Rating:  Summary: SUPERB, WELL-WRITTEN AND DETAILED Review: I have read over 10 Beatles-related books in the past decade and this stands as one of the very best! There are pages of McCartney quotes, full of interesting insights and tidbits about his Beatles days. Miles has a wonderful, engaging writing style. He summarizes much of what has been previously written in other books (even quoting from them when necessary), so you don't have to read the other books to get a lot out of this one! A true joy to read. The only people who may become bored with it are either (1) impatient readers or (2) not true Beatles fans.
Rating:  Summary: Informative and balance-redressing, but flawed Review: Informative: much interesting detail about the songs and their backgroundBalance-redressing: now, perhaps more than ever, the idea that Lennon was the leader and 'genius' behind the Beatles seems to be widely accepted. But when you look at McCartney's energy, dynamism, practicality, stability and, above all, his many great songs, who can doubt that he was the main force behind it all? The truly and undisputedly great McCartney Beatles songs must outnumber those by Lennon by three-to-one at least...and obviously this exuberant talent flowed over to songs by the others (the Day in the Life middle-eight, the great bass lines on Come Together and Something, etc...) Flawed: too much detail on that boring bookshop, and in general too much detail on anything directly connected with Miles
Rating:  Summary: not what I had hoped for Review: Frankly,I was unable to finish this book because there were many very slow parts. Also, if these are Paul's "quotes" then I am amazed that someone with the ability to write such amazing lyrics to songs and to appear to have a good use of the English language has to resort to using the "F" word every other sentence and to use other four- letter words so frequently. If this is the way Sir Paul speaks in this every day life then I'm glad I don't have to talk to him daily. I have been a big Beatles and McCartney fan for most of my life. I'm by no means a prude, but was offended by the language. A lot of the book was just rehash and it would have been great to learn more about Paul's life after the Beatles and with Linda. I'm sure he's getting sick of rehashing all the Beatles stories and telling the same thing that we've all heard before. I really only read about the first half of the book and then skimmed through the last half because it didn't look like it was going to get any better.
Rating:  Summary: One of the best Beatles related books around Review: Surely the definitive account of Paul McCartney's involvement during his Beatles years an definite must for any Beatles fan
Rating:  Summary: The best book on McCartney Review: A well-written and mature book about McCartney's early life and his life with the Beatles. He comments on a lot of the songs that he and Lennon wrote togetther and sheds a lot of light on the meanings of many songs. You get a lot of little facts about his childhood and some of the things he was doing while he was with the Beatles. This book told me things I didn't know, such as the fact that he was into painting, the theater and the avant-garde. One of the best chapters is about the time he lived with the Ashers and the author describes what the house was like and what life was like living with the Ashers. It's a very descriptive book and it tells a lot about the way the sixties were and what some of the attitudes were like. McCartney's commens about Lennon, I feel, are very gracious and even-handed. I never got the feelng he was trying to say he was better and several times throughout the book says that in the end, they were about 50-50. The only thing he wanted to point out in this book is the fact that there was a lot more to him than just being the "cute Beatle". This, I think, he achieves. My only complaint is that the book takes to many side streets away from the main subject (McCartney). I didn't really need THAT detailed a story about the Indica bookstore and aboutRobert Fraser or John Dunbar, for that matter. These people needed to be in this book but not to the extent that they are writte about. Because of this, the book dragged in places. Other than that, it's a good book and I recommend it.
Rating:  Summary: Valuable document Review: It always amazes me how many people love the Beatles but seemingly despise Paul McCartney - which seems a ridiculous attitude to me, rather like adoring the American Revolution but despising George Washington. For those who nitpick about typos or small factual errors, just be glad you can spot them and hope they will be corrected in subsequent editions. Overall this is an enormously important document for Beatles historians, for here we get Paul's take on everything for the record. As with any such document, we must question the accuracy and slant of Mccartney's memories, just as we should do with Lennon's Rolling Stone and Playboy interviews. But by comparing this important primary source with so many others, the real truth of this incredible story can emerge. The study of such things is greatly enriched by this perspective.
Rating:  Summary: very good Review: Bravo! Paul finally gets his due, in his own words. Anyone who really listened and listens to The Beatles knows this is the book we all have been waiting for and the truths that are revealed to the ignorant that real Beatle fans knew all along. John Lennon was great, but Paul is just as great, just different. 1 star elimated for the typos, otherwise a stellar read.
Rating:  Summary: A mixed bag Review: I was given this book for Christmas and really looked forward to reading it, having always been a Paul fan. I found it a mixed bag of a book. The details of Paul and John's early life and career and Paul's time with Jane Asher's family were really good, but the book fell down by being far too detailed on EVERY chord of every song. There was no analysis by Miles of Paul's statements, and it ended up by showing Paul to think a great deal of himself, and not much of other people. What happened to him post-Beatles? This was summed up in 1 chapter, no mention of being in jail, the Northern Songs take-over or of his career. It only goes to show that he was nothing without the other Beatles. A book that was good in parts.
Rating:  Summary: A Better Title For This Error Riddled Book: "I Me Mine" Review: I thought there were many good parts to this book, but two things bothered me a lot. First of all, the book lists just about every brilliant Beatles idea that was, on record, in word or deed, and closes the subject with a quote from Paul saying something like, "That was my idea!" or "That was me!" or "Yep! Me again!" also "Yeah I originated that idea". etc. etc. I might believe some of those claims if it were not for the fact that McCartney/ this book makes blatent errors concerning details pertaining to the Beatles, which even the most casual Beatles fan would spot! For example, Ringo is given credit for the vocal on one of the McCartney/Lennon vocal songs on Rubber Soul, and then a quote is offered from McCartney saying how well Ringo sang it! Elenor Rigby is named as the song which starts off the Revolver Album! The book is rife with such errors and leaves me highly doubting the claims that Paul met Yoko first and suggested she meet John; or that it was Paul who got Lennon & Yoko back together in '74; or that it was Paul who first experimented with backward tapes and turned John onto it. If these things are true, then I should also believe that Ringo had TWO solo vocal songs on Rubber Soul, and that Taxman was not the first song on Revolver! (Which it was on every released version around the world.) This book looks authoritative, but did Paul even read it? Almost every chapter includes one "fact" or another that can be proven false, merely by playing one of The Beatles' CD's, let alone citing the well known history which many of us are aware of, which this book is not. This book must be about some other Beatles.
Rating:  Summary: A Truly Sensational Book Review: Some people are trying to say that this book is just a load of bull and Paul was just falsly justifying himself so he wouldn't look like such a brainless idiot to future generations. That could not be further from the truth. If there are any John fans out there who think that he was the be all and end all of the Beatles and their avant-garde stage, then they are truly deluding themselves. This book was fascinating and insightful. Recommended to anyone interested in the group or the period.
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