Customer Reviews

In My Life: The Brian Epstein Story

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I agree with the earlier reviewer's incredulous comments about the cover of this book. If the publisher wanted to make browsers think twice about a purchase, they've done it.

But despite the cheesy cover, I went ahead with my purchase & was not disappointed. One would think that just about every aspect of the Beatles has been absolutely covered and trampled to death. Then along comes Debbie Geller with this gem - the Brian Epstein angle has been an untapped vein up until this point. It's not so much a traditional book about her subject as it is an oral history. Geller's coup is to get Paul McCartney - among many other voices - to comment at length on Epstein's role with the group.

The book's main themes and premises, of which a strong case is made by all the book's participants:

1. There would be no Beatles without Epstein. During the very early sixties when they were no more than a crude band distinguished only by their Hamburg experience, Epstein's belief in 'his boys' was indefatigable. He created a new image for them, and sold that image - after much rejection - to London.

2. Epstein created rock and roll management and promotion as we know it today; it simply did not exist before he came along, & it is around today mainly in the guise that he created.

3. Epstein was a terribly complex and conflicted man. No one participating in this project makes the case that he was 'nice' or easy to get along with. In fact, he comes across as a holy terror at times. Jewish in a non-Jewish world, openly gay prior to any societal openness on that front, a manic-depressive (some posit) before a clinical diagnosis for such an afflication existed, addicted to various uppers and downers.

This was a terribly complex, troubled - but enormously gifted - man. To think that he fit all he did into 32 short years. Amazing.

Thank you Debbie Geller for honoring this blazing comet named Brian Espstein, who willed the Beatles into this world.

this is a book about the life of the man who is known as the manager of the Beatles and suffered a sudden death back in 1967. when someone reads this book understands how much more was Brian Epstein than that. a man whos mind and ideas were revolutionary and changed the way millions of young people used to think and dream. its a story of a man who was more near than anybody to the world fenomenon The Beatles but never succeded to be one of them, driven himself to drugs and solitaty death. many personal moments of Epstein are there by the people who were THERE in his life. moments full of joy and sorrow both. when i read the book sometimes i felt i was around and that is a plus of the very live written book. if someone buys that book for another Beatle tribute will fail to the target. this is an Epstein tribute and was missing 30 years now. i wish i could buy the film also!

Ok - so the cover is so heinous that one wonders whether anyone is actually breathing at St Martin's Press. Despite that, this is a subtle and nuanced celebration of the life of a truly unsung hero - and a celebration it is, despite the temptation to characterize Epstein's life as a sordid tragedy, victim of the era etcetera etcetera. A truly original man, with his own share of demons, but also with the incredible vision to recognise in the Beatles that which the rest of us now take for granted - and this when they were nobodies, and he was the only one to recognise the genius.

What Debbie Geller conveys so beautifully is that transition from a normal life to a life lived in the strange swirl of celebrity. And by "curating" the book, rather than writing it (ie, leaving it in the words of the people she and Wall interviewed for the documentary), Geller allows the protagists to remember Epstein - it makes for an impressionistic protrait of him: complex, contradictory, filled with incredible life.

It's been a few years since I've read any 'Beatle' books. (I had my fanatical Beatle phase in high school in the 80's.) But, something about this book drew me, so I bought it.

I think it's great at filling in some holes in the Beatle mythology. Brian's talents are very fully explained. His weaknesses are, too. Therefore, for the first time, he comes across as a more complete person.

He was obviously ahead of his time in terms of the music business. His artists loved him and respected him, but they didn't fear him.

It's interesting that after all this time, there's still conflict about his demise--did he or didn't he kill himself. It reminds me a bit of the Michael Hutchence accidental/suicide death.

I like the style of the book--the oral history with additional explanation. It leaves the history to the people who were there.

Even after reading Bob Spitz' encyclopedic, "The Beatles," this collection of BBC interviews by those who knew Brian Epstein best comes across as fresh. There's not much narrative here. Almost everything comes from transcribed quotes off a TV documentary. But the sources are perfect: Paul McCartney, Derek and Alistair Taylor, Sid Bernstein, and assorted chauffers, gofers, lawyers and business people who worked with and knew Brian Epstein as well as that enigmatic gay man of the uptight 50s and early 60s could be known. Way ahead of his time, Epstein is seen as inventing the modern rock star, an astonishing feat for a record store clerk from Liverpool, albeit a well educated, rich one. Epstein screwed up the Beatles' merchandising deals, yes, but don't weep too much over that. They went on to make quite a few quid after all. The odd thing is Epstein never really liked this type of music. Sibelius was his 'desert island' music of choice. Maybe that helped him see his job more clearly. This is an illuminating bio well worth reading if you are even just a casual Beatles historian.

Going into this book I didn't know much about Brian Epstein, but I was interested in the Beatles, and wanted to learn more about them. This book really gave me a behind the scenes look into what truly remarkable things this man did for The Beatles. Once I began to read it, I was absorbed and didn't want to put it down. It was interesting and entertaining, as well. Brian Epstein was a great manager and this book gave an inside look into his life and work.

i have enjoyed this book since it is told from the perspective from the people the knew brian. just hoping for more insight on things he did to make the beatles the beatles. his majic at marketing. also wanted more insight into his [...] life & how that influenced his work.

Lots of useful information gathered here, but it would have been much better presented as a narrative than as a series of quotations. Facts and opinions by the barrelful, but where's the art?

Brian Epstein was such a charismatic yet misunderstood factor in all aspects of the Beatles' careers. What's so great about Geller's book is the way she let's so many different voices tell his story. And the book is made even clearer and more readable by a "cast of characters" listed in the front, which explains who everybody is. Anybody who cares about either the Beatles or just the British pop music scene in the very early 60's will have difficulty putting this book down. The book doesn't flinch when it comes to exploring Epstein's troubled sexuality and the many excesses which contrasted with his gentlemanly bearing and polished manner. The book is based on a fabulous film about Epstein also done by Geller and Wall, and I'm glad they put the book out because the film isn't all that easy to find. But it's okay because the book tells so much more than even the film, and goes so much farther.