Dr. Barnabas T. Bynum's New School Musical Revue and Travelling Minstrel Show

The lessons I learned after reading this book by Matt Birkbeck are: 1.) Pay your taxes 2.) Pay your taxes 3.) Pay your taxes and 4.) Pay your taxes dammit! We've all heard this story before. Most recently, actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced to the big house for IRS troubles. In this case, the book tells the story of one of the most beloved entertainers of the last century - Sammy Davis Jr. and his tax woes. Birnbeck also makes salacious and sensational claims concerning Davis, his troubled widow Altovise, Sinatra, and assorted cronies and associates. Perhaps the biggest bombshell dropped by the author is that Davis knew who killed JFK! Who would of thought? Sammy Davis Jr. knew the answer to the greatest mysteries of the last century all while singing Candy Man. A humorous tidbit mentioned in the book is that Donald Rumsfeld (yea that Donald Rumsfeld former secretary of defense) used to stay at Davis's pool house. Birkbeck does his best writing when he shines a light on Albert "Sonny" Murray who singlehandedly settled IRS claims on the Davis estate and resurrected the career and iconic stature of Davis years after he passed away. Murray's relationship to his parents and their historic resort in the Poconos is touching and endearing. If all lawyers were like Murray the world would indeed be a better place.