Customer Reviews

Woman: The Incredible Life of Yoko Ono

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Many passages were written in an overtly hostile manner and saddled with the same tired cliches one has come to expect when reading about Yoko Ono. If that is not enough, this book is riddled with inaccurate facts from beginning to end...For instance, I'm no astrologer, but it's pretty well-accepted knowledge that like Yoko, those born on February 18 are born under the sign of Aquarius, not "Pices," as the book tells us. And contrary to what the book states, the Dakota apartment building where Ono resides is not on the Upper East side, but located on the Upper West Side. Even more disconcerting though, is the butchering of quotes previously put forth in other publications. For example, the authors write that Ringo Starr (when going to the Dakota shortly following Lennon's death) "muttered 'It was her who started all this'," as to imply....well, frankly, I'm not sure what! Regardless, what Ringo ACTUALLY said in an early 1980's interview when describing how he gently tried to quell Yoko's initial reluctance to meet his fiance during that difficult time was, "Remember, you started all this..." In other words, he was acknowledging that it was John and Yoko -- with their insistance upon being acknowledged as "a cohesive unit" despite protestations from those around them -- set the bar for recognizing importance of this type of togetherness. Basically, if one purchases this book, they are paying for 207 pages of junk.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning anything new about Yoko Ono and her marriage to John Lennon. While it did explore some of Yoko's early years, there wasn't very much detail about her life since the death of Lennon.

I bought this book at Powell's in Portland, Oregon, after hearing about it for several years. What a disappointment. Not only is it horribly written, but it includes sections by several different writers, most of which repeat the same ignorant and negative prejudices spewed against Yoko for years. If you are looking for a well written, objective, intelligent, indepth biography of this intriquing woman, you will not find it here. Sad...Save your money.

I was really enjoying this book until I came to the 'After John' section authored by Mr. Clayson. Until then, I found it to be a very balanced and informative account of Ms. Ono's life, with intelligent critical analysis of her work and her place in cultural history.

Then suddenly (snark) I found myself in the presence of a (snark) "personality", a writer who seemed to believe (snark) that I was as interested in him (snark) and his snarky little prose as I was in her. ("Who is this jerk?" I found myself saying aloud just two paragraphs into Clayson's piece). Ugh. Ugh. One could almost sense the hand of an editor on his shoulder, occasionally injecting a sentence of bare fact into the (snark) narrative.

That said, I'm happy to be proceeding to what appears to be a return to the good form of the earlier chapters, with the final chapter on her art and music, happily not authored by (snark) Mr. Clayson. Ugh.

Overall: I'd recommend it at the price it's selling for here used. Just hold your nose through the third section, and then look for a source that treats Ms. Ono's 'post-John' biography with a little more seriousness.

The editorial above encouraged me to buy this book via the internet because it describes this biography as "riveting" and makes us believe we will learn much about the person, Yoko Ono. The back cover of the book states that "The Lennon Years are covered in detail as are the years following his death, as she brought up the couples' son, Sean by herself." From statements such as these, I was lead to believe that this book would give us a personal, up close view of Ms. Ono. Unfortunately, this was not the case at all.

Most of the book is authored by Clayton who has a somewhat obtuse, annoying writing style. Putting this aside, while we do learn something about Yoko's childhood and there is a sentence here and there giving us insight to her personality (which apparently included a great drive to find a rich sponsor of her work so she could be famous), the majority of this book is really an outline of Ms. Ono's "accomplishments." Hence we are given example after example of her performance art, her efforts toward world peace, her recordings, her concerts, etc.

This emphasis on Yoko's "accomplishments" is great if you are a Yoko Ono fan and can't get enough of her instructional art or her avante garde music (i.e. warbling, screaching). Indeed one of the premises of this book is the authors' belief that Ono is a seminal, signficant artist who was way ahead of her time and has made a major contribution to the world.

However, like most people, I am not a fan of her music or art, and bought this book to understand the person and her relationships with others such as John and Sean. What was her marriage to John really like? Did she marry John because she loved him, or because she loved his money and he could promote her? Were they really two lovebirds as they wanted the world to believe? What was her real relationship with Julian? With her parents?

Yoko's son Sean is barely mentioned at all. Yes, we learn that she gave birth to him and that he grew up to be a musician and released his own CD. The outer cover of the book says she raised him alone after John died. Yet this is not even touched upon inside the book itself. What was the relationship between mother and son? What did she do to raise him other than performing with him in concert and taking him around Liverpool? Every account I read suggests he was raised by servants, as was Ono when she was a child.

Also missing is any detail regarding her "boyfriend" Sam Havdtoy. Yes, he is mentioned in passing. They were together for about 20 years. Did Yoko wait for John's ashes to cool down before she bedded Sam? Did Sam and Yoko live together? How could she spend so much time and energy promoting John's work, claiming she loved him, while having a boyfriend? How did Sam feel about all this? I would love to know more about that relationship.


Perhaps my impression is mistaken. I assumed when I bought this book I would learn about Yoko's personality and her day to day activities with her family. I assumed the reader would get an inside view on Yoko the person and understand her feelings and emotions. However, according to this book, Yoko the person is synonymous with Yoko the performance artist, author and song writer. In sum, there is no human being named Yoko. There is no heart. There is little warmth. Rather, my imipression from this book is that Yoko is a self promoting product. She lives, breathes and exists for her "art."

This is the first accomplished and serious book about one of the greatest artists of the 20th century: Yoko Ono. Villified and misunderstood, Ono now is getting some acknowledgement for her impressive works in music, arts and her political activism. This book is definitely a must.

I love The Beatles. Yoko's story is pretty interesting. The films she has made and how she has been living through John's death. Most Beatle fans don't like Yoko but I do. She may not be the best singer but she's been living for nearly 70 years. Read this book. I think you'll like it.