John by Cynthia Lennon

John by Cynthia Lennon


                When I first heard that John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, had written a biography about him I was extremely excited. I have always enjoyed The Beatles music and been fascinated by John. What reason would someone have to kill a musician outside of his home? It was all incredibly fascinating to me and this biography seemed like a great opportunity to learn more about the man that was John Lennon. I was not disappointed. John Lennon was a complicated man and his relationship with his first wife was very revealing of his true nature.
                John was well written, informative and most of all, an extremely intimate look at John Lennon. Cynthia didn’t bash him, drag his name through the mud or berate him. She was honest about the way she felt about him, how their relationship came to be, how that same relationship fell into shambles and detailed the relationship John had with his son Julian. She expressed her pain, her joy, her love, their love and their struggles. I was entranced by their story. Cynthia talked about his upbringing as well as hers and how those basic differences would come to harm them later. Where she was willing to hang on, he was willing to let go. Cynthia discussed The Beatles and the friendship she had with differing members of the band and their families. She discussed what it was like being in John’s life when fame was right around the corner. She discussed Yoko Ono and how her presence affected their relationship both before and after the divorce. Like I said it was intimate and it was detailed but it was well done and classy.

                There was only one thing that was lacking in this biography and that’s a look at John outside of his familial constraints. I was expecting to see quite a bit more of what was going on with John outside of his family and outside of the music. Cynthia’s biography doesn’t go into any detail about what was going on outside of the relationship John had with her and Julian. It would have been interesting to hear what her take on his political activities were. She only commented on those things she felt were attempts to grab the media spotlight. All in all though I really enjoyed this biography and give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. If you like The Beatles and are fascinated by John Lennon then this will be an easy one to enjoy. 

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