Unlike many celebrity biographers, Spitz doesn't sugarcoat. Lennon's childhood was indeed troubled, but that doesn't excuse his meanness to his first wife, the pliant Cynthia, or how infantile he was with Yoko Ono, whom Spitz portrays as a conniving social climber and the true force behind the Beatles' breakup. Spitz doesn't spare McCartney, either, depicting him as both a musical genius (''Yesterday" is all his) and a smiling opportunist.
It's all here: the brilliance, the waste (Spitz's look at the Beatles' Apple Corps-related business is appalling), drugs soft (Dylan turned them on to marijuana) and hard (John and Yoko were deeply into heroin), and legal disputes, with ''a tough little scorpion named Allen Klein" backing Lennon-Ono against McCartney, wife Linda, and Lee Eastman, Linda's lawyer dad.
The Beatles is a dark, riveting fable about a group that in breaking up let the whole world down. Although they made music as one, the Beatles were individuals, too. Their complex equations are thoroughly and movingly explored in Spitz's memorable biography.
This was published in The Boston Globe on Oct. 23, 2005.
Article comments
1 - GoHah
"they seemed to speak as one voice, creating music that transcended category and embodied community"--insightful review of an insightful book. Thanks.
2 - justin Kreutzmann
Sounds like a good read for the man who's read everything Beatles.
Nice job.