{"product_id":"the-sammy-davis-jr-reader","title":"The Sammy Davis  Jr. Reader","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe life and times of the last great American hipster  Sammy Davis  Jr. (1925-90) rose from childhood stardom on the vaudeville stage to become one of the most famous African American entertainers of the 1950s and 60s (and the only black member of Frank Sinatras Rat Pack). At the same time  he spent most of his career surrounded by controversy and ridicule--over his affairs with white film stars like Kim Novak and Jean Seberg; his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt; his conversion to Judaism; his closeness to the Kennedys and  later  Richard Nixon; and his problems with alcohol and drugs.  Davis comes alive in this collection of writings about him  including a 1966 Playboy interview by Alex Haley; an excerpt from the 1983 autobiography of porn star Linda Lovelace; profiles from The New Yorker  The New York Times Magazine  and The Saturday Evening Post; and articles from many prominent African American periodicals. The Sammy Davis  Jr. Reader is a composite portrait of a complex  self-conscious man and the society that treated him  for more than forty years  with passionate ambivalence.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44984197120053,"sku":"ByrdShop_0374253838","price":91.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780374253837.jpg?v=1770826045","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-sammy-davis-jr-reader","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}