What I’m reading: 'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs'

What I’m reading:

John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs

It’s been a while since I have devoured a book the way I am reading this book. I’ve been staying up until 11 p.m. reading it – not looking at Facebook, not fooling around with the laptop. Just reading as much of the book as I can manage – running to it whenever I have a moment free.

HOW TO CAPITALIZE ON THIS?

Am I reading the wrong books?

Should I be reading more biographies?

I think childhood -- and childhood obsessions -- could be the key to understanding my readerly swooning here. When I read about the Beatles, it's as though I am reading about someone I knew – as if someone wrote a biography of St. Anthony’s High School or Eclectic House at Wesleyan.

Growing up, I listened to Beatles albums a lot. Thanks to my uncles Joe and Pat, we learned about the Beatles as children and had the records. I loved the anthologies to start and then later Abbey Road, The White Album and Let It Be.

As a tween and young teen, I would obsessively listen to Beatles-only radio programs (for example, Scott Muni's "Ticket To Ride"). I studied the album covers for clues just as I was told to do so on these programs. And the drama of their breakup was something I felt keenly -- more than a decade after the actual breakup!

The book is also just plain fascinating.

As I wrote on the Goodreads site, I don't think I could love this book more! I am returning to my girlhood obsession with the Beatles and exploring in minute detail the inner workings of the Lennon-McCarthy songwriting partnership, thanks to this wonderful dual biography of the two Beatles. For anyone who's ever had any kind of Beatle worship, this book is essential. And what an interesting concept! Exploring this relationship as a one-of-a-kind partnership that eschews easy definition. 

It's about friendship, it's about collegiality, it's about boyhood but it also confirms the partnership. I literally cannot put it done! Excellent work, Ian Leslie.

For more information about the book, visit the author's website where he details the genesis of this project:

https://www.ian-leslie.com/p/64-reasons-to-celebrate-paul-mccartney

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