Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating - The Bible of Beatles biographies!
Review: The story of the Beatles' rise to fame has probably been chronicled in hundreds, if not thousands of books all over the world. Why is Phillip Norman's "SHOUT!: The Beatles in Their Generation" different? This is one of those rare books in which the author, while praising his subject, is not afraid of showing the Beatles as human beings, with virtues as well as flaws, strenghts as well as weaknesses.
Philip Norman gives an astonishingly well researched account of the Beatles' life story, focusing briefly but thoroughly on each of the four musicians' childhood and adolescence, and in more detail on their early struggles and their world-wide success, their break-up and their evolution as people and musicians. This book is a fascinating read, both for the casual rock fan and the most die-hard Beatlemaniac. Without a doubt, "SHOUT!: The Beatles in Their Generation" is the Bible of Beatles biographies, and a book no true Beatles fan should be without.
Rating:
Summary: fab and gear
Review: There are probably factual errors in here, there are books which examine the Beatles in more detail, there are other points of view. And of course there is always the music, stupid. This book's achievment is it's first and last quarters - wishing and wasting. Close your eyes after any part of the first quarter and you are in Liverpool, scrambling frantically to learn a chord, fix an amplifier, get a gig, find a drummer, get to Hamburg, cut a record, DO IT NOW. Skim through the middle bits with the numbers getting larger, the crowds louder and the songs less joyous. Go straight to the end where Norman describes Apple Corps falling to pieces even as the best music of all was providing the soundtrack to the end of a love affair. Not ours with them, but theirs with each other. There have only been two truly important bands in rock and roll. Norman provides ample evidence of the Beatles being the best of the two. The other .... you figure it out.
Rating:
Summary: Everything!
Review: This book is a wonderful veiw into the Beatles lives. It starts right at the begining with Johns birth and goes all the way to their final break up. The book includes backround information on many of the people that effected them. He doesn't leave out Pete or Stu and gives Brian his credit. It was fantastic, it was a perfect look to all four of their personalites, even Brian! I loved it, i'd recomend it to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Everything!
Review: This book is a wonderful veiw into the Beatles lives. It starts right at the begining with Johns birth and goes all the way to their final break up. The book includes backround information on many of the people that effected them. He doesn't leave out Pete or Stu and gives Brian his credit. It was fantastic, it was a perfect look to all four of their personalites, even Brian! I loved it, i'd recomend it to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: FAB BOOK!
Review: THIS BOOK IS THE BIBLE OF ALL THE BEATLE BOOKS I HAVE EVR READ. NOT ONLY DID IT CONTAIN FACTS,AND QUOTES FROM PEOPLE WHO KNEW THEM, BUT,QUOTES FROM THE BEATLES THEMSELF. IT CONTAIN AWSOME PICTURS OF THE FOURSOME AND PICTURES OF THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW THEM.I CARRY THIS BOOK WITH MY EVERY WHERE,I NEVER EVER LEAVE HOME WITH OUT,THAT'S HOW GOOD THIS BOOK IS. IT IS A MUST READ FOR ALL BEATLE FANS. THIS BOOK MADE ME RELIZE THAT THE BEATLES ARE JUST NOT POP STARS THAT THEY TOO ARE HUMANS WITH FEELINGS, AND THROUGHTS.THIS BOOK IS OUT-THERE. IT MADE ME CRY WHEN I READ ABOUT THE BEATLES BREAK UP AND JOHN LENNON'S DEATH WHICH THIS BOOK TALKS IN DEPTH ABOUT. WHEN THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES WERE QUOTED AS TO SAY "BEST OF ALL THE BEATLE BIOGRAPHIES...." THEY WON'T LYING.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful information
Review: This book taught me many things about the Beatles and what they were thinking during the height of their career.
Rating:
Summary: good but...
Review: this is a good book, but norman really drags it out! no offence to any one (belive me i am CRAZY about the beatles! ) but this book is just plain boring! it does a bad job of capturing the beatles essence, and just left the facts. it is better as a reference then a book to sit down to read. sorry, but that is the truth!
Rating: 
Summary: Makes Paul fans Shout!
Review: This is a good book. Giving many facts about the Beatles. Unfortunatly, it takes many cheap punches at Paul. Such as implying that he's the main cause of the Beatle breakup. Both he and John's aunt Mimi don't care for the book, but overall it's a well writen book.
Rating:
Summary: Fasinating insight into the Beatles
Review: This is an excellent book for both die hard Beatles fans and those who are simply interested in the phenomenon that swept the world in the 60s and still continues to exert influence over modern music today. The author frankly admits that he has never actually iterviewed any of the Beatles, but many great historical books have been written without access to their subjects, and in my opinion this has given him a unique view of the group's influence on the era, rather than a perspective from inside it. All the interesting things are there - Paul meeting John, the American tour, Apple, break up etc, and fasinating it is. If you like their music or damn them as madness from the 60s, the fact remains that they were hugely influential in areas ranging from pop music to advertising, and this book paints the picture very well.
Rating:
Summary: This book is NOT for amateurs
Review: Two things make this book a very special one.
First : you wouldn't believe how good and precise is the account of the Beatles beginnings. A good part of the book takes place before the big hit Love me do, so if you really are interested in how did it all started, this book is a must-read.
Second : this book gives A LOT of details about the managing of the Beatles, from the very beginning to the Apple corporation and to the breakup. Lot's of contracts are clearly described, numbers are showed, every businessman who came close to the Beatles has his biography in the book. Actually, the way Norman puts his energy in describing the whole management thing seems to make him forget about saying anything about the music... If you are a longtime fan of the Beatles and know their history, you can read this book for extra details you won't find in other books. P.Norman's research is quite thorough, and will please someone who wants to know more about Brian Epstein, for example, or about Apple. If you're looking for a really good book about the music of the Beatles, you're wasting your time with "Shout!". Your best bet would then be "The Art of the Beatles". THIS book is terrific.
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