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It is always the sign of a world-class biographer when their work isn't merely painstakingly researched, but when genuine affection for their subject pours forth in the narrative. Such masters of the genre include Charles Higham, Shaun Considine and James Gavin, and they are now wholeheartedly joined by the effervescent David Evanier. The gentleman had already scored notable triumphs with the books Roman Candle: The Life of Bobby Darin and Making the Wiseguys Weep: The Jimmy Roselli Story (which was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times), but with his recently published All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett, he has come into his own as a literary lion.
Even those who don't profess to be among Bennett's legion of fans will be drawn to this story, which encompasses Bennett's Depression-era Astoria boyhood as Anthony Dominick Benedetto, his brief stint in the Armed Forces during World War II, and the stardom that would eventually be his for over six decades, as the voice behind such classic songs as "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," "Because of You" and "Rags to Riches," as well as his passion for art and sideline as a painter. The story is by no means a perpetual bed of roses; we learn of an ocean of personal struggles encountered by the man, as well as occasional fits of temperament and ego. Failed marriages, substance addictions and truly hitting bottom, are but a small portion of the story. But in the last analysis, Bennett is painted herein as, first and foremost, a real human being, not merely a fabricated creation of the recording studio. More than this, what comes through loud and clear, is his inexhaustible pride in being a native New Yorker, and that he's not merely your average "comeback kid," but a true survivor. And, one can easily see that Evanier must have had nothing less than a joyous experience writing this book. By the end of the three-hundred-twenty-five pages, the reader is simply dazzled to the utmost.
Little more can possibly be said about David Evanier's All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett, other than it's very simply, a must-have for music historians and pop culture mavens, besides die-hard fans of the singer/artist. John Wiley & Sons have most certainly unleashed one of the most exciting publications their catalog has seen in the last ten years.
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