive new biography of Sinatra (Frank, The Voice) the source of the singer's lifelong torment is revealed.
Frank Sinatra's entry into this world was literally turbulent.
His birth was difficult -- so difficult that his mother's life was thought to be in danger.
By the time that local midwives called a doctor over to the Sinatras' cold water flat in Hoboken the only way to bring the baby forth was to use forceps -- cold, raw, intrusive metal. The right side of the child's face and his ear were disfigured. He was placed on a table until the mother could be tended to. The midwives seemed to think the child might be dead. The life of the  mother was more important.
But someone threw cold water on the baby and he started wailing. The Voice emerged -- panicked, injured, pained, frightened and (perhaps) angry.
The mother (Dolly Sinatra) never had another child and she alternately dotted on and ridiculed her prized son. Looking at him, she may have sometimes thought: "I never want to go through that again!" On the other hand, there were surely moments when she may have felt that his mere presence must be a miracle. Polar opposite feelings.
The son alternately appreciated what the mother had gone through and blamed her for his disfigurement. He both loved and feared her and all of his relationships with women were similarly ambivalent. Tortured.
An only child, Sinatra kept to himself and remained self-conscious about the scars on his face and his mangled ear. Even after plastic surgery (years later, and only partially successful) he still covered his face with Max Factor pancake makeup every day and always insisted on being photographed from the left side.
We all know that Sinatra had beautiful blue eyes, and (as Kaplan points out) a perfectly-formed mouth and a full, sensual lower lip. Plus, there was that seemingly cocksure self-confidence that made him appear bigger than life.
But he remained insecure, tormented and (in certain situations) suprisingly vulnerable.
In some way, it was as if he was never fully formed.
But the torment fueled a restlessness that drove him to succeed, urging him ever onward. He always had something to prove. Always.
And the vulnerability (when he allowed it to show) was catnip to women.
Still, a certain frightful loneliness (perhaps a sense of abandonment) lingered throughout his life and revealed itself in numerous ways. For example, he dreaded being left along at night and insisted that others keep him company, often till daybreak.
In large part, the torment defined the man -- a talented genius, though a nonetheless complex and combustible personality and an ever-illusive public figure.

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Sean Patrick Griffin: Successful Author And Rising Star

My friend and colleague Sean Patrick Griffin, Ph.D., has been Associate Professor in Criminal Justice at Penn State Abington since 2003 and he's just published a new book, Gaming The Game: The Story Behind The NBA Betting Scandal And The Man Who Made It Happen.
Dr. Griffin was Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clemson University (South Carolina) from 2000-03. His research areas are organized crime, white-collar crime, labor racketeering, corruption, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and various aspects of policing.
Dr. Griffin is also the author of two books on African-American organized crime, including Black Brothers Inc., The Violent Rise and Fall of Philadelphia's Black Mafia (Milo, 2005/07). Black Entertainment Television (BET) based an episode of its popular "American Gangster" series on Black Brothers, Inc., and the book has been optioned to be made into at least one motion picture by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions for Warner Brothers Studios. Professor Griffin is a consultant on the film(s).
A strong and outspoken advocate of public scholarship, he has developed and carried out coursework regarding securities fraud and enforcement for audiences of professionals (i.e., attorneys and accountants), and is well into the research and writing of a book on stock fraud, expected to be completed in 2012.
Dr. Griffin commonly lends his expertise to an assortment of entities and individuals, including but not limited to: local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies (especially in re: organized crime, extortion, narcotics trafficking, tax evasion, and money laundering,); regulatory agencies (especially in re: gaming and stock fraud); social service agencies (especially in re: policing and violence against women); and print, radio, and television outlets throughout the U.S. (primarily in re: organized crime, white-collar crime, and related topics).
This amiable, dedicated and accomplished Professor has conducted research in the Netherlands on numerous occasions, focusing on such issues as the international trade in women, transnational organized crime, vice laws and enforcement, and the impact of immigration on the Dutch criminal justice system. He has appeared as an invited panelist for several forums on public policy, is a frequent guest on various local and national radio and television programs, and has been interviewed/featured extensively in print media.
A former Philadelphia Police Officer, Dr. Griffin resides in the city's suburbs with his wife and two children.
I congratulate him on his insight, his writings, his numerous successes and his many accomplishments.
I'm proud to know Sean Griffin and to call him a friend and colleague.

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An Undiscovered Philadelphia Gem: Rosenbach

Over the weekend we visited a virtually undiscovered Philadelphia gem.
Tucked away among the elegant 19th-century townhomes on Delancey Place near Rittenhouse Square, it houses one of the world’s great collections of manuscripts, literature and rare books.
A list of some of the treasures amassed by the two brothers behind this gem is amazing in itself – Lewis Carroll’s own copy of Alice in Wonderland, a first edition of Don Quixote, James Joyce’s handwritten manuscript for Ulysses, and the earliest extant letter from George Washington – but the real treat is to see them among the Egyptian statuary, Persian rugs, 18th-century furniture and Thomas Sully paintings that graced the 1860s mansion during the the brothers' lifetime.
It's the Rosenbach Museum and Library.
The library has more than 130,000 manuscripts and 30,000 rare books; the museum boasts the largest U.S. collection of miniature portraits painted in oil on metal.
The Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia is the sole repository of the original artwork of famed author and illustrator Maurice Sendak and a foremost authority on all things Sendak.
Author of Where the Wild Things Are and 108 other books, Maurice Sendak chose the Rosenbach to be the permanent home of his work in the early 1970s thanks to shared literary and collecting interests.
The Rosenbach’s Sendak collection is the largest collection of “Sendakiana” in the world, with over 10,000 preliminary sketches, final drawings, manuscripts, books, and ephemera as well as exclusive recent interview footage in which Sendak discusses his life, childhood, work, and inspirations.
And the Rosenbach recently kicked off its commemoration of Civil War 150 with an exhibition focusing on the war’s causes and earliest days, from the pre-war wrangling over abolition and states’ rights to the bombing of Fort Sumter and the first pitched battles.
The museum gets its name from the collections and treasures of Philip Rosenbach and his younger brother Dr. A. S. W Rosenbach. The brothers owned the Rosenbach Company which became the preeminent dealer of rare books, manusceprits and decorative arts during the first half of the 20th century.

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Must Read: Carol Burnett's 'This Time Together'

The Carol Burnett Show ran on CBS-TV from 1967 to 1978.
It was one of the last of the great TV comedy-variety shows.
Each week (for 278 editions) Carol Burnett and her company of players, along with weekly guest stars, presented a full scale hour of comedy, dance and music featuring high-quality production values and some of the greatest names in entertainment.
The team that Carol Burnett assembled for her show was top notch, all the way.
Now Burnett has written a delightful book of recollections (This Time Together) touching upon important parts of her life, including the 11 years that encompassed The Carol Burnett Show. The book is subtitled "laughter and recollection" and even the sad parts are lightened by Burnett's distinctive comedic take on the human condition.
The book is like a series of  short anecdotes that almost take the form of a conversation with Carol. In fact, you can hear Burnett's voice on every page and this is what makes the book so honest and so real. These truly are authentic, irrepressibly human reflections from Carol Burnett herself.
In this book you will find unforgettable about Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, Beverly Sills, Julie Andrews, John Huston, Carol Channing, John Crawford, Garry Moore, Bob Mackie, Laurence Olivier, Mike Nichols, John Steinbeck, Ray Charles, Zero Mostel, Peggy Lee and of course Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner. Through these stories and through her own reminiscences, Carol Burnett tells her own story as well. And it's funny, revealing and poignant at the same time.
Count this one as an absolute must read.
BTW: The title of the book comes from the song that Carol Burnett sang at the end of each one of her shows: I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together.

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A Big, Sumptuous Celebration Of Broadway

Sumptuous.
That's the only way to describe Larry Setmpel's Showtime, A History of the Broadway Musical Theater.
This big, new book is a treasure trove of Broadway lure.
The shows. The music. The stars. The eras. It's all here.
I've been having a great time reading Showtime. It's the kind of book you can read from cover-to-cover (over a long winter) or pick up from time to time and just peruse. Either way, you're going to feel invigorated by this revealing, surprising and ingratiating chronicle of America's unique, high-spirited gift to the world: the Broadway musical.
Beginning with the scandalous Astor Place Opera House riot of 1849, Larry Stempel traces the growth of musicals from minstrel shows and burlesques, through the golden age of Show Boat and Oklahoma!, to such groundbreaking works as Company and Rent.
This meticulously researched and detailed book was more than 30 years in the making.
In covering the expansive subject before him, Stempel combines original research—including a kaleidoscope of primary sources and archival holdings—with deft and insightful analysis. The result is nothing short of the most comprehensive, authoritative history of the Broadway musical.
But please don't think of it as a history book. Because this book is alive with the stories, the legends and the groundbreaking ideas that lit up the Great White Way and made it an entertainment mecca for generations.
Martin, Merman and Merrick are all here -- along with Sondheim, Lowe, Rodgers, Kander, Hammerstein, Lerner, Ebb, Coleman, Hart, Comden, Tune, Robbins, Bernstein, Green and so many more. And they're all given their due.
This book is not just about Broadway. It's not just about music. It's not just about theater. And it's not just about showbiz. It's about America.
I urge you to get your hands on Showtime. You're gonna love it!

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