Plot:

An insider’s account of life with Sinatra during the heady years of the Rat Pack that’s as cool, original and dazzling as the man himself. George Jacobs is generally considered ‘the last of the Rat Pack’, a member of the exclusive club that has fascinated us for decades. He worked as Sinatra’s valet and confidant from 1953, when Ava Gardner had just left him until the end of his marriage to Mia Farrow in 1968. Racy and revealing. Mr S, is a record of one of the longest and most outrageous mid-life crises ever as George helped Sinatra juggle his multiple mistresses – women like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly and Peggy Lee. And it wasn’t just women: Hollywood stars and Mafia bosses, the Kennedys and European royalty all have a part to play in Frank’s glory years. But above all there was the Rat Pack who accepted George as one of their own. Dean Martin tried his comedy routines out on him and Peter Lawford did his drugs in front of him. Mr S gives an insider’s view of the highs and lows of life with the Rat Pack – the spectacle, the sex, the unrecounted brawls, violence, tensions and hatreds among the revellers at the wildest moveable feast of the century

Review:

Jacobs has written a memoir of his time as valet to the super star of the 50’s and ’60’s, Frank Sinatra. Every movement he made was chronicled by the press.

In this, we’ve learned that George lived with Sinatra longer than anyone. He can tell us from the inside. Everyone else is telling it from mostly the outside. The stories in this is told with love.

Another difference of this novel is the way the story is told. It is like George is your friend and he is just having a casual conversation with you. It seems he is confiding in you, showing his vulnerability, showing you his heart. He tells us of all the sides of Sinatra, and even when it is less than flattering,

This novel is an easy, quick read. If one loves to read about pop culture this novel is for you.

2/5 Stars