The Las Vegas Library downtown has eight books about Frank Sinatra, adding up to nearly 3,000 pages.

But Sinatra bibliophiles had best make room for one more, "Sinatra: The Life," by married authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan.

Swan has her own reasons why we needed another biography.

"He became powerful enough that he played a significant role culturally in the life of the country in the 20th century," she said this week.

But in some ways the new book speaks for itself. Instead of ignoring everything else written about the man, it collates and builds upon them. The book includes 142 pages of notes and sourcing, and a 300-book bibliography.

Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith is quoted, and both the newspaper and its collected project "The First 100: Portraits of the Men and Women Who Shaped Las Vegas" are referenced.

Swan says an early Sinatra biography by late Las Vegan Arnold Shaw is "a good, good book for its time and very balanced." And she calls local lounge legend Sonny King, quoted throughout, "a lovely and intelligent man, very willing to share his thoughts."

Swan laughs with familiarity at a local custom of veteran entertainers retelling Sinatra stories to the point that it becomes hard to separate the repetition from the reality. "Everyone thinks they know everything about Sinatra," she says.

Case in point: The infamous 1967 meltdown tantrum at the Sands, when the singer's chairmanship of that casino's board was revoked by a knockdown punch in the kisser from vice president Carl Cohen.

"The hotel must have been packed that night, because everyone was there," Swan says with a laugh.

But the two authors take a step few other biographers have: They tracked down the original police report from the episode.

Despite its meticulous research, Sinatra remains such a divisive figure that it's difficult to "square the circle," as Swan says.

Certainly the book's most newsmaking revelations won't be mistaken for fawning. The authors trace the singer's mafia connections back to the family's roots in Sicily. They include the account of an alleged victim of a sexual assault. They take a bit of sheen off the Rat Pack by calling Sinatra a certifiable alcoholic.

But, Swan says, "we don't talk about the mob because we want to vilify Sinatra." The mob is "a web you find difficult to escape. ... Once they were in, they weren't letting go. Understanding that takes nothing away from his genius."

And when it comes to the singer's impact on Las Vegas, the author realizes the legend can be as important as the documented facts: "I think even now people come to Las Vegas and they're actually looking for the mystique of the Rat Pack and wanting a little of that gold to rub off on them."

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.