Sinatra's Century

In a free, public event, the poet and critic David Lehman discusses his new book, Sinatra's Century: One Hundred Notes on the Man and His World, a warmly celebratory collection of one hundred short reflections on the man, his music, and his larger-than-life story. Lehman devotes each of these short pieces to one facet of the Sinatra story—from the singer’s origins on the streets of Hoboken, to his emergence as “The Voice” in the 1940s, to the wild ebb and flow of his career in the decades that followed.

David Lehman is the founder and longtime editor of the Best American Poetry series and the editor of the influential Oxford Book of American Poetry. Along with several volumes of poetry, he is also the author of books of cultural criticism including A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs (2009), The Last Avant-Garde: The Making of the New York School of Poets (1998), and Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man (1991). His honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and an award in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Sinatra’s Century includes Lehman’s personally inflected lists of unforgettable performances; accounts of how the competitive performer squared off against everyone from Bing Crosby to Marlon Brando; clear-eyed assessments of the faults and weaknesses that informed his life and work; and a full-throated appreciation of the singer’s art.