Comments on: Philip Norman defends new Lennon book, and Sean Lennon speaks about father.

By: Bill Curry

Bill Curry — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:04:56 +0000

I just finished reading Mr. Norman’s book. I also read Shout. He’s quite a talent. Anyway, this is mainly for Yoko: if you should read this I think you should reconsider your negative view of Mr. Norman’s book. No one is perfect, certainly not John Lennon. And Mr. Norman was fair: He debunked the long-told tale about the waitress insulting John at the club in L.A. didn’t he. It was a fair and well researched biography. I was a fan of John’s. I went to a record store every few days for two weeks before I finally got a copy of Double Fantasy. When John died I lived in New Orleans. There was no Dakota to go to share my grief. I drove by Sea-Saint studios where Paul McCartney recorded Venus and Mars thinking there might be a flag at half-staff or something. No such luck. Anyway, my point is I’m still a fan of John’s and his great talent. Mr. Norman’s bio in no way diminished that. So, Yoko, if you read this, please consider that you might be wrong about your negative view of Mr. Norman’s work.

By: Christopher Kelk

Christopher Kelk — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:29:22 +0000

Mr. Norman,
You mention ‘meet the wife’ in Good Morning,Good Morning but assume it means tea in the morning, whereas it’s clear that the day has been gone through by the time this line appears and Meet the Wife refers to a sitcom in the early evening on TV starring Peggy Mount.

By: Joanne Murphy

Joanne Murphy — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:01:54 +0000

Mr. Norman, enjoyed reading your book while recovering from surgery. You must have spent years doing the research, don’t you think ecco could have been more careful proofreading your work before sending it out? I found 5 copy mistakes that they ought to correct for the next printing. Mistakes:
1. p. 8, 4th paragraph, 4th line reads: it was merely for an dull job. Should be “a” dull.
2. p. 329, 1st para, 4th line reads: John, and a female third party ended up bed together, should be “in” bed together.
3. p. 539, 2nd para, 9th line reads: parents home, Julian was packed off stay with Dot, the housekeeper. Should be: packed off “to” stay with Dot, the housekeeper.
4. p.638, 2nd para, 9th line reads: teens,he sometimes used be in Julia’s room with her when she had a. Should be used “to” be.
5.p. 701, 2nd line reads: John put on record, he urged him soften his persona by public. Should be: urged him “to” soften.
I wouldn’t doubt there are probably more errors and if ecco would like to hire me to go through the book with a finer tooth comb, please contact me.
Mr.Norman, hope you read this. I just thought you should know about their sloppy work.

By: Christopher A. Lay

Christopher A. Lay — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:15:34 +0000

I’m confused! Throughout this book I read over and over how John had such a terrible early life which was influential in establishing his character. He didn’t have such a bad youth. He was adored, pampered, indulged and from this spoilage he “matured” (and I use the word ever so sarcastically) as an abuser. He was tolerated because he was feared. What I find so incredulous is that we have all but deified this person when in reality he was a spoiled brat for the vast majority of his life (and to think that I once admired this guy and wept like a child when the news of his death reached me). He was unethical, immoral and lacked even the shreds of decency. Considering the Eastern Mysticism he supposedly studied he sure as hell missed the finer points and manipulated the remainder to suit his own wants. Throughout his life he did not possess an honorable bone in his body. The way he treated Cynthia and his first born was abominable, yet he justified his behavior and everybody forgave him, La-De-Da, because he was John Lennon. Sad!
I grew up in the ghetto of Brooklyn New York. Evicted as a child by insensitive parents I slept in alleys and ate out of trash cans. I finally enlisted in the military at the tale end of ‘Nam simply as a means to survive. I’ll match the adversities of my youth against Lennon’s cushy existence anyday and I grew out of this environment without drugs, or addictions of any sort. Why do we tend to idolize drug experiementation and excessive usage amongst our dubious “heroes” when all that nonsense is nothing more than a crutch to escape from reality and then blame whatever occurs as a result on the usage itself? Cowardice, plain and simple!
Then along comes Yoko; another pampered child who honestly believes that her irritating singing voice, illogical life views, input and impressionistic “art” had any redeeming value whatsoever. The two of these people come together and compliment each other perfectly because they are cut from the same cloth.
I will continue to admire the musical artist/poet who in his later life produced classic songs of immortal heart wrenching noteworthiness, however I have ceased to respect the person who could find humor in the physical disabilities of another human being or yell in the face of a child seeking his father’s loving attention. This man was a scoundrel, plain and simple and the total opposite of the characters he portrays in his work.

By: paul andreas

paul andreas — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:31:20 +0000

an excellent read. lennon was both a genius and an extrovert. together with his wicked sense of humour it will be a while before we see another character like him come along.

By: Fletch

Fletch — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:56:27 +0000

I’m reading the book now, it’s a damn good read about the most influential human of our lifetime

By: Duane Graves

Duane Graves — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:35:09 +0000

Hi, Philip. Wow! what a book and what a good read. I’m 58 and I remember the Beatles thoroughly through the life of the band especially from ‘65 on. Thank you for this book. I’ve been reading it since Christmas Day and as soon as I started I told my wife that it is well written.

I agree with Yoko that John does appear mean in the book but I believe you in that I think he had his mean moments. Yoko is probably filled with sentimental nostalgia. The homo things well, I just don’t know what to think about that although you didn’t come right out and say he had flings with men. He probably did though because the old adage ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire’ is relative I think. I loved the little bit about the boat ride he had to Bermuda in June 1980. That was rich material I thought.

I was a fan and am one still of the Beatles and of John and am wondering if you will attempt a bio on George Harrison now? Anyhow, take care Philip and thank you so much I enjoyed it from cover to cover.

Duane Graves.

By: xuxppxxuxyyy

xuxppxxuxyyy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:55:19 +0000

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By: Drake

Drake — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:11:29 +0000

I have the exact quote from John’s BBC interview with Andy Peebles referred to above, and John’s words were much vaguer than xyzman implies. Here’s John’s quote: “I mean the Beatles first national coverage was me beating up Bob Wooller, at Paul’s 21st party because he intimated I was homosexual. I must have had a fear that maybe I was homosexual to attack him like that and it’s very complicated reasoning. But I was very drunk and I hit him and I could have really killed somebody then. And that scared me.”

By: mickey

mickey — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:10:50 +0000

I never heard of PN –john wrote good songs, period.