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Deconstructing Sammy
- Music, Money, Madness, and the Mob
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
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Deconstructing Sammy
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Editorial reviews
In a compelling audio presentation, narrator Peter Jay Fernandez recounts the life of Sammy Davis, Jr., in a direct and engaging manner. While making each character distinctive, Fernandez's style persuades the listener to become deeply involved in this heartbreaking story. Investigative journalist Matt Birkbeck recounts the tragic life of Davis and how, after his death, his legacy was revived by a former federal prosecutor. The quality of the audio presentation equals the intensity of the story itself.
Publisher's summary
Years later his wife, Altovise, a once-vivacious woman and heir to one of the greatest entertainment legacies of the 20th century, was living in poverty, and with nowhere else to go, she turned to a former federal prosecutor, Albert "Sonny" Murray, to make one last attempt to resolve Sammy's debts, restore his estate, and revive his legacy. For seven years Sonny probed Sammy's life to understand how someone of great notoriety and wealth could have lost everything, and in the process he came to understand Sammy as a man whose complexity makes for a riveting work of celebrity biography as cultural history.
Matt Birkbeck's serious work of investigative journalism unveils the extraordinary story of an international celebrity at the center of a confluence of entertainment, politics, and organized crime, and shows how even Sammy's outsized talent couldn't save him from himself.
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The King of Content
- Sumner Redstone’s Battle for Viacom, CBS, and Everlasting Control of His Media Empire
- By: Keach Hagey
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Sumner Murray Redstone, once feared as the “mad genius” of media who would dump his CEOs for mere wobbles in his companies’ stock price, had built one of the world’s greatest media empires through a series of audacious takeovers constructed to ensure that he always maintained control. Today he controls 80 percent of the voting shares of both Viacom and CBS, meaning that on a whim he could replace the entire boards of two public companies with a combined value of $40 billion.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Feels biased. Well researched, but not engaging.
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-19
By: Keach Hagey
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Razzle Dazzle
- The Battle for Broadway
- By: Michael Riedel
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
Razzle Dazzle is a provocative, no-holds-barred narrative account of the people, money, and power that reinvented an iconic quarter of New York City, turning its gritty back alleys and sex shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way - and bringing a crippled New York from the brink of bankruptcy to its glittering glory.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Too long and boring in spite of a vibrant subject
- By harry rohme on 03-04-18
By: Michael Riedel
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Michael Jackson, Inc.
- The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of a Billion-Dollar Empire
- By: Zack O'Malley Greenburg
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Michael Jackson, Inc. reveals the incredible rise, fall, and rise again of Michael Jackson's fortune - driven by the unmatched perfectionism of the King of Pop. Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg uncovers never-before-told stories from interviews with more than 100 people, including music industry veterans Berry Gordy, John Branca, and Walter Yetnikoff; artists 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, and Jon Bon Jovi; and members of the Jackson family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The King Lives...Life,Legacy and Love
- By Amazon Customer on 06-22-17
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The Bettencourt Affair
- The World's Richest Woman and the Scandal That Rocked Paris
- By: Tom Sancton
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 360
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 324
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Story4 out of 5 stars 325
Heiress to the nearly 40-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the 14th wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At 94, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city - and involving the most glamorous industry - in the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Juicy Chronicle
- By Jean on 10-24-17
By: Tom Sancton
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Mar-a-Lago
- Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Todd McClaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
To know Donald J. Trump - to understand what makes the 45th president of the US tick - it is best to start in his natural habitat: Palm Beach, Florida. It is here he learned the techniques that took him all the way to the White House. Painstakingly, over decades, he has created a world in this exclusive tropical enclave and favorite haunt of billionaires where he is not just president but a king. The vehicle for his triumph is Mar-a-Lago, one of the greatest mansions ever built in the US.
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5 out of 5 stars
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No surprises but would have liked more
- By B. Howard on 02-19-19
By: Laurence Leamer
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Unsinkable
- A Memoir
- By: Debbie Reynolds, Dorian Hannaway
- Narrated by: Debbie Reynolds
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 605
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 544
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 539
The definitive memoir by legendary actress and performer Debbie Reynolds - an entertaining and moving story of enduring friendships and unbreakable family bonds, of hitting bottom and rising to the top again - that offers a unique and deeply personal perspective on Hollywood and its elite, from the glory days of MGM to the present.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved Loved loved IT!
- By Virginia on 12-07-17
By: Debbie Reynolds, and others
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How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune
- The Billionaire Who Wasn't
- By: Conor O'Clery
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 169
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
In 1988 Forbes magazine hailed Chuck Feeney as the 23rd richest American alive. No one knew until then that he was extremely wealthy. Or was he? Born during the Depression in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Feeney had made a fortune as co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. How he did it is one of the great untold retail stories of modern times. The greater untold story is that Feeney had in fact given away his fortune, in its totality, to endow Atlantic Philanthropies - one of the most generous and secretive philanthropic funds in the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Horizons I never knew were there!
- By DTU_Garza on 08-13-17
By: Conor O'Clery
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Tearing Down the Wall of Sound
- The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector
- By: Mick Brown
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 279
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 190
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
Phil Spector, born in the Bronx in 1940, grew up an outsider despised by his peers. But he formed a band, and had a number-one hit with "To Know Him Is to Love Him". He quickly became the top producer of early rock and roll and the originator of such girl groups as the Ronettes. Hit followed hit, and for all of them he used a new recording style called the "wall of sound". But the reign of the boy-man who owned pop music was doomed, and Spector spiraled into paranoid isolation and peculiar behavior.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Descent Into Madness
- By Chris on 06-11-12
By: Mick Brown
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Inside Scientology
- The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
- By: Janet Reitman
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,163
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,847
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,864
Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
By: Janet Reitman
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Dreamers and Deceivers
- True and Untold Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 894
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 795
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 798
The new nonfiction from number-one best-selling author and popular radio and television host Glenn Beck.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Astounding History stories gather life
- By Gil on 11-13-14
By: Glenn Beck
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The Politician
- An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down
- By: Andrew Young
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 252
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 96
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Story4 out of 5 stars 100
Like a nonfiction version of All the King's Men, The Politician offers a truly disturbing, even shocking, perspective on the risks taken and tactics employed by a man determined to rule the most powerful nation on earth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Politician Phony. A must listen!!!
- By Sherman on 02-09-10
By: Andrew Young
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Orson Welles's Last Movie
- The Making of The Other Side of the Wind
- By: Josh Karp
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
In the summer of 1970, legendary but self-destructive director Orson Welles returned to Hollywood from years of self-imposed exile in Europe and decided it was time to make a comeback movie. It was about a legendary self-destructive director who returns to Hollywood from years of self-imposed exile in Europe. Welles swore it wasn't autobiographical.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Engaging and human portrait of Welles
- By TrevorTrujillo on 06-20-20
By: Josh Karp
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Without Lying Down
- By: Cari Beauchamp
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 22
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story5 out of 5 stars 19
Cari Beauchamp masterfully combines biography with social and cultural history to examine the lives of Frances Marion and her many female colleagues who shaped filmmaking from the early teens through the 1940s. Frances Marion was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter - male or female - for almost three decades, wrote almost 200 produced films and remains the only woman to win two Academy Awards for original screenwriting (The Big House and The Champ).
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Must Read
- By Robert Wallace on 03-19-19
By: Cari Beauchamp
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Starmaker
- Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack, & 600 More Stars Who Fired Me
- By: Jay Bernstein
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4 out of 5 stars 76
Revealingly candid, this Hollywood memoir is the story of Jay Bernstein, an entertainment industry fixture who helped launch and sustain the careers of many celebrities including Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a television producer, Bernstein’s life is chronicled in his own words.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very Entertaining
- By patrick on 09-27-15
By: Jay Bernstein
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Anything for a Hit
- An A&R Woman's Story of Surviving the Music Industry
- By: Dorothy Carvello
- Narrated by: Traci Odom
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Dorothy Carvello knows all about the music biz. She was the first female A&R executive at Atlantic Records and one of the few in the room at RCA and Columbia. Featuring never-before-heard stories about artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Steven Tyler, Bon Jovi, INXS, Marc Anthony, Phil Collins, and many more, this audiobook is a must-hear for anyone who has ever wondered what it's really like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A MUST READ (listen) for all females
- By CallieRoseMadeIt on 07-17-19
By: Dorothy Carvello
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The Big Rich
- The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: James Jenner
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 679
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 513
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 512
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough reveals how four Texas oil tycoons transformed America. Rising from humble beginnings through hard work and shrewd dealings, they shifted the balance of power in American politics. While hobnobbing with movie stars and presidents, the Big Rich also created the legend of the swaggering Texas oilman with island hideaways and sprawling ranches.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Big, Sordid, Fascinating, PoliticallyCorrect
- By Darkcoffee on 11-09-09
By: Bryan Burrough
What listeners say about Deconstructing Sammy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Charlesetta Sims
- 10-02-16
This man was a stone fool...
This is an example of wanting to be accepted by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Carl N
- 04-15-24
Not really about Sammy
Story mainly about what happens after his death and the financial dealings and looking for assets
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 08-24-23
Not sure what to think!
Overall this is an insightful look into the life and estate of Sammy Davis Jr. Not sure if I sure feel disgust or sympathy for Sammy? Without question his widow was a vile gold digger much like many Hollywood wives.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Joey
- 09-10-09
Best Book on Audible
All audible books should strive to achieve what this one does! Love the arrangement with the music! Get an inside look at a Hollywood Legend! I have listened to this book about 30 times and can't wait to hear it again. He had another lover in the same house with his wife! Loved white women and marched for civil rights! He idolized Frank Sinatra and in time Frank would come to idolize him. Must read for all.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- niyi omojola
- 11-12-18
A cautionary tale
A haunting story, fascinating more for how much NOT to do it revealed. Tragic but affirming, as it became clear how much of this tragedy was incompetence and not "the system".
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