The John Lennon Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive book about John Lennon ever produced. By best-selling author and Beatles expert Bill Harry, this A-Z guide will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about one of the twentieth century's most talented and enigmatic figures. From his difficult childhood to his early days with the Beatles, and from his groundbreaking solo projects to his work with Yoko Ono, this book reveals in intimate detail the man behind the myth, helping to explain Lenon's enduring status as a popular icon. It contains every track Lennon ever wrote or worked on, every gig he every played, and full biographies of everyone who was involved in his life story. This is the most comprehensive guide ever published to the guiding genius of the world's greatest band. It comes in at almost one thousand pages, and half-a-million words, this is the ultimate celebration of all things Lennon.
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon
Erstwhile Apple Records assistant Tony King once commented that although John Lennon's life ended tragically early, at the age of 40, he had lived the equivalent of several normal men's lifetimes. With a brief chronology of the life in question incorporating the most famous pop band of all time, groundbreaking solo projects, and an often intriguing relationship with the artist Yoko Ono, it would be hard to disagree. One of the consequences of this fascinating life has been that Lennon is one of the most written-about men of the 20th century, whether it be in the form of classic, fact-based biography, (see Ray Coleman's excellent John Lennon 1940-80), or scandalised, rumour-based fantasy, (such as Albert Goldman's often inaccurate The Lives of John Lennon).
The 1002-page John Lennon Encyclopedia represents Bill Harry's attempts at bringing together all of the available information about this musical icon. Harry's text-only tome consists of an A-Z guide in which exhaustive details are given of Lennon's music, films, art, writings, and relationships. The author was himself a central figure in the Liverpool music scene from which the Beatles emerged, his magazine "Mersey Beat" supporting the group from their earliest days, and thus his book is excellent in dealing with this period. Several "Beatles-myths" are skilfully taken apart, (not least the oft-repeated story that the group's early bass player Stuart Sutcliffe died of a brain haemorrhage brought on by a Lennon-inspired Liverpool scuffle; he actually fell down the stairs and hit his head), in what is an entertaining and spirited account. However, as with many friends of Lennon, Harry was to find himself ostracised following the musician's marriage to Ono, and the book suffers accordingly, becoming something of a "cut-and-paste" compilation of the thousands of media articles on his subject as the story progresses.
Despite such criticisms, however, this book is truly impressive in its detail. Certainly, until the Beatles' own account is published in the form of their Anthology, Harry's enthusiastically written tale of the characters and situations involved in the group's story will not be bettered. --Steve Price
About the Author
Bill Harry is the world's leading authority on the Beatles. He attended Liverpool College of Art with John Lennon and is the author of a number of books including Beatlemania, The McCartney File, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles Encyclopedia, the sister volume to The John Lennon Encyclopedia, published by Virgin and now fully revised and updated.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Matt Poole
Format:Paperback
The John Lennon encyclopedia, a book literally as thick as a brick, has probably everything a Lennon or Beatle fan will ever want to know about John Lennon. Within its 1002 pages you'll find information about John's life (childhood, Beatlehood & solo), origins of songs, the books he wrote in the early 1960s, origins of films he worked on with Yoko, relatives, friends, his children, celebrity accquaintences, TV appearances, autobiographies written about John, songs written about John, short stories about John, even messages that psychics claim to have come from John beyond the grave. Yep, absolutely everything about John there was up to the point of publication. The only thing I couldn't find was the origins of John's glasses!
Like the title suggests, the book is written like an encyclopedia. Facts about John have been given a title ("Drugs", "Epstein, Brian", "Mind Games", etc), and arranged in alphabetical order. This makes it very easy to find exactly what you want to know, as well as easy to read. You can dip into it and read as much or as little as you like. It's a good bedtime read for Beatlemaniacs like myself, and makes quite a hefty coffee table book.
This isn't a cash in by some puffed-up biased journalist, like a lot of Lennon nonfiction. This is Bill Harry, a man who not only went to the same art school as John, but was a good friend of his. Bill Harry as accurate and as thorough as he can be, and modest. If you look up "Bill Harry" in the encyclopedia, you won't find it, and when he is mentioned in the various entries about his art college years, Bill Harry talks about himself in the objective third person. Superstar biographies could learn a lot from this one.
An interesting read for the hardcore Beatle fan, and the trivia buff. A casual fan might want to start with the "The Beatles Anthology" instead, as that's written in order, and you'll have a place to start rather than being thrown into John's world. However, if you only want one Lennon nonfiction, this is the one to get.
By T. Brice
Format:Paperback
This book has its moments, but I couldn't recommend it to anyone. It is full of errors, contradictions, omissions, misspellings, etc. Having previously read another of Billy Harry's books,("The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia") I knew that he wasn't too keen on hiring a good proofreader, but the Lennon book is just too much!!
Format:Paperback
Everything Bill Harry publishes on the Beatles is always a high quality, well-researched effort and this is no exception. It's not hyperbole to say that this book contains virtually everything you ever wanted to know about Lennon; the details are prodigious, and it spans over 1,000 pages of text. It's an almost day by day chronicle of Lennon's life from 1940 until his tragic death in 1980. Casual fans might suffocate under the weight of all this info, but for Lennon fanatics, like me, this is nirvana.
The book is equally divided between personal material about John, his relationships, marriages, divorce, and two sons, and his professional career. His partnership with Paul is explored in exhaustive and fascinating detail and no discernible bias can be seen. Bill Harry has written about all of the Beatles but one can never tell which one is his favorite. That's a notable strength in his writing, he has no agenda or axe to grind, he just presents the glorious facts of the Fab Four. The index is easy to follow and cross-referenced so you can easily find what you're looking for.
If you are a serious fan of John Lennon, this is an indispensible guide to his songwriting, personality and his life. If only he had been allowed more than 40 years on earth, how many more classic songs would he have written? Sadly, we will never know, but this celebration of his life is as good as it gets.
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews
3.5 out of 5 stars
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lennon, John
- Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Art
- Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Film
- Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Music
- Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Television
- Books > Humour & Entertainment > Movies > Encyclopedias
- Books > Humour & Entertainment > Music > Biographies
- Books > Humour & Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Rock
- Books > Humour & Entertainment > Music > Reference
- Books > Humour & Entertainment > Pop Culture > Music > Beatles
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
