Memories of John Lennon - Yoko Ono

...asked many friends to contribute memories and both the friends and memories are extremely varied.

Every part of Lennon's life is covered from childhood (remembered by his cousin Mike Cadwallader and mentioned by others), to the days in Hamburgh, Beatles stardom, peace protests, immigration problems, the househusband/dad years and, finally, his brutal, inane and tragic murder. I was delighted to discover aspects of Lennon's character ...
...book.

The memories also vary in length, from Normal Mailer's "WE HAVE LOST A GENIUS OF THE SPIRIT" to much longer recollections from Jann Wenner and Elliot Mintz. The collection also includes various photographs, including ones that are rarely seen, drawings, a few poems and even copies of FBI documents relating to Lennon (heavily blacked-out!).

Say what you like about Yoko Ono, but she is responsible for this ... more

This book passed me by unnoticed. It was commisioned and compiled by Yoko Ono (who also introduces and edits it) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death last year. She asked many friends to contribute memories and both the friends and memories are extremely varied.

Every part of Lennon's life is covered from childhood (remembered by his cousin Mike Cadwallader and mentioned by others), to the days in Hamburgh, Beatles stardom, peace protests, immigration problems, the househusband/dad years and, finally, his brutal, inane and tragic murder. I was delighted to discover aspects of Lennon's character as remembered by his friends that don't turn up in the biographies and commentaries I've read. There is a wealth of material, of memories, in this book.

The memories also vary in length, from Normal Mailer's "WE HAVE LOST A GENIUS OF THE SPIRIT" to much longer recollections from Jann Wenner and Elliot Mintz. The collection also includes various photographs, including ones that are rarely seen, drawings, a few poems and even copies of FBI documents relating to Lennon (heavily blacked-out!).

Say what you like about Yoko Ono, but she is responsible for this masterpiece and what a perfect masterpiece it is. She has chosen to include memories spanning Lennon's entire life and neither shies away from including memories of his death nor dwells on it. She has hit precisely the right tone with what she has chosen to include. As she herself acknowledges in the introduction, she doesn't know if she'll ever be ready to tell her story of life with John (I for one hope she does though), but she has honoured his memory perfectly with this tribute.

Interestingly, she has also included 'memories' of people who never met him and wish they had, including Alicia Keys whose life - like mine - didn't even overlap with his (though in her case she missed it by a month and a half, with me it was 3 and a half years!). This is a nice touch and shows how much John Lennon affected the world and the lives of people - even those who were never lucky enough to know him.

If you're interested in finding out more about Lennon, this book would be a great addition to your collection. However, it is not the best starting point because it is not a biography: it would be better if you are familiar with Lennon's life and work before you read this, because you will appreciate it more. This is a beautiful book that made me laugh, cry and think. I cannot recommend it enough. 

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