Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams [Paperback]

I am no expert on Dean Martin or the Rat Pack. I read this book because I continually saw it referred to in reviews of other books as a classic show biz bio. And it is a wonderful thing to read, with much to say about the shady milieu of mob-controlled clubs that Martin came up out of.

Parts of it read like fiction to me. Tosches writes often from Martin's perspective, giving us his sometimes bitter, mostly don't give a damn sardonicism about everything going on around him. I don't know where Tosches got this stuff. I'm not sure I trust it. How can he know a dead man's thoughts?

But it feels true. It feels right to the character that Tosches evokes -- Martin as a guy who was accidentally famous and can't take much seriously. If it were a novel, it would feel true. Tosches has shown himself to be a good enough reporter here and elsewhere that I'm willing to believe what he has his Dino say here. (There's certainly plenty of backup documentation among the notes.)

For the average reader -- what does it matter? Here is a chance to get inside another person's head. This is the rare gift literature allows us -- we can understand another human being.

That said, I found DINO to be a stunning read. Having grown up in Ohio where Dean was always regarded as a "hometown-boy-made-good," we watched his movies, listened to his records, and faithfully watched his TV show every week. The lovable drunk persona he cultivated made show business look fun and easy and everyone in my family referred to him as Dino as if they all knew him.
So it was something of a shock to read how aloof and distant he was throughout his life. And I don't mean that in a bad way: it's just odd that someone so easy-going and affable to millions of viewers could keep those closest to him so remote and baffled.
Tosches zeroes in on that and makes it very hip. Dean eases through New York clubs of the 40's, Hollywood in the 50's, Vegas in the 60's--and nothing really impresses him. Frank Sinatra, the Mafia, JFK, Hollywood studios. Eh, whatever. This was the first biography I've read where I felt I knew LESS about a person after reading it.
Stylistically, some parts of DINO are laugh-outloud funny and Dean comes off all the cooler for it.

Does this book sum up Dean Martin's life? No. I've skimmed his son Ricci's book (and will read it someday) and I found BACKSTAGE AT 'THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW' also interesting for another side of Dean (written by his musical director).

From all of these books, you might get a decent picture of what he was really like.
And they all add up to a very smooth king of cool.