Under Review

• "John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman
• "R.E.M.: Hello" by David Belisle
• "Real Moments: Bob Dylan by Barry Feinstein"

“John Lennon: The Life”: Do we need another John Lennon biography?

Author Philip Norman contends the answer is yes.

Because while innumerable Beatles/Lennon books have been published, there are only two in-depth bios, neither of which he feels is satisfactory: Albert Goldman’s (which Norman calls “risibly ignorant”) and Ray Coleman’s kinder, gentler work (which Norman felt “never quite brought John alive on the page”).

Norman hits a middle ground, neither as fawning as Coleman or as denigrating as Goldman, and does indeed give us the fullest account of Lennon’s life to date. Especially interesting are the childhood years, which Norman fleshes out with new interviews, giving a more balanced view of Lennon’s itinerant father, Alfred Lennon, and a harsher look at his aunt, Mimi Smith. He also critiques Lennon’s, and The Beatles’, music much more than he did in his Beatles bio Shout!, if occasionally delivering a few overwrought descriptions of it (e.g. writing that the “Whoa yeahs” in “Please Please Me” had “all the mirthful exhilaration of orgasm in a cold wind” — presumably meant as a compliment).

Norman’s aim is also to present as honest a portrait of Lennon as possible, evidently going too far for Yoko Ono’s taste; though initially cooperating with him, Ono eventually withdrew her support, saying she felt Norman had been “too mean” to Lennon. It certainly is a warts-and-all portrayal. Lennon comes across as amazingly insecure in virtually every area of his life, as well as being a compulsive womanizer; one of Norman’s revelations is that Lennon cheated on his first wife, Cynthia, while she was pregnant with not just one but two women, explaining to one of his lovers, “A man needs more than one woman in his life.” During his “Lost Weekend” in the ’70s, photographer Bob Gruen claims that Lennon wasn’t just involved with May Pang, but “dozens” of other women as well.

But neither does Norman write about these events as luridly as Goldman would have.

Lennon might come across as every inch the tortured artist, but you do retain some sympathy for him. Norman’s book is a worthy addition to the annals of Beatle/Lennon literature, and even the most diehard Lennon fan should learn a thing or two in “John Lennon: The Life.”

(Hardback, 864 pages, $34.95. Ecco, www.eccobooks.com).

“R.E.M.: Hello”: The saying goes that a picture paints a thousand words.

But honestly, a picture with a good caption can paint thousands more, and the lack of substantive captions is probably the biggest complaint readers will have with David Belisle’s pictorial of life on the road with R.E.M. from an insider’s point of view.

The photos in and of themselves are wonderful storytellers of life on the road. The feeling and style runs the gamut — “scene-setter” pieces that have nothing to do with the band, but everything to do with the places they visited and things they saw; highly artistic shots; vibrant color images that border on the surreal; striking black and white photos, even candid snapshots. (Michael Stipe probably didn’t ask to be photographed on the toilet, using a urinal or in the shower, yet there he is, doing all those same routine activities that other mere non-rock ’n’ roll mortals do, except we’re free of the prying eyes of the public.)

It’s clear, though, that even such personal photos have Stipe’s blessing. He selected photos for the book, along with Belisle, and Stipe also wrote the foreword to the book and provided some captions to accompany the images.

While these photographs give an unprecedented insider’s view, readers who weren’t actually on the road with the band may be left feeling more like outsiders because the few and far between captions — clever though many of them are — typically leave more questions than anything else. Where was this shot? What else is going on? What’s the “rest of the story?” And, what is that letter or word supposed to be? (The hand-printed lettering is often very difficult to read).

All that said, if you’re a fan of the band, this book is a worthwhile addition to your library. And even if you’re not, some of the photos that have nothing to do with the band — a nasty coating of flies/fly carcasses covering the front of a tour bus, a beautiful shot of birds in flight, a reflection shot of Stipe on a train — are worth a lengthy look for the depth and beauty they offer.


Ever wonder what it was like to be Bob Dylan “back in the day”?

Well, the new black-and-white pictorial “Real Moments: Bob Dylan by Barry Feinstein” does its best to tell the story from the folk singer’s point of view.

Like many other coffee-table style books, it feels like a lot of back story is lacking. Some photos are free of captions altogether, while others offer up little more information than a city or perhaps a year. But that’s easy to forgive that sin as you flip through the spellbinding images.

The majority of the book focuses on the 1960s, and that section is spellbinding. It conveys the feeling of the times, and it captures a distinct point in history. There are photos that offer a new view into who Bob Dylan is and was, not just as a musician, but as a person. He’s captured intently chatting with an older woman who sold flowers, playing with a group of Liverpool children out on the streets, trying on shoes, lighting up a cigarette at a banquet table, and, of course, practicing and performing as only he can. The photography in this section is very well done and entertaining to view.

Where the book goes off track, however, is in the last 20 pages, when it abruptly leaps forward to the Bob Dylan and The Band Tour of 1974. There’s nothing said or shown to help the reader bridge the gap between 1966 and 1974. Rather than feeling like a “bonus,” this rapid shift in focus makes the readers feel like the authors were “stretching” what images they had to fill a publisher’s page count, and, upon discovering they were short on photos to hit that mark, they quickly tossed in 20 pages’ worth of images they had from another time. There’s not really enough from the 1974 tour to feel like you’re getting the story; it just feels like it was hastily tacked on, and it doesn’t do anything to really advance the book.

That misstep doesn’t mean that the book is poorly done — the shots are excellent, and the luxurious paper stock showcases the images to their best advantage. It just means that the book, as a reflection of the artist at a specific point in time, feels disjointed and less cohesive. It’s still a nice selection for Dylan fans’ libraries.


(Hardcover, 158 pages, $34.95. Omnibus Press, www.omnibuspress.com).