Woman: The Incredible Life of Yoko Ono

Rating:
Summary: Did not live up to the advertising
Review: The editorial above encouraged me to buy this book via the internet because it describes this biography as "riveting" and makes us believe we will learn much about the person, Yoko Ono. The back cover of the book states that "The Lennon Years are covered in detail as are the years following his death, as she brought up the couples' son, Sean by herself." From statements such as these, I was lead to believe that this book would give us a personal, up close view of Ms. Ono. Unfortunately, this was not the case at all.

Most of the book is authored by Clayton who has a somewhat obtuse, annoying writing style. Putting this aside, while we do learn something about Yoko's childhood and there is a sentence here and there giving us insight to her personality (which apparently included a great drive to find a rich sponsor of her work so she could be famous), the majority of this book is really an outline of Ms. Ono's "accomplishments." Hence we are given example after example of her performance art, her efforts toward world peace, her recordings, her concerts, etc.

This emphasis on Yoko's "accomplishments" is great if you are a Yoko Ono fan and can't get enough of her instructional art or her avante garde music (i.e. warbling, screaching). Indeed one of the premises of this book is the authors' belief that Ono is a seminal, signficant artist who was way ahead of her time and has made a major contribution to the world.

However, like most people, I am not a fan of her music or art, and bought this book to understand the person and her relationships with others such as John and Sean. What was her marriage to John really like? Did she marry John because she loved him, or because she loved his money and he could promote her? Were they really two lovebirds as they wanted the world to believe? What was her real relationship with Julian? With her parents?

Yoko's son Sean is barely mentioned at all. Yes, we learn that she gave birth to him and that he grew up to be a musician and released his own CD. The outer cover of the book says she raised him alone after John died. Yet this is not even touched upon inside the book itself. What was the relationship between mother and son? What did she do to raise him other than performing with him in concert and taking him around Liverpool? Every account I read suggests he was raised by servants, as was Ono when she was a child.

Also missing is any detail regarding her "boyfriend" Sam Havdtoy. Yes, he is mentioned in passing. They were together for about 20 years. Did Yoko wait for John's ashes to cool down before she bedded Sam? Did Sam and Yoko live together? How could she spend so much time and energy promoting John's work, claiming she loved him, while having a boyfriend? How did Sam feel about all this? I would love to know more about that relationship.


Perhaps my impression is mistaken. I assumed when I bought this book I would learn about Yoko's personality and her day to day activities with her family. I assumed the reader would get an inside view on Yoko the person and understand her feelings and emotions. However, according to this book, Yoko the person is synonymous with Yoko the performance artist, author and song writer. In sum, there is no human being named Yoko. There is no heart. There is little warmth. Rather, my imipression from this book is that Yoko is a self promoting product. She lives, breathes and exists for her "art."

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: I love The Beatles. Yoko's story is pretty interesting. The films she has made and how she has been living through John's death. Most Beatle fans don't like Yoko but I do. She may not be the best singer but she's been living for nearly 70 years. Read this book. I think you'll like it.