Lennon

The author, a music historian and journalist writes a biography that challenges many popular assumptions about Lennon's life, from his widely misunderstood 'Working Class Hero' origins to his epic romance with Yoko Ono. Also critic for NPR he takes us onthe remarkable journey that brought a Liverpool art student from a disastrous childhood to the highest realms of fame. He portrays Lennon's rise from Hamburg's red light district to Britain's Royal Variety Show; from the charmed naeivetae of "Love Me Do"to the soaring ambivalence of "Don't Let Me Down"; from his shotgun marriage to Cynthia Powell in 1962 to his epic media romance with Yoko Ono. This narrative draws on numerous new and exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends, enemies, confidantes, andassociates. He explores Lennon in all of his contradictions: the British art student who universalized an American style, the anarchic rock 'n' roller with the moral spine, the anti-jazz snob who posed naked with his avant-garde lover, and the misogynistwho became a househusband. What emerges is the enormous, seductive, and confounding personality that made Lennon a cultural touchstone.--From publisher description.

Tim Riley has made a career as a media and music critic. Rock critic for NPR, Tim is the author ofTell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary (Knopf/Vintage 1988), Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary (Knopf/Vintage1992, Da Capo 1999),Madonna: Illustrated (Hyperion 1992), Fever: How Rock'N'Roll Transformed Gender In America (St. Martin's/Picador 2005); and has contributed toNewsweek and The Washington Post, among other publications. He was Brown University's Critic-in-Residence in 2008 and currently serves as a Journalist-in-Residence at Emerson College.