Rating: 
Summary: This book gives a unbiased view of the beatles history.
Review: It presents the full Beatle history with out empasizing any one member too much. And gives a critical look into how they were a product of the time that they came to be in.
Rating:
Summary: If your name's not Paul McCartney you'll enjoy this bio.
Review: Just when I thought I couldn't cram any more Beatle lore
into my cranium, I read Philip Norman's biography of the
four lads.
The story of the Beatles is known worldwide and I'll not
repeat any of it here, except to say that Norman gives
each phase of the group's life and career equal time and
equal detail. Showbiz bios too often linger on an act's
childhood and background (to prove that they've researched
extensively?) or are simply a cash-in on current success
and add nothing to the story that one couldn't get from
People Magazine (see bios of Selena, etc.).
If the book has a fault, it is that Norman has obviously joined the "John was the real leader and only decent songwriter" camp and takes swipes at McCartney's personality and music early and often. This is another subject that has been covered ad infinitum, and I will add only that this bias detracts my overall rating of this otherwise excellent and detailed work.
Rating:
Summary: If your name's not Paul McCartney you'll enjoy this bio.
Review: Just when I thought I couldn't cram any more Beatle loreinto my cranium, I read Philip Norman's biography of thefour lads. The story of the Beatles is known worldwide and I'll not repeat any of it here, except to say that Norman gives each phase of the group's life and career equal time and equal detail. Showbiz bios too often linger on an act's childhood and background (to prove that they've researched extensively?) or are simply a cash-in on current success and add nothing to the story that one couldn't get from People Magazine (see bios of Selena, etc.). If the book has a fault, it is that Norman has obviously joined the "John was the real leader and only decent songwriter" camp and takes swipes at McCartney's personality and music early and often. This is another subject that has been covered ad infinitum, and I will add only that this bias detracts my overall rating of this otherwise excellent and detailed work.
Rating:
Summary: Better than average
Review: Norman did a good job with this concise, basic biography. He tends to dwell a bit much on bit players and business deals, but he's certainly done his homework. Certain brief passages, like the ones about what the Beatles did after they finished touring in 1966, are magically written. I recommend this as a good beginner's overview of the group's history.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and research, but you have to wonder....
Review: Norman's done his homework, and this is a truly fascinating and detailed account of the Beatles. Still, one has to wonder if Norman actually likes the Beatles, on several occasions he seems to revel in reporting sordid episodes and Beatle pet peeves that, while interesting to note, don't always seem relevant. All in all, one of the better accounts.
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptional lives in interesting times
Review: Not only is this thoroughly researched biography a thorough portrayal of the personalities of perhaps the most musically and culturally pop phenomena of the latter 20th century, it offers an excellent perspective of culture and society in Britian and the US. It's a well written analysis that's worthwhile reading for fans of the Fab Four and those who wonder what all the fuss was about. Good history and a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A thorough discussion of the Beatles & their times
Review: Philip Norman's SHOUT was one of the first books that explained how the Beatles affected their time and how the events of those times affected them. Intelligent and unsentimental in style, this book is for those who appreciated the Fab Four rather than idolized them.
Rating:
Summary: review for "shout"
Review: something which you will want to read alway
Rating:
Summary: A fab book on the Fab Four
Review: The Beatles were still recording when the first major book appeared about their lives and careers, and a two-disc record album by Capitol Records ("The Beatles Story") pre-dated even that opus. I've read several Beatles books, and Norman's book remains my favorite. It is well-written, wears well (I have read it cover to cover more than once), and it's a fascinating story. Norman's clear interest in scholarship and accuracy allows him to present the Beatles sympathetically, but he never stoops to deification/iconography. He appreciates the humanity of his subjects; he does not worship them. The book is divided into segments that parallel the career of the Beatles. I learned much I did not know. I was very touched by Norman's literary treatment of the late Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager who pursued a "tormented, double life" and found precious little happiness even while the world celebrated him as the entertainment impresario of his generation. This book will make you think, make you laugh, make you cry and make you wonder. If you are too young to remember all the hoopla surrounding the Beatles in the early and mid 1960's, this book will tell you what all the shouting was about. More importantly, it shows you the humanity of the four young men who, as the Beatles, helped shape a generation.
Rating:
Summary: A fab book on the Fab Four
Review: The Beatles were still recording when the first major book appeared about their lives and careers, and a two-disc record album by Capitol Records ("The Beatles Story") pre-dated even that opus. I've read several Beatles books, and Norman's book remains my favorite. It is well-written, wears well (I have read it cover to cover more than once), and it's a fascinating story. Norman's clear interest in scholarship and accuracy allows him to present the Beatles sympathetically, but he never stoops to deification/iconography. He appreciates the humanity of his subjects; he does not worship them. The book is divided into segments that parallel the career of the Beatles. I learned much I did not know. I was very touched by Norman's literary treatment of the late Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager who pursued a "tormented, double life" and found precious little happiness even while the world celebrated him as the entertainment impresario of his generation. This book will make you think, make you laugh, make you cry and make you wonder. If you are too young to remember all the hoopla surrounding the Beatles in the early and mid 1960's, this book will tell you what all the shouting was about. More importantly, it shows you the humanity of the four young men who, as the Beatles, helped shape a generation.
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