Customer Reviews

Two of Us: The Passionate Partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Penguin Studio Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book was a major disappointment to me. There was nothing new at all; no new material, no new insight--even the pictures have all been published before.

The author contradicts himself from one page to the other; he also seemed to have problems with the timeframe, covering a happening, then going to something that occurred prior to that happening, basically skipping back & forth.

He quoted other authors and other accounts, old interviews, etc. His quotes seemed rather inexact.

I am truly sorry I bought the book and then wasted time reading it. The author's bias against Paul McCartney was amazingly obvious; sniping away, he took every opportunity to attempt to undercut McCartney's abilities, character and personality.

Instead of a truly insightful account of an amazing partnership, I felt subjected to one person's unjustified attack on Sir Paul McCartney.

Lennon's a genius, McCartney is boring and pretenious, Starr is a no talent hack and Harrison merely a brat... riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

The writing is amatuerish in nature, with an overabundance of exclamation points where none are necessary; a clear bias towards one of his subject matters over the other; and inaccurate information even the most casual Beatle fan would be quick to point out.

Author doesn't stay on the topic implied from the title of the book, that being the relationship between the two men. The subject quickly mushrooms to a boring, shallow book on the Beatles.

Avoid.

The author is plainly prejudiced against Paul and plainly biased in favor of John. He doesn't even attempt to be objective and says such outrageous things as, " Paul was just biding his time" to be in control of the Beatles, etc. He doesn't have a clue and this book is going in the garbage where it belongs.

This is an enjoyable, light treatment of the John-Paul relationship and their music. A lot of old stuff that has been told before, but some interesting perspectives too.

On the plus side, there are some new interviews for most fans, and he's got most of his Beatles stories right. I never did know Cynthia Lennon's and Pete Shotten's point of view, and I haven't read George Martin's book so those quotes--old versions of events for some--were new and enjoyable for me.

In McCartney's autobiograph, Paul WRITES of how he and John losing their mothers at an early age helped form the bond between them. I've read four versions of Peter Fonda and the Byrds and the story behind "He Said, She Said," and I think this version is pretty good. (Lennon and Fonda's versions in Rolling Stone, McCartney in his book and David Crosby's from "If I Could Only Remember My Name").

On the negative side, there isn't enough new material here. It does not appear that he conducted any interviews himself. You get the impression not much research was done (compared to just pulling easily available material). He's got the Beatles in India mostly right, but very incomplete. Newly discovered, enjoyable anecdotes are not to be found (Let's take India: Harrison wrote part of the lyrics for Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man"; Mike Love encouraged Paul to mimic the Beach Boys style in "Back in the USSR" supplying the idea).

If you are not a fan, there isn't enough here for you--his analysis of events is too shallow. If you are a fan, much of this material you already know.

Some of his inaccuracies are troubling. Harrison had FOUR, not three songs on the White album. "Don't Let Me Down" was the second song performed from the Abbey Road rooftop, not "One After 909." How could he get this wrong?

Bottom line: I enjoyed the book, but rather than add it to my Beatles collection, I finished it and gave it away.

I like the idea behind this book - the working relationship of McCartney and Lennon would be interesting if it was done well. The many errors in the book and the author's very obvious hatred of McCartney and adoration of Lennon tend to destroy any attempt at objectivity. An example - page 115 - John & Yoko "made love"; page 126 - Paul & Linda "shack up". Things John said are the truth - thing Paul said are lies or attempts to make himself look good. I also find the author's put-downs of Beatles merchandising pretty funny - he seems to have quite a bit of Beatles merchandise (books) himself. It's a shame. This could have been a good book.

So far I had only read Lennon In America by Geoffrey Giuliano - a book that I absolutely hated. It was therefore that I wasn't expecting a lot from this book, but I must say that at least this one is better in style. An entertaining read.
The focus of the book is the relationship between Lennon & McCartney and how they collaborated on songs in (mainly) the early stages. Later on they didn't write together anymore (well hardly), but because of the rivalry that existed between them, each motivated the other to come up with some of the best songs ever written in this world.
George and Ringo hardly feature in the book, which seems a bit strange as the book deals with the career of Lennon / McCartney and The Beatles in a strictly chronological order and of course George and Ringo played a major role in that. To be fair though, in the author's notes Giuliano already announces that the book mentions the works of George and Ringo only in passing, without the amount of detail that is given to Lennon & McCartney.
The book describes how John and Paul met, started playing music in Julia's bathroom, wrote their first songs together, became The Beatles, how they worked in the studio, how their relationship grew from bad to worse and briefly describes their song writing after the Beatles broke up. All of this interspersed with quotes and bits of (mostly well known) interviews.
Right from the start, it is very clear that the author likes Lennon a lot better than McCartney. Lennon is always the genius, McCartney always has other motives in anything he does and is just waiting for a chance to take control of The Beatles.
Lennon's music is innovative and (often) provocative, while McCartney writes songs that are sugar coated and suitable for old age pensioners....
In summary, an entertainingly written book, but not a must have.

I had high hopes for this book, considering the fertile and overlooked topic of the Lennon/McCartney partnership, but it turned out to be a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, everything about the author's analysis is disappointingly obvious and sometimes just plain mistaken. John and Paul did not bond over the deaths of their mothers; neither were touchy-feely teens and it took both of them years to come to terms with their respective losses. They bonded over rock and roll and later, over their mutual ambition. Their drive to succeed should have been explored here, but wasn't. Linda, Yoko and their substantial influence were mentioned almost passingly. This book is route and superficial. Unless you're new to the Beatles, you already know more than you'll get from this book. Like the author's stance that Lennon was the real talent, the real revolutionary - well, how obvious is that?

You've really got to wonder why it is that publishers keep turning to Geoffrey Giuliano for Beatles books?

Is it the publishers' assumptions that we only want to read about the seedy underbelly of popstars? Is it because dirty stories sell better than honest ones? Does he come cheap?

The shame of it is that people keep buying them - and to those of you who are lead to believe that he's an expert and writing the truth - it's not so. Geoffrey Giuliano clearly does little real research, he goes on basic stories available anywhere (or dredged up from scandal sheets) and turns them into "history."

Geoffrey Giuliano books offer NOTHING to readers wanting to learn about the Beatles (or any of his other targets). He goes straight for the scummy side of his subjects and where finding not enough, elaborates. Look, I have NOTHING against truth, and there is no value to books that ignore the bad side of a celebrity's life. But to simply focus on dirt, rumor and scandal just to sell books...awful.

Geoffrey Giuliano books are to literature as Jerry Springer is to television. Avoid, please...

Pure crap. This "writer" is that type of person that spits into the plate that feeds him. This man is worse than a vampire or a hyena. I don't know how he got published.

Regarding: "Read, Many Years From Now (Barry Miles), at least his book is intelligently researched and uses Paul McCartney as his main source of information." For ought I know "Many Years From Now" may be a perfectly fine book in its way, but anyone of discernment who's read a McCartney interview (or, say, the "McCartney" album press release, in which McCartney explains that he, McCartney, has quit the Beatles) knows that a book that "uses Paul McCartney as [its] main source of information" will be of doubtful veracity. In any case, "The Two of Us" is engagingly written, intelligent, and reasonably fair, I think, to all parties--probably the most readable Beatles book I've yet encountered. It doesn't contain much new information, but let's face it, how much new information is there possibly to be had? (I also like George Martin's "All You Need Is [?] Ears".)