Roman Candle
The Life of Bobby Darin
By David Evanier
Published by Rodale
November 2004; $24.95US/$35.95CAN; 978-1-59486-010-2
"My first intimation that there was a Bobby Darin occurred when I heard a piano in the practice room adjoining my office at Atlantic Records. Nobody had informed me that Ray Charles was back in town! After first establishing bona fides as a rock star, Bobby switched gears and began recording standards from the great American songbook: Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Johnny Mercer and company. Then Bobby without notice made an even more audacious move. Virtually overnight, he morphed full-blown into one of the premier nightclub performers of the era. The accolades came pouring in, from Sinatra, from Sammy Davis Jr., from Dean Martin. For the rest of his sadly shortened life, he was their peer.
"In Roman Candle, David Evanier relates the Bobby Darin story with empathy and insight. His chronicle of the triumphs and vicissitudes of Bobby's star-crossed life is packed with illuminating details and a page-turning seductiveness. Here is the ultimate tribute to the life and times of a true American original."
--Jerry Wexler, legendary producer, Atlantic Records, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Hipster, Rocker, Lover, Idol...
With the release of a feature-length movie about his life and fresh compilations of his music on CD and DVD, Bobby Darin -- like "old Macky" himself -- is back. Darin's hard-swinging versions of "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea" set the standard for cool in the late 1950s, back when crooners were king. But behind the glitz and the girls and the quick smile, all of which were in plentiful supply, Darin was being eaten up inside by a ferocious drive: He vowed that he would make it to the very top of the heap die trying.
Bobby Darin, as a performer, rivaled Sinatra. Energizing the early rock-and-roll scene with his rollicking classic "Splish Splash," Bobby then became a top-draw nightclub act. Chronic illness dogged him from childhood, setting the tone of urgency that inspired a career full of dizzying twists and turns: from teen idol to Vegas song-and-dance man, and from hipster to folkie and back.
Based on extensive interviews with those who knew Bobby, Roman Candle tracks his meteoric rise from dire poverty as the grandson of a low-level mobster to his well-earned place in the showbiz pantheon. David Evanier probes the dark side of a celebrated marriage to America's sweetheart, Sandra Dee, as well as the incredible family secret that affected Bobby to the end.
Finally, more than three decades after his death, comes a multilayered portrait of this brash, gifted artist, whose restless voice and spirit seem as alive today as ever.
Author
David Evanier has written for New York magazine, The New Republic, The New York Times Magazine, and The Village Voice, among others, and has been senior editor of The Paris Review. He coauthored Joe Pantoliano's book, Who's Sorry Now, and his Making the Wiseguys Weep: The Jimmy Roselli Story was a finalist for the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award. He has won the Aga Khan Fiction Prize and received residence fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Wurlitzer Foundation. He lives in Brooklyn.
For more information, please visit www.writtenvoices.com.
Reviews "In order to truly understand who Bobby Darin was, you have to understand where he came from. David Evanier's new book, Roman Candle, tells the story of the young Walden Robert Cossotto -- who grew up to become Bobby Darin -- in a compelling and revealing way. His examination of Darin's impulses and influences give the reader a chance to go behind the persona and learn what it must have been like to grow up knowing that time was not on your side. Darin's drive and ambition was fueled by childhood illness and a determination to live as many lives as he could. As Darin himself used to say, 'It's not true you only live once -- you can live a lot of times, if you know how.' Roman Candle gives us the many lives of one of the great entertainers of all time, whose flame was extinguished way too soon. It was a pleasure to read."
--Kevin Spacey, actor/director, Beyond the Sea
