Amazon.co.uk
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 --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Book Description
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. This unique book is the sister volume of Bill Harry's The Beatles Encyclopedia (0753504812), updated in Fall 2001. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
