Helpful Score: 5
Any John Lennon fan knows that there are many facets to the man who wrote "Give Peace a Chance" and "All You Need is Love," including a mean streak and a propensity for violence. However, in "The Lives of John Lennon" so much of the story is Goldman's armchair psychology. The author puts a negative slant on every aspect of John's life. It is difficult to know how much is fact and how much is made up in the mind of the author.
Helpful Score: 3
One of the worst books ever written on John Lennon. Contradictions throughout the book and outright lies.
Helpful Score: 1
An extensive review of John's life, but I liked what I read regarding this book in 'The Beatles'biography by Bob Spitz - "a controversial and discredited biography...I found it unreadable and irresponsible...". I'm sure there's truth mixed in the pages of this book, but information that stated that Lennon had multiple personality disorder, was developmentally /physically afflicted and uncoordinated (excuse me, wasn't he quite a guitarist...) was hard to swallow. Lennon was certainly a complicated person, but this book dealt way too much with his faults, real, imagined, or somewhere in-between. There are many more balanced books out there that don't try to pulverize his life.
Helpful Score: 1
Any John Lennon fan knows that there are many facets to the man who wrote "Give Peace a Chance" and "All You Need is Love," including a mean streak and a propensity for violence. However, in "The Lives of John Lennon" so much of the story is Goldman's armchair psychology. The author puts a negative slant on every aspect of John's life. It is difficult to know how much is fact and how much is made up in the mind of the author.