Gay Talese | Frank Sinatra Has a Cold

In 1965, Gay Talese traveled to L.A. for Esquire to write a major profile on Frank Sinatra, but arrived to find Sinatra sick and unwilling to be interviewed. Undeterred, Talese observed the star from a careful distance and interviewed his friends, associates, family, and hangers-on. His profile went down in history as a tour de force of literary nonfiction.

In this signed and numbered edition, "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" is given new life. Letterpress printed by TASCHEN, the text is paired with photographs by Phil Stern, facsimile reproductions of manuscript pages, and correspondence from the author’s archive.

David Brancaccio from NPR’s Marketplace joins Gay in conversation. David has just launched a podcast series with Esquire magazine exploring classic nonfiction works and their cultural resonance.

Buy a copy of Frank Sinatra Has a Cold:

December 3, 2015

[danielwardin]

In my house they're was a copy of _Smiling Through The Apocalypse_, an Esquire anthology. Throughout my preteens to my late teens I must have read "Frank Sinatra Has A Cold" at least half a dozen times without knowing it was considered a classic in New Journalism. I just loved the essay, could come back to it as with an old friend. Knew who Sinatra was, didn't know who Talese was (pre-_Thy Neighbors Wife_ ca. 1982ish) and didn't know who Harlan Ellison was. Simply, it was a joy to read. (Similarly, in the same book, the Buckley-Vidal fisticuffs.) Good interview. Nice to know The Strand is conducting these interviews; I say that because I remember The Strand having the snottiest clerks in all of retail!)

[JamesBlevins]

"Someday you have to meet Harlan [Ellison].
He is a buzz-saw that walks like a man.

He was a standup comedian in Las Vegas for two weeks.
He is an insult machine.

He is evil and vicious and nasty.
He is like us.

[...]

Go thou and do evil!
Immer [always, in German],

Zlaz"

Roger Zelazny to Carl Yoke

[mandolindleyroadshow]

One of the things that stands out to me in this interview is, with all of that sniffling, Gay Talese had a cold.

[hughgreentree]

The best way to be with a celebrity is when THEY want to talk with you. I had that when I met Morgan Freeman. I was going to my usual coffee shop one morning in 1996 and I saw my therapist, Eunice. I went to talk with her and Morgan Freeman was with her. Turns out, they were friends. I could not think of anything to say or ask, so I just said "hello, " stood around for a minute listening to them talk, then went to the counter to get my coffee and donut. Freeman got in line behind me. I then sat down at a small table. He sat down next to me and Eunice sat down across from him. For the next 20 minutes he told me some stories about what he was doing. He was really excited about just having been cast as the US President in a movie (DEEP IMPACT). I did not have any questions for him; I just listened. Then I made my exit after bidding farewell. At my next therapy session, Eunice was surprised at how calm and natural I had been when interacting with Freeman. Well, it was easy; I did not do anything; Freeman did all the interacting.

[mikepowers]

Harlan was not one bit intimidated by Frank.

[charleswinokoor]

I strongly suggest checking out the full Harlan Ellison version on YouTube.
There was an act of violence at the pool table that Gay omitted.

[robjones]

Gay's article is a magnificent overview of Frank, and the enormous power he wielded in Hollywood in the mid - 60s. The scene with Hal Ellison captures FS at his most
intimidating. By then he was The Chairman, and could make or break careers.

A fascinating snapshot of a long -vanished period in Hollywood history.

[stepno]

Great interview for journalism students and fans of "how writers work" stories, who won't have to be able to name three Sinatra songs to enjoy this.... maybe not much fun for Sinatra fans unless they are already gay talese fans

[paulwright]

Is there a version of this without the heavily compressed and limited audio? Or an audio-only version?

[dawnluzzi]

Every question about Sinatra is used as a springboard to talk about someone else, a very frustrating trip down memory lane about Sinatra without any real take on Frank. I don't think Gay liked him, I did and met him twice, found very nice simply put and decent man.

[glendamcgee]

Um - greatest piece of non-fiction journalism?
Truman Capote invented the genre: IN COLD BLOOD.

[toddmason]

So, did the interview continue after the break? (And, fwiw, MARKETPLACE is not an NPR program, but is syndicated to public stations by APM, American Public Media.)

[tugger]

can we get closed captions please ? or a transcript

[HansDelbruck]

The hosts inhalations are annoyingly loud.

[MegaMadcow]

Im curious what santras political views would be i todays politics and what he would think of the lgbt community 🤔🤔🤔

[antoniosantorini]

You could have wrapped that story up in first 4 minutes

[themeat]

So, this guy is 83 and still an ego maniac? Found this to be a horrible interview to listen to; but, I had hoped it would be.

[jadezee]

this guy David Brancaccio...who wont shut up is offensive in his style and should not be using a mic that amplifies the voice the way i does...we dont need to hear breathing and effects used to sell cheap products...

[antoniosantorini]

He talks in a long sentence that never gets to the point

[antoniosantorini]

This video lurers you in with Sinatra's name but this is little to do with Sinatra...Gay is a great writer but boring to listen to