Sammy Davis Jr.: The Writer Who Saved His Estate

The title of this uneven book is misleading, as it really concerns Sherrod, a screenwriter, and her brief relationship with Altovise Davis, Davis’s widow. Sherrod and Altovise met in 2005, with an agreement that Sherrod would ghostwrite her autobiography; but soon Sherrod finds that Altovise has been mired in a financial mess of tax debt, managerial fraud, and domestic squabbling. There are no new revelations about Sammy Davis Jr., or of their marriage, except scant details about excessive spending, orgies, heavy drug and alcohol use, and Sammy Davis’s publicized hug of Nixon. Although Sherrod views Altovise (who died in 2009) as survivor, she quickly learns the ailing woman doesn’t want to revisit her past but rather focus on a project of a musician about children. The writing is passable, only catching aflame with Altovise’s larger-than-life persona, her battle with alcohol, and the author’s personal woes as an embattled single mother. Sherrod also devotes a short segment on the Davis estate. [em](BookLife) [/em]