John Lennon: The Life

This biography begins with John's childhood, family and friends. It follows him through school and into his career with the Beatles and afterwards. Anecdotes from dozens of close friends and acquaintances along the way give insight into how he was feeling at a given time. There are new details of common knowledge, new perspectives of well known stories and new bits of info that could shock you. Some fans might find certain parts hard to accept.

This book neither glorifies nor bastardizes the man so many have come to love. It gives a fair account of his life in meticulous detail and once it gets going it never slows down. I can't recommend it enough to any true Beatles fan

There are 2 things every Baby Boomer knows for sure: exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news that John Kennedy and John Lennon were shot. So, we also know that Philip Norman's slow motion cover of the magical mystery tour trainwreck of the Ballad of John & Yoko is going to end badly.

Oh boy. John Lennon was British (tempered by Irish family origins.) Author Philip Norman is a Brit. The book was published by a British subsidary of HarperCollins. What this means, dear reader, is that if you were Born in the USA, you may frequently be plum befuddled by word usage, syntax, monetary units, and just plain lackadaisical and lack-luster proofreading & editing. Before embarking on this 817 page (original hardcover) tome, best to also get Divided by a Common Language: A Guide to British and American English

But all the cross-cultural dictionaries or a whole host of Harvard Law Review proof-readers won't solve the pervasive problem of Philip's polemic. To paraphrase the vernacular from this side of "the pond's" recent election, I don't care how much lipstick Norman puts on that pig - she's still a pig. (See the acknowledgements at the end, wherein he admits his attempts to cannonize Yoko (hunh? I didn't know Anglicans HAD Saints? I thought they got rid of `em during Henry VIII's "off with their heads" rampage (see A Man for All Seasons (Special Edition)

This "biographer's" blatant pandering/obvious attempted revisionist history calls the whole bloody/blimey thing in to question.
/TundraVision, "Erin go bragh," the store Reviewer

Bought this for the Kindle, after perusing the print edition. Was a little put-off by the price, but I love my Kindle so I bought it. It was the best Beatle bio I have read, but NO PICTURES are included. They are in the print edition and I was very disappointed, especially after paying over the usual $9.99. A great book though. Look for a used print copy.

this insightful look into John Lennon's life,thoughts, desires, motivations, complexities of love,sex,drugs,past hurts,growth and change, using, and living sober, purposeful parenting, creativity that cannot be ignored are all chronicled here for us to see John Lennon as an intelligent, honest, loving and sensitive, yet fallibe human being, as he was. Not a rock and roll semi_god to be worshipped, but a caring male who felt some responsibility to use his talent, his voice to awaken his generation from apathy and floating observers of the realities of the corruption in government globally, causing many of his enlightened listeners to come together, protest and expose the corruption and decitfulness, greediness and power hungry evilness of our leaders who engaged in a war that all agreed would be fruitless but very deadly, and so willingly sacrificed our young men by instituting the draft. Thank God for the counter culture coming together for peace and to end world hunger by celebrating life, enjoying music and dance despite the ugliness of the realities surrounding their young lives.I am a child of t h e 70s, but this book is so well chronicled, and written objectively that I think someone of an older or younger generation will be able to appreciate the spirit and message when they listen to the Beatle' s and John's music. Perhaps they can appreciate the activists of the 60s and 70s, and appreciate a generation's cries of " Make love not war, All we saw sayin is give Peace a chance." Who were the troublemakers? Words are powerful aren't they? John Lennon was a beautiful artist, wasn't he?
The author did a great job of telling us about a certain era and certain artist without embellishment,bias, or ommissions to taint our view. Very well written.

The book described his life - sometimes his confusion, I think - very honestly. I could not see any photos, but maybe that was due to Kindle or maybe there weren't any. I read it really slowly so it would last as long as possible. A book well worth reading. Thanks.

This was an excellent book and very well-researched. It did change my perspective of the man, however - I was never much into the Beatles' personal lives although I have always loved their music. John Lennon to me was the writer and singer of "Imagine", one of my favorite songs - one that means, for me, tranquility, peace and living with others non-judgmentally. The book describes Lennon, especially in his early years, as a very different man - violence-prone, phobic of people with disabilities and very self-centered. I will try to keep the 'Imagine' version of him in my head, although it was good to read the actual history.

Bought this for the Kindle, after perusing the print edition. Was a little put-off by the price, but I love my Kindle so I bought it. It was the best Beatle bio I have read, but NO PICTURES are included. They are in the print edition and I was very disappointed, especially after paying over the usual $9.99. A great book though. Look for a used print copy.

this insightful look into John Lennon's life,thoughts, desires, motivations, complexities of love,sex,drugs,past hurts,growth and change, using, and living sober, purposeful parenting, creativity that cannot be ignored are all chronicled here for us to see John Lennon as an intelligent, honest, loving and sensitive, yet fallibe human being, as he was. Not a rock and roll semi_god to be worshipped, but a caring male who felt some responsibility to use his talent, his voice to awaken his generation from apathy and floating observers of the realities of the corruption in government globally, causing many of his enlightened listeners to come together, protest and expose the corruption and decitfulness, greediness and power hungry evilness of our leaders who engaged in a war that all agreed would be fruitless but very deadly, and so willingly sacrificed our young men by instituting the draft. Thank God for the counter culture coming together for peace and to end world hunger by celebrating life, enjoying music and dance despite the ugliness of the realities surrounding their young lives.I am a child of t h e 70s, but this book is so well chronicled, and written objectively that I think someone of an older or younger generation will be able to appreciate the spirit and message when they listen to the Beatle' s and John's music. Perhaps they can appreciate the activists of the 60s and 70s, and appreciate a generation's cries of " Make love not war, All we saw sayin is give Peace a chance." Who were the troublemakers? Words are powerful aren't they? John Lennon was a beautiful artist, wasn't he?
The author did a great job of telling us about a certain era and certain artist without embellishment,bias, or ommissions to taint our view. Very well written.

The book described his life - sometimes his confusion, I think - very honestly. I could not see any photos, but maybe that was due to Kindle or maybe there weren't any. I read it really slowly so it would last as long as possible. A book well worth reading. Thanks.

This was an excellent book and very well-researched. It did change my perspective of the man, however - I was never much into the Beatles' personal lives although I have always loved their music. John Lennon to me was the writer and singer of "Imagine", one of my favorite songs - one that means, for me, tranquility, peace and living with others non-judgmentally. The book describes Lennon, especially in his early years, as a very different man - violence-prone, phobic of people with disabilities and very self-centered. I will try to keep the 'Imagine' version of him in my head, although it was good to read the actual history.

While the chronology sometimes seemed a little disjointed, Norman crafted an excellent history lesson of Lennon's life and our times. This is a painfully unvarnished look at "just a man" that helped define generations of music and the expectations of what rock-and-roll is supposed to be. This is a must-read for Beatles fans, Lennon fans, and anyone who ever dissed Yoko.

I really enjoyed this tome, although at times it seemed a little tedious. I especially enjoyed knowing what inspired many of John's songs (Sexy Sadie, Dear Prudence, Eleanor Rigby, etc etc etc). Worth the read.

Five stars for the preBeatlemania chapters, four stars for the rest of the book. Very interesting and detailed on John Lennon's childhood and family. I learned new information about Lennon's early years. Norman's book offers fewer revelations later on, probably because so much is already known about the Beatles and Lennon's post Beatle years. It also seemed to me that Norman tried too hard to defend Yoko, that he was afraid of offending her.

Great book!! Thoroughly researched, and frank about many nooks and crannies in the life of a complex individual who (I don't think this is an exaggeration) changed the world. I gained a deeper appreciation of music I have loved for many years.

Very well documented from Lennon's childhood to his untimely death. The author, who obviously is a Lennon fan manages to balance the perception with the reality without going overboard either way. Very good read.

For me, this book was a revelation. Not just because of all that glorious detail concerning how the Beatles came to exist, but as I was born just one year after John, it all made me feel nostalgic for England as it used to be. I have not read previously any tome by Philip Norman, but intend to peruse his other titles.Thoroughly recommended to everyone.

There have been countless articles, words,photos, stories, and even books written on or about John Lennon. This book reveals John the boy, the man, the husband, the lover, the father the star, the artist. A rather complete and intimate journey with John. One where he we can almost feel and hear almost, sense the people and events that took place on John's long and winding road that brings us closer to the who the how the why John Lennon in his own right and as a Beatle has come to mean so much to generations .