Frank Sinatra Has a Cold response (Week 5)

The profile on Frank Sinatra was a pleasure to read, and the length of it didn’t seem as hefty because of its quality.  The amount of information that Gay Talese was able to get just by hanging around Sinatra and talking to people who knew him is incredible.  For the first ¾ of the piece there are no quotes from Sinatra himself, the story is told through the eyes of the narrator, looking on from afar. 

I really enjoyed the structure of the piece with its discourses away from the main chronology of events giving the story a much greater depth.  The chain of events gave Talese many opportunities to share more about Sinatra’s childhood and family without the information seeming out of place.  I will try and experiment with this technique in my future pieces because I really enjoyed reading this style. Talese seems to know Frank personally with everything he knows, but it just comes from extensive observation.

One thing that stuck with me from the very beginning of the piece was the description of Frank Sinatra.  The way that it grew out of Sinatra lighting a cigarette for one of his blonde companions, focusing on his hands and then moving on to his other features.  The little detail about the woman who makes $400 a week to carry his hair around was great.  I definitely will try to pay attention to details when I am writing my profile because I think that these physical descriptions can actually reveal a lot about the character, something that Talese has done very well.

This profile has definitely given me a lot to think, and worry, about as I continue to do more work on my piece.  I look forward to hearing what all of you thought about it.