John Lennon: The Life

John Lennon: The Life

It has been 20 years since the last major biography of John Lennon, Albert Goldman's extravagantly spiteful The Lives of John Lennon. Before that there was veteran music writer Ray Coleman's Lennon: The Definitive Biography, published in 1984, which was respectful, going-on adulatory. Blessedly, Philip Norman opts for a tone that sits between the two, though the so-called revelations contained in his account often tend towards the prurient.

Review of John Lennon: The Life

I picked this book up a few days ago and will be starting it after Christmas. I've read several Lennon biographies and I thought all of them were amazing. People ask me why I want to keep hearing the same story over and over, but as each person tells the same story from a different point of view, I feel the man that John Lennon was continues to evolve and be shaped.

The first Lennon biography that I read I had started on a short flight and the night of the assassination was detailed from approximately 25 points of view from people that knew John. I sat on the plane in tears as I read the pages and oddly enough did nothing to hide the tears.

Not really sure how much this one will affect me but I'm sure I will walk away from it having learned more of the man.

Has anyone read it yet?

reply to post by chissler
I read the first 40 or 50 pages of 'The Lives of John Lennon' and gave up. Good biographies encourage immersion in the lives of the subject. It was maybe 5 years ago when I abandoned the book. Within 50 pages, the author was describing the facial expressions and inflections of a private conversation between John and Yoko. I could be making things up but (IIRC) he even described the weather outside to add nuance to the scene.