Roman Candle: The Life of Bobby Darin

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 Cassotto--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

This biography percolates with cool. . . . [Evanier has] written a book so charged with intimacy, so heartbreakingly ebullient with life, that you feel that any moment the pages are about to snap their fingers and break into song. --Caroline Leavitt, The Boston Globe

Darin has been the subject of several books; most notable is this new examination of the singer's life and work by David Evanier, a former senior editor of The Paris Review. . . . Evanier's portrait, true to its title, is one of a bright talent that soared quickly and erupted in a flash of glory. --David Hajdu, The Atlantic Monthly

Music fans are liable to be surprised by the Bobby Darin mania sparked by Kevin Spacey's sunny new film biography. For the slightly darker look at Darin, hole up for the holidays with ROMAN CANDLE, the latest book about Darin's rollercoaster life. --Top Ten list of Books for Gifts by Janet Maslin of the New York Times (12/19/04)

DAVID EVANIER is a prizewinning writer; former senior editor of The Paris Review; author of Making the Wiseguys Weep, a biography of Jimmy Roselli that became a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and coauthor (with Joey Pantoliano of Sopranos fame) of the bestselling Who's Sorry Now. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.