
The experiences of Gay Talese with frank Sinatra in the short story “Frank Sinatra has a cold” give Talese the ability to describe Frank Sinatra as a musical superman and an untouchable icon and if he has a cold it can mess up more than his music, it affects him, and it affects everyone. This cold brings out the humanity in this Musical icon like no one would expect.

An example of this would be in paragraph 11, when people from his past show up at Jilly’s saloon. People from all walks of life arrive to see him including, his old neighbor he used to deliver the town paper to, a young boy with a cane, different actors and actresses, even people who heard him in his early music career in 1938. Gay Talese uses the quote, “They approached it like a shrine. They had come to pay respect.” His fans worship him like a God and they come from all over the country “Just to see him”. This shows how much they admire Sinatra not just for his music but his character and how he holds himself around other people. Frank Sinatra had become this music icon and there was no hiding it from the people.

His attitude is also a testament to this “Superman” like appeal. In paragraph 4 this quote is used to describe his aura, “He seemed now to be also the embodiment of the fully emancipated male, perhaps the only one in America, the man who can do anything he wants, anything, can do it because he has money, the energy, and no apparent guilt.”. Society was basing what it took to be a “man” off of him. Not the President, not the richest guy in America (although I’m sure Sinatra was close at the time), just him and as humbling as that sounds it truly doesn’t give justice to the amount of respect people gave him as a man. Early on in the writing a woman takes out a cigarette and doesn’t even have to say anything before Frank has already reached out with his lighter and lit the cigarette for this random women (he even has a cold at this time in the story). With all this “power” that he has given by the people he doesn’t become corrupt with it he doesn’t go out and by the best new things (although $400 a week to maintain his hair is pretty expensive). He treats women with respect, he has friends whom are “willing to kill for him” and he doesn’t brag about all this. He is a very quiet man and doesn’t speak unless he must or wants to.

Frank Sinatra also has this “mobbish” or “kingpin” like title bestowed upon him by his peers. His peers call him, “The boss” and “Il Padrone.”. If you translate “Il Padrone” it means, “The Master”. It’s a very interesting title given that he is this pretty amazing gentleman. However, with all his talent and his persona he really gives off this “untouchable” sort of vibe. An example of this untouchable vibe would be in paragraph 11 when a young boy throws a tomato at Sinatra. “Alexander Dorogokupetz, an eighteen-year-old heckler who had thrown a tomato at Sinatra and the bobby-soxers in the balcony had tried to flail him to death. Whatever became of Alexander Dorogokupetz? The lady did not know.” Frank Sinatra didn’t have to say or do anything in regards to what was going to happen to the boy, but his peers handled it in a situation that no one knows what became of him after that night.  This action reminds me of the movie Goodfellas. In the movie Goodfellas, a young boy by the name of Henry wants to grow up and become a gangster. This movie starts off with Henry’s childhood in Brooklyn during the 1950’s. Henry didn’t like going to school and he just so happened to live across from this burger joint that happened to be run by “Paulie” who was a local mob kingpin. So, when Henry didn’t go to school he spent most of his days there and ended up being raised by the mob himself. His dream had come true, and whenever Henry would get into trouble with the police or schoolteachers or anyone for that matter, “Paulie” and the gang would “Handle it” and the outcome would be unknown. No one would hear from that person again. The situation in Goodfellas and that night with the boy whom threw that tomato were extremely similar. Frank Sinatra was “untouchable”. In this story, Gay Talese talks about how there were rumors of Frank Sinatra being tied to the mob anyway.

However, when he has a cold all of this seems to go away. Now not the manly part or the quiet part, I mean his confidence. Music is his life, his passion and without it he feels inadequate and is afraid he will lose it when he has a cold. In paragraph 3 line one it says “Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without paint, Ferrari without fuel—only worse.” Comparing Sinatra to one of the greatest artists and one of the most expensive brands of cars and what could very well define wealth for many Americans only to finish it off with “only worse” has a gravitational effect on the reader’s mindset. This ailment had a tremendous effect on Frank it made him depressed, anxious, and even angry. In that same paragraph it talks about when Frank has a cold it sends shockwaves and “vibrations” through the entertainment industry, to the President of the United States, and even the national economy. The common cold takes this “uninsurable jewel”, his voice, cutting into his confidence. It’s astonishing how a man who is idolized by the entire country (if not parts of the globe as well) and could have an effect on the national economy could lose all that confidence because of the common cold. However, this just amplifies this “superman” like quality. Even with all this fame he knows that it could all go away at any moment, but he doesn’t take it for granted. He may not like the outcome, but deep down he knows it could come and go at any moment and with all this stigma even he knows he’s not invincible.

According to this story, Frank Sinatra was one of the greats, if not the greatest artist to ever arrive in the music and entertainment industry. However controversial or unordinary actions Frank Sinatra took in his music carrier, it’s hard to deny The icon to many that Frank Sinatra was even with a cold.