Frank Sinatra Has a Cold

By Gay Talese
By: Alyssa Souza, Amy Hendricks, Mary Elizabeth
Alexander, and Lindsey Walker

The summary by Alyssa

Overall Analysis by Mary Elizabeth

I had my doubts before I read the twenty six page article titled, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.
However, I found it extremely interesting, I didnt mind reading the exceedingly long paper. As I
was reading, the end came sooner than I had anticipated.
The author, Gay Talese meant to interview the famous Frank Sinatra, but found only a grumpy,
isolated singer. Instead of traditional reporting, Talese turned to Franks friends and associates.
Leaching information from people close to the performer, Talese was able to piece together an
interesting narrative. The title doesnt even begin to describe the nature of the article, but the
author makes up for this with the first few lines, immediately grabbing the attention of any reader.
The article is an easy read, ignoring its considerable length.
Frank Sinatra Has a Cold is a work of nonfiction prose. It explores the onerous worrisome life of
Frank Sinatra as if it were a story. Talese introduced a new type of journalism, straying from the
traditional interviews to provide something entertaining based on his scoured information.

Overall Analysis Continued

by Mary Elizabeth
Gay Talese used the literary techniques of character, point of view, and language. The people,
the characters, seemed alive, entirely real; filled with emotions and back stories. The point of
view was omniscient, able to peer into the mind of anyone conveniently. I find the view choice
interesting, the author described everything as if he really were hovering over Frank Sinatra the
entire time, even though any information Talese had gathered was from Franks friends. The
language seemed alive, pulling the reader into the scenes described, making a person feel, at the
end of the work, as if he or she truly knew Frank Sinatra.
I only knew a little about Sinatra before reading Frank Sinatra has a Cold, so I had nothing to
go off of, no way of judging this. My judgment is completely unswayed. Looking back on the
work, I commend the author for daring to push the boundaries of journalism. I would
recommend reading this article, its laced with loaded language, and fascinating all the way
through. Gay Talese wrote a vivid narrative, he must have been terrified when Sinatra refused to
meet for an interview, but Talese was able to write this terrific piece about the singers life.

Analyzing the characters by Amy

Frank Sinatra is said to have been very loyal and giving to those that were his
friends. When a musician friends house was destroyed and his wife was
killed in a Los Angeles mud slide Sinatra personally came to his aid, finding
the musician a new home, paying whatever hospital bills were unpaid by the
insurance, then personally supervising the furniture of the new home, all
because of how that friend gave his all to Sinatra. If they remain loyal, then
there is nothing Sinatra will not do in turn This trait of loyalty that Sinatra
has is good for him on a personal level because it is what gives him such good
friends that protect him. During his cold however he was a bit moody which
did effect how he acted but, never changed his loyalty. Frank Sinatra is a loyal
and trustworthy giving person.

Analyzing the theme by Lindsey

The main theme in Frank Sinatra has a Cold is that Frank Sinatra is not who he appears to be. He is not who he appears to be because his
real personality is hidden by the media, due to its ever changing ways. The only person who truly knew him was his daughter Nancy. As
Sinatra sang these words, though he has sung them hundreds and hundreds of times in the past, it was suddenly obvious to everybody in the
studio that something quite special must be going on inside the man, because something quite special was coming out. He was singing now,
cold or no cold, with power and warmth, he was letting himself go, the public arrogance was gone, the private side was in this song about the
girl who, it is said, understands him better than anybody else, and is the only person in front of whom he can be unashamedly himself. The
author does not say much as to Sinatras hidden life, more so showing it. There is a repetitive pattern of giving intimate details of Frank
Sinatras personal life. It constantly goes over his relationship with his mother and her influence on him. Mrs. Sinatra talks to her son on the
telephone about once a week, and recently he suggested that, when visiting Manhattan, she make use of his apartment on East Seventysecond Street on the East River. This is an expensive neighborhood of New York even though there is a small factory on the block, but this
latter fact was seized upon by Dolly Sinatra as a means of getting back at her son for some unflattering descriptions of his childhood in
Hoboken. Frank Sinatra was not the person he was portrayed to be. Instead of a boss-like, talented singer, Frank Sinatra was truly a
depressed, anger-filled man, who really hated getting sick.

The significant passage