journal 5 "Frank Sinatra has a cold"

Part 1
1. The writer explains Sinatra in depth on his ultra pressured life. The man with the voice, and without that voice a miserable person. Frank had a cold. He was no ordinary man and at the time was more famous than anyone. His posse consisted of a few men and good older looking women. He was very distant and this is what made the story different from others. How would Gay get the info on Sinatra? Readers were very intrigued to find out, just by the title brings you in, “Frank Sinatra has a cold”.
2. He has a few ladies and kids to go along with. He is still considered single and doesn’t let his age stop him. His life looked glamorous but because frank took his job so seriously he was under a lot of pressure to sound great all the time, He did not enjoy it as much. If and when frank did a show with Nbc, he had cold. He felt his performance was so bad he did not want to go back on the air until fully recovered.
3. Yes. There are certain scenes that bring the reader into depth of Sinatra’s personality. The setting is a great way; Gay showed how frank would act in public and the difference of having a cold to go along with it. There is a description of him at a bar along side with many of his friends, him not doing much but looking off into the distance. He is very well dressed as always but not too flashy. The crew of his delegates knows frank is not himself. The sit and watch him as he sulks and drinks at the back of the bar.
4. Gay was in a dilemma when trying to Frank. The man had a cold and was not even willing to strike a conversation with his closest friends. Although there are many personal observations of frank the only real interviews are from his friends and closest people of the man with the voice. I feel the writer described frank very well with observation and what other close people knew about him. The ideas were concrete and gave a realistic feel on how frank would act in situations, “what he was like, as an overall person”. Although I do feel the writer leaves you guessing to what frank would really say at certain times.
5. He gives you the information he received from the many countless hours of observing frank. Also his family and friends give Gay what they feel is the truth on the man and his wonderful voice. He wants you to have the idea of Franks life and personality but leaves it open to you for further insight to look at frank and say you could really know the man. The pressure of his voice makes him very different from the average man.


Part 2

Gay Talese’s magazine story of Frank Sinatra has a cold, written to profile Frank Sinatra for Esquire, it inspired many. In the Fifty minute long interview Gay insights us into his life of journalism. How he is able to get information from his profile people. He goes to his life as a child and explains how he was an ultimate eavesdropper. Listening to the conversations of his mother in her dress shop in south jersey really inspired him. He said the number one thing to getting to know your subject is trust, which his mother had with all her customers. Next you needed patience and time. Nothing will come too quickly and with time you earn trust. The way to keep up your observations and progress is to write it all down at the end of the day. Whatever gay remembered he wrote down from that day on his subject. Any person he has ever wrote a story on he still is in contact with today. Gay brings up his days of getting into college and knowing the right people to luckily get into Alabama. He refers to the different ways in which his mother and father talked of the war around themselves verses when speaking to their clients and customers. This inspired Gay to learn what his subject really wanted to hear. He knew if he gained the trust of their friends he could eventually gain the trust of them and get valuable information he need to make his story work. The way he does this is through time. You cannot get trust from your clients without time and patience. I felt the interview was helpful to me so I know how to approach my subjects and not rush things.