Journalism as short story …

… Gay Talese: The author who nailed Sinatra. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

He returned to New York and, through his friend Jilly Rizzo, who owned a bar favoured by Sinatra, secured an introduction to Sinatra’s mother, Dolly. He interviewed the singer’s son, Frank Jr, whose place in the Sinatra clan seemed somewhat tenuous. In short, he did whatever was necessary to complete the story, wrote it, handed it in, and moved on to something else without giving it a second thought. He never did meet Sinatra.