Review by Booklist Review
Once considered merely Sinatra's sloshed second banana, Dean Martin seems to be approaching iconic status himself as a crooner who made it all seem so easy. Unabashed Dinophile Hale and writing buddy Neely's rollicking backstage take on Martin's TV series just adds gilt to the paint. Other recent Martin bios have noted the series' ups and downs, and Dino's aversion to rehearsals and penchant for last-minute arrivals at tapings are well known. Hale stood in for Martin during rehearsals and assisted the producer-director in all phases of mounting the show, and he says that its first four years constituted "the very best body of work that Dean ever did. Or anyone else, for that matter." High praise, hardly unanimously echoed, but Hale's peppy pages contribute importantly to Martiniana despite the hype. Yet in his time, Dino was underappreciated, and his show, one of the last full-scale TV variety series, probably evinces great nostalgia from graying fans. Stick this book in the appropriate nostalgia niche of pop-culture collections. --Mike Tribby
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Hale describes himself as the "Special Material by" writer, composer, and choreographer, not to mention stand-in for the star himself, for the 1960s and early 1970s television staple, The Dean Martin Show. In a book that captures the American variety-show era, Hale chronicles each year he spent on the show, with anecdotes about guest stars and various dilemmas and successes during tapings. He also gives an extensive history of the famous/infamous Golddiggers. Much is made of Martin's personality and his abilities as an entertainer who never needed to rehearse. Hale gushes at times about the star and many of his guests over the years, shouting sentiments at them from the page. Though Hale and Neely do a fine job of storytelling, this book is recommended only for fans and libraries with popular-culture or broadcasting collections.--Lisa N. Johnston, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
