Customer Reviews

The Private John Lennon: The Untold Story from His Sister

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This book really tells more about Julia, not the writer and sister, but John's much-maligned mother. Apparently, although John always felt abandoned by his mother and the feeling did much to destroy his life (despite his professional success), the real story is quite different. Readers of first-wife Cynthia's 2nd book already know that "Auntie Mimi" was hardly the paragon of stability she has been portrayed, and she appears to have done John tremendous damage in the name of helping him. Baird makes a pretty convincing case that her mother was truly devoted to all her children, and that they were all caught up in the feuding of the Stanley clan, as dysfunctional a pack as you'll ever see outside of a Tennessee Williams play.
In addition, Baird provides a few anecdotes demonstrating that John's relationship with Cynthia was more than just a shotgun wedding: he was quite keen on her at one point, even if he got tired of her later. As for Yoko Ono, Baird acknowledges that her brother had the right to make his own choices, but it's clear that Ono did nothing to heal this already-damaged extended family and was malicious way beyond any standard second-wife/stepmother rivalry.

This book is Julia (John's sister) pouring her heart out. Its more about her childhood, growing up and the crazy-dysfunctional Stanley clan than anything, but definitely worth the read!

There are plenty of happy childhood memories at start! Their loving mother Julia, time spent with John, warm memories of Cynthia and... plenty of heartbreaking drama. Waaaaay too much drama for one person to have at such a young age: her mother's death, nobody telling them of it for weeks, her & her sister getting removed from their father by court order & being sent to an auntie who clearly didn't want them, then death of her father some years later... it just goes on and on

No Beatles book is complete w/out at least a few pages of Yoko Ono of course. And once again, Yoko manages to come thru in just 2 pages as teh most heartless woman on the planet.

So much of what has been said about John Lennon's childhood is patently false. It's been said that John was raised by an aunt after his mom died. FALSE. He was 17 when his mother was killed and he'd been living with his aunt for years. It's been written that his mom didn't want to or was unable to care for him. FALSE. She was a loving mother who desperately wanted to keep him, but she was forced by disapproving parents and controlling sisters into giving John to her sister Mimi, as well as give up an illegitimate infant daughter for adoption. John's father, Alfred "Alfie" Lennon's job kept him away for months - even years - at a time. Julia's unwillingness to stay in a lonely marriage resulted in affairs which were particularly shocking during the 1940s-50s. She eventually set up house with her partner, Bobby Dykins, and gave birth to their two daughters Julia and Jackie. When John discovered that his mother and family were living nearby, he began to visit frequently. It was during these visits that John's mother taught him how to play the banjo, spurring his interest in music.

Just as John was reconnecting with his mother, she was tragically killed by a speeding motorist as she crossed the street. Her daughters' grieving father was unable to care for his children. As a result, the girls were shuffled between their mother's family members who refused to recognize them as true family since they were born out of wedlock, despite the fact that their mother had been with the girls' father for years. They were not told of their mother's death for weeks, and when they were finally told they were forced to mourn privately. The girls were treated as a problem that had to be dealt with, rather than being loved as grieving children whose life had been turned upside down.

There is so much more to say about this book, including Yoko's treatment of John's sisters, but this review is already so long. If you are a Lennon fan, you'll enjoy getting one more piece to the puzzle of his life. Some of the book drags, but mostly the tale helps lay the foundation of how John became a troubled and ultimately tragic icon.

I read this book after reading what Cynthia wrote in her book John and realized hwo much alike the stories were..because they were based on the truth. I gage when I see interview of Aunt Mimi talking about how SHE gave John his first guitar.
It was very well written and told the story of a family that never had the chance to bond together because of the untimely death of their mum. It is so sad the same thing happened to John. if he had lived I am sure Yoko would soon have lost her hold on the man and perhaps he would ahve made things right with his family. Mothe and son both gone before that had the chance....

John's half sister has shown how dysfunctional the Stanley clan was. No wonder John needed a strong "mother" figure that he obviously found in Yoko. She was also dysfunctional, a starving artist, who found fame and money by latching on to John, destroying his marriage and any contact with his son Julian and family members. For all of us who hated Yoko when we first heard her name, this book will make you despise her even more. Cynthia is the most gracious woman of the whole story. Too bad he didn't stay with Cyn, he may be alive today!

the book arrived before i expected! it is awesome and despite that I knew some stuff about John Lennon's life, this book gave me more info.

I really enjoyed it,is well written,and is worthwile to buy it

A sterling example of the contemporary kind of memoir that would be compelling with or without a link to the famous. In brisk, attention-holding style that I couldn't put down, Julia Baird brings to life her lovable semi-outcast parents and their often dysfunctional extended family, crafting a priceless portrait of postwar British life--that also just happened to be incubating a genius. While the elder Julia, life-loving, artistic, and nurturing mother of John, Julia (the author), and Jackie, is alive, her sisters patronize and shame her out of custody of two of her children. When she dies, they take charge of the little girls while excluding them from real family membership. The traumatic pattern of John's childhood was thus repeated in Julia Baird's adolescence. However, she is able to find compassion for her cold and uncommunicative guardians, understand John's own excesses, and create a warm and healthy family of her own. Without sensationalizing it, she gives a convincing counternarrative to the standard summary about Julia Lennon/Dykins's children, showing that that crushing line "mother...I wanted you/you didn't want me" was emotionally but not factually accurate. There are plenty of documents struggling to show 'the private John Lennon'--worthwhile ones include Larry Kane's Lennon Revealed: Exclusive new interviews with Yoko Ono and more than 100 friend and the Imagine (Deluxe Edition) documentary. I'm glad that this book simply tells Julia Baird's own powerful story and the story of her whole family, with her brother a major part--as one's siblings should be--but not the sole focus.

This is a very interesting book and brought a description to the side of Lennon that we have not seen or heard of before. I enjoyed reading this book which made me feel that I know John more now.

This was a book that was slightly interesting, but if you've read alot about John Lennon, no surprises here. I've seen all the photos in the book, plus his sister had little insight on his life once he left home. I already knew many of the quotes and tidbits during Beatlemania.
His sister appears to be very kind and cared about her brother, and details Johns' relatives. Other than that, not much else.

Seems that John and Yoko both came from extremely dysfunctional families. No wonder they attracted each other. What is disheartening to me is that John couldn't give his Stanley relatives a simple house. He bought the house through Apple and never gave them the deed. And after John died, Yoko Ono was so selfish that she couldn't give them this house; especially after Yoko learned from many people John's wishes to give the house as a gift. For supposedly being a smart and ahead-of-the-times person, John Lennon was an emotionally damaged idiot. But, one learns from the others around him/her. He's just a reflection of his early environment. But if he could waste all that money in the pie-in-the-sky Apple Corp. in the early days, the cost of buying a simple house for his Uncle/Cousins to give them security is peanuts in comparison. Anyway, IMO, people shouldn't really marvel about any musician/artist talent. It's just a musical/artistic gift from God to the world through them. Spiritual, Holy "Saint's" should be given more respect by the World and tried to be emulated and NOT musicians or artists or actors. Also, The Beatle's music had a lot of help, especially from George Martin and the reocording engineers. As a kid, I likewise idolized The Beatles. It's natural at a young age. But now that I've grown, I just feel more sorry for Yoko/Lennon. We all have a big hole in our hearts to fill; presently, I truly know that only God can fill it. Seems that John was always searching for the "answer" in every other place. On the positive side, John was improving in later years and seemd to "have found out" the importance of family and relationships. Mouthing off is easy; living responsibly is difficult and challenging.