olichoreno's review against another edition
3.0
Finished it on the road.
And God, it was a long one, 3 months between breaks and bursts of energy where the percentage barely moved.
40% of the beginning is the best, all about The Beatles but from there it was all marriages, attempts to form a new band and children he had, the only salvageable thing was the fights with Lennon until his sudden death and fragments with other artists like Michael Jackson, other than that, the book was a competition to finish it fast so you could jump into something else.
Even the good part of The Beatles sometimes spoke little of their creative process for songs and more of arguments between themselves or money problems.
I started it with a lot of enthusiasm that soon ended, yes, the research is quite exhaustive, even in trivial details and I think that this is something that would only happen with a few people, including McCartney of course.
I recommend reading it, but finishing it is not worthwhile except for a couple of curious facts such as the lawsuit against Jobs over iTunes or the strange attack on Harrison at his home, furthermore, the songs are more than enough.
And God, it was a long one, 3 months between breaks and bursts of energy where the percentage barely moved.
40% of the beginning is the best, all about The Beatles but from there it was all marriages, attempts to form a new band and children he had, the only salvageable thing was the fights with Lennon until his sudden death and fragments with other artists like Michael Jackson, other than that, the book was a competition to finish it fast so you could jump into something else.
Even the good part of The Beatles sometimes spoke little of their creative process for songs and more of arguments between themselves or money problems.
I started it with a lot of enthusiasm that soon ended, yes, the research is quite exhaustive, even in trivial details and I think that this is something that would only happen with a few people, including McCartney of course.
I recommend reading it, but finishing it is not worthwhile except for a couple of curious facts such as the lawsuit against Jobs over iTunes or the strange attack on Harrison at his home, furthermore, the songs are more than enough.
notbucket24's review against another edition
2.0
This book had a lot of interesting information about Paul McCartney, but if you want a book that embodies a hagiography, this is it. After I read it, I read his book on Lennon, and figured out this author likes to glorify whoever he is writing about, and vilify everyone else in the story. Very distracting.
shanviolinlove's review against another edition
3.0
This book invites the reader into the extraordinary life and career of one of Britain's most famous rock icons, Sir Paul McCartney, beginning with his childhood in Liverpool and including his musical union with Lennon at age fifteen. I was amazed to learn how much of the Beatles was influenced by McCartney, from the group members and the image, to the endless list of his own compositions (or Lennon-McCartney originals that were, according to Carlin, predominately the works of the latter), since John Lennon has always been portrayed as the leader of the group.
The book delves into a detailed survey of each song, the momentous rise of the Beatles' stardom and its ultimate break-up, McCartney's identity as a Beatle since adolescence and the shattered reality when he was forced to move on, as well as his side of the feud with Lennon and Yoko Ono, his post-Beatles career in Wings, his marriage to Linda Eastman, and the tragedy of her demise.
McCartney's talent and drive makes him exemplary; though Lennon has long been revered as the talented one, the musical martyr, I am pleased to read an account of his equally talented colleague. McCartney fans will recognize the story of "Yesterday," a personal favorite of mine, created from a dream and penned so perfectly, he thought at first it already existed. Such is the brilliance of McCartney, who could look out of a window and write a hit-song about the day. According to Carlin, Ono had compared him to Amadeus' Salieri, but his command for music and poetic artistry for words demonstrates the skill of a contemporary Mozart, with rock and style.
The book delves into a detailed survey of each song, the momentous rise of the Beatles' stardom and its ultimate break-up, McCartney's identity as a Beatle since adolescence and the shattered reality when he was forced to move on, as well as his side of the feud with Lennon and Yoko Ono, his post-Beatles career in Wings, his marriage to Linda Eastman, and the tragedy of her demise.
McCartney's talent and drive makes him exemplary; though Lennon has long been revered as the talented one, the musical martyr, I am pleased to read an account of his equally talented colleague. McCartney fans will recognize the story of "Yesterday," a personal favorite of mine, created from a dream and penned so perfectly, he thought at first it already existed. Such is the brilliance of McCartney, who could look out of a window and write a hit-song about the day. According to Carlin, Ono had compared him to Amadeus' Salieri, but his command for music and poetic artistry for words demonstrates the skill of a contemporary Mozart, with rock and style.
benjiseashore's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this journey into the Beatles. I learned some facts. Also I got a bigger idea of what artistry means to Paul and meant to John and George and Linda and all the other side characters of his life story. It set me off on a journey to listen to every Beatles album, and perhaps I’ll go review all of them somewhere else, I think that could be interesting. But here I get to see Paul and the others being humans, and not always great ones, which makes it easier to view their music as something I can evaluate for myself as what I want from it as opposed to just cultural icons that my preschool teachers and elementary school teachers and parents of the cool kids from my high school dictated to me were good. And they are still good. It’s similar to what The Force Awakens did for me with Star Wars, and what I might need something to do for me to be able to enjoy Harry Potter. I just wish it was updated after FourFiveSeconds, because I’d love to know about Paul with Rhianna and Kanye.
sarahuwu's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Great if you’re a Beatles fan looking for a long read. Paints a more realistic picture of McCartney as a person. Norman likes to insert his pointless right wing political opinions in at random as if the book is about him. Skip those passages and it’s a perfectly fine biography/cinderblock.
boureemusique's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. I confess I haven't read any biographies of any of the Beatles before, despite being a huge fan. This one seemed thorough enough and I enjoyed hearing the author's wry commentary on Paul's fun-loving but controlling personality. I also really enjoyed the descriptions of some songs and knowing what they were by characterization before the author named them.
I finished listening to the audiobook, which the narrator kept interesting but for which he did truly terrible American accents, this afternoon in my too-hot car on my way to see the Beach Boys, who go on in less than two hours. I'm pleased I didn't ruin my scant mascara when I wept openly at the part where the author makes it clear that "Calico Skies" is about the then dying Linda. "I'll hold you," and that "real love," all my life.
I finished listening to the audiobook, which the narrator kept interesting but for which he did truly terrible American accents, this afternoon in my too-hot car on my way to see the Beach Boys, who go on in less than two hours. I'm pleased I didn't ruin my scant mascara when I wept openly at the part where the author makes it clear that "Calico Skies" is about the then dying Linda. "I'll hold you," and that "real love," all my life.
lizro23's review against another edition
4.0
At times I disliked Norman's way of describing events and people, but overall the book was enjoyable and informative.
thatokiebird's review against another edition
3.0
This is the third Beatle-related biography I've read (Bob Spitz and Hunter Davies' bios being the other two) and this is the one I liked the least. The style was weird and often times changed from fiction-novel-style to textbook-style in an awkward way. The whole book had an air of 'UN-authorized' all over it, which probably could have been avoided with a consistent writing style. I did enjoy how the author followed Paul through not only his good, but also his worst self. There are definitely no astonishing breakthroughs that I could discern, but it was a fine read and helped create a better understanding of Paul.