Rating: 
Summary: Provocative to say the least, Disturbing overall
Review: Occasionally, I have red a novel powerful or so contraversal that I had to set it aside, like a type of reader's "Time out".This was such a book. Never had a read of a life so bizarre, a life so conflicted and tormented from a man so very talented. Not to mention the unfortunate early family life, one can only wonder how any person could cope with all the chaos in John Lennon's life. He marries a woman (Yoko) who, according to this novel is as mentally afflicted with drug and adjustment as he is. From a page turner review, this rates high. You want to read just what can happen next, and relish in the life of someone so unreal. You feel awkward, as I love this man, for his talent and his music, but I realize this is just a speculative book and certainly no absolute. It is a provocative page turner, but be prepared to see some extremely disturbing events and recreations. It may just make you want to put the book down for a while.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is ridiculous
Review: I grew up with the Beatles and am quite fascinated with them, especially John Lennon. I went to the library and was excited to take out an extensive biography on Lennon. I couldn't finish it. The book is obviously a distorted version written by someone who hates the Beatles, especially Lennon. In the first 100 pages that I read, not a SINGLE good word (?). 2 examples, amongst many: Goldman describes John as "clapping like a seal and stomping his club foot" on stage during a concert; Goldman puts down all their music, for instance the music of "All You Need is Love" is no more than a variation of "Three Blind Mice". I certainly wanted to read an in-depth study on Lennon, including his weaknesses, but I must discredit this one by its one-sidedness. It's a shame.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly entertaining hatchet job
Review: Make no mistake - Goldman is out to de-mythologize John Lennon, and who knows; if half of the things Goldman wrote about Lennon were true, maybe John deserves to be defrocked. The problem is that Goldman never shies away from tossing in his opinions, however arbitrary. Abbey road was not a mediocre hodgepodge of songs; the Beatles' musicianship had not deteriorated by the end of their career together; John's relationship with Julian was not as simple as depicted. Goldman has thoroughly researched Lennon's life, but he slants it in an unfavorable light.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Hurts
Review: Many negative things have been said about this biography of Lennon..that it is "tabloid journalism" and that Goldman had a fixation with Lennon's negative personality characteristics. The affair with Epstein was especially played up for its salacious aspects in the media. However, the affair is not surprising and the book certainly is not "Hollywood Babylon". The only major flaw I found with this book was the lack of footnotes for his sources. However, I think this was a book that needed to be written. Really, even the most devoted Lennon fan has to ask themself 'How can the "working class hero" talk about a life with no possessions while singing in his manse with his upper caste wife opening incredibly large windows in their enormous ballroom (the video to "Imagine")?' Yes, Goldman does take some cheap shots, but the inherent contradiction that was John Lennon needed to be examined. Lennon was certainly a pathetic, flawed individual that people clung to as an example of the artistic "fringe" (!) of society, yet was completely entrenched in commercialism and conspicuous waste. Too bad we are still clinging to images and not reality. Long before reading this book an intelligent person can see the hypocrisy that Lennon turned into an art form, thus this book is only a confirmation of the obvious. Not a great work of literature, but something that every Lennon devotee should read and take pause after absorbing it to think about.
Rating:
Summary: He said, She said
Review: This book was like looking through the key hole of the Dakota into the life of someone we all loved. All though some of the facts the author presented seemed, "He said, She said", it was still fasinating; I couldn't put it down. I did become a little frustrated, half way through the book, because the author seemed to have very few nice things to say about any of the Beatles personally, and he painted a very drepressing view of John Lennon. The author also made me think that Yoko was one of the worst people on the planet? (I think her talents really lie in Public Relations - she just missed her calling). All in all, you have to admit after reading this book, that the Lennon's lead a fasinating life; they didn't work a nine to five jobs like most of us, they partied, spent money, they traveled, they lived in luxurious homes, they socialized with very talented, interesting, and excentric people, and when all that was too much, they retreated to into seclution. What's so bad about that!
Rating:
Summary: Great book about Beatle John
Review: Albert Goldman wrote a great great book about Beatle John Lennon. Everything was written well & clearly, I thought the book was fab! In my opinion it's a masterpiece! Check it out!
Rating: 
Summary: The only Lennon book worth reading
Review: Fact: No-one ever sued Albert Goldman. The reason? Every word was the truth. Goldman took rock biography into the realms of serious literature. No other rock writer except Lester Bangs even comes close. You owe it to yourself to get this book. Warning:The truth can be fatal to your blind faith.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable Piece of Garbage
Review: I'll be the first to admit that (from what I've read and seen on videos, documentaries, etc.)John Lennon could be a real a**hole, but this book is ridiculous. It portrays Lennon as an inept, talentless lunatic. In my opinion, Lennon was far from perfect, but the claims in this book are just ludicrous.
Rating:
Summary: Debunks popular myths surrounding this nasty, flawed genius.
Review: Tells the story of Lennon, The Beatles and Yoko Ono with refreshing honesty, and makes the reader want to go and listen to the music all over again. Refreshing, considering the amount of fawning rubbish that has been written about the biggest and best sell-outs of pop. Finished it in 3 days, and think Goldman did a blanced job - he may lay into aspects of Lennon's life (his violence, drug addictions etc), but also obviously appreciates the (good) music and clever wordplay Lennon was capable of.
Rating:
Summary: Goldman said things that needed to be said
Review: Is Albert Golman dead? can i write his biography? his lennon biography wasnt the best ive ever read but i was certainly better than the boring-admiring-disturbed-fan-whocantseeanyfaultsinthemanhe-loved bio written by coleman. sure theres enough rubbish in the book (did john lennon really kill stu sutcliff and have sex with brian epstein?), which is probably not all true. but nevertheless goldman talkes about subjects which other people were afraid to talk bout in other publications and sometimes he even hits the nail on head. eg: paul becoming the most important beatle around the pepper-period. anyone who listens to the record can hardly deny that fact paul was the great driving force behind that record, even though lennons songs were the best. were the beatles the start of a sexual revolution? no the beatles were cute and thats why ringo was the most popular. john lennon seems indeed the man who could have been everyhting, but always screwed it up somehow (listen to the f*#@ed-up versions of masterpieces as strawberryfields and across the universe) anyway i dont always agree with him (paul macca is not a genius as lennon was, but why should i a book isnt written to be agreed with) and some of the stuff in the book may be filth but it remains the best, well-thought about book ive read on beatles/lennon
| 
