Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, Madness, and the Mob
&#8220;Birkbeck has killer leads, gripping kickers and sensational descriptions. This cinematic book reads more like a detective story than a traditional &#8216;life of.&#8221; (New York Times Book Review)&#8220;Tremendous. . . Birkbeck tells the epic of Sammy Davis Jr... from his Harlem boyhood to his wrenching deathbed (he died of cancer in 1990) in his Beverly Hills mansion, where various hangers-on, seeing the circling vultures, stripped his corpse even before it was a corpse.&#8221; (Los Angeles Times Book Review)&#8220;A piece of investigative journalism that unravels what happened to Davis&#8217; estate, and reveals more about the man...Birkbeck spoke to people that have never spoken before -- and the portrait of Sammy that emerges is difficult, demanding, and ultimately tragic.&#8221; (NPR's Talk of the Nation)&#8220;Exceptionally detailed&#8230;makes tax law sexy,&#8221; (Library Journal)&#8220;With a journalist&#8217;s eye toward a great story, author Matt Birkbeck leads readers through a decades-long financial mess including cover-ups&#8230; mob connections, political friendships and snubbing.&#8230;Un-put-down-able&#8230;Stunning.&#8221; (TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER, NATIONAL BOOK REVIEWER)&#8220;Davis&#8217;s remarkable life is certainly well-trod territory. Nevertheless, through interviews with close friends and confidants who had never spoken publicly before, Birkbeck digs up many startling details.&#8221; (MICHAEL RUBINKAM, ASSOCIATED PRESS)