Gay Talese on Frank Sinatra: An Exclusive Excerpt From his Memoir “Bartleby and Me”

A legendary editor. A recalcitrant writer. And a subject that was both man and myth. The story behind the writing of what became known as the greatest magazine profile ever

August 26, 2023

Reading Time: 32 minutes

Part I of a four-part series.

Having left The New York Times on good terms to join Esquire in September of 1965, I had no difficulty in getting permission from the Times’s managing editor, Clifton Daniel, to revisit the building and conduct interviews with my selected list of Times people, including himself. He was one of four Times figures that Esquire’s editor, Harold Hayes, had agreed to let me portray in full-length articles, ranging in length from 4,000 to 7,000 words or more. Accustomed as I was to a 2,500-word limit at the Sunday Times Magazine, I greatly welcomed the space increase as well as having more time for research and writing, since Esquire was a monthly magazine.

On the downside, however, was my having to please Harold Hayes occasionally by interviewing a movie star or other celebrity. When he proposed that I write about Frank Sinatra, I tried to talk him out of it, and, while resisting the temptation of using Bartleby’s refrain—“I would prefer not to”—I did emphatically remind Hayes that there had already been several recently published pieces about Sinatra and I wondered what more could be said about him. I preferred to not write about celebrities because I knew from experience that few of them had much respect for writers, they were often late for interviews (if they showed up at all), and regularly insisted that their press agents or attorneys sit in on interviews and review the articles prior to publication.

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