Being John Lennon

By: Ray Connolly

Narrated by: Peter McGovern

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

What was it like to be John Lennon? What was it like to be the cast-off child, the clown at school, and the middle-class suburban boy who pretended to be a working-class hero? How did it feel to have one of the most recognisable singing voices in the world, but to dislike it so much he always wanted to disguise it? How must it have felt, when he saw the melodies of his younger songwriting partner praised so highly and his own songs, in his eyes, undervalued? And what was it like to become trapped inside a four-headed deity knowing that it would become increasingly impossible to keep feeding the desires of its worshippers?    

Being John Lennon is not about the whitewashed Prince of Peace of 'Imagine' legend, because that was only a small part of him. Nor is it about the permanently angry young rebel of the movie Nowhere Boy, or even the ranting Beatles iconoclast of the Rolling Stone interviews. All three of those personae had a degree of truth in them. But the John Lennon depicted in these pages is a much more kaleidoscopic figure, sometimes almost a collision of different characters.  

He was funny, often very funny. But, above everything, he had 'attitude', his impudent, plain speaking somehow personifying the aspirations of his generation to answer back to authority. Before John Lennon, entertainers and heroes to the young had almost invariably been humble, grateful young men who bestowed on their managers the respect they might have given to their bosses or headmasters.    

John Lennon didn't do that. With that amused, slightly insolent lilt to his voice, and a two edged joke never far away, he met everyone - grand, authoritarian, super famous, or none of those things - on a level playing field. Rank and status didn't unnerve him. He could, and would, say the unsayable. Perhaps sometimes he shouldn't, and he would excuse himself later by saying, 'Oh, that was only me mouth talking.'  

Though there were more glamorous rock stars around, even in the Beatles, it was John Lennon's attitude which caught and then defined the moment best.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2018 Ray Connolly (P)2018 Orion Publishing Group

John Lennon & the Beatles

I think I’ve listened to virtually all the books available on audible about the Beatles & it’s members and I think this is probably the best

The Man Exposed

new insights of a complex character. the man who gave the world the Beatles and changed both the world and music forever.

Narrative Keeps Repeating

I great history of a complicated and brilliant man. Sadly, spoiled by the narrative which often repeated itself. This must be a caseOf poor editing.

A very in-depth look at the life of...

A candid insiders view of our John. I could have done without any of 'Chapman'.

Loving John Lennon

And being him, neither is an easy task.
I enjoyed this book cos it made no attempt to hide exactly how human and inhuman he was to those who loved and trusted him.

the best audiobook on Lennon..

Well narrated, couldn't stop listening. But for tea breaks I played it all the way through in one sitting.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Simply delightful account of a complex artist and musician; his quixotic journey through life in England, America, Japan, and Germany. A rollercoaster of a book detailing the ups and downs of an amazing person; an international superstar whose musical legacy will live on for many years.

Good listen

Good informative flowing story helped add new information to what I already knew. 5 star

Hatchet Job

Scurrilous tone throughout, concentrating on the negative character aspects. Not that these should be ignored, just comes over as quite snide from a journalist who was more than happy to scuttle around his subject in the 60s for column headlines, non of which were character assassinations.
The narration has an annoying tendency to halt, very unnecessarily, a lot, mid sentence. Though this could be following....unnecessary punctuation, in the...text.

Nothing new here, but still a decent listen

The story told here sticks very closely to the telling by other authors on the subject. There's nothing new here, but as it's the story of John Lennon it's always a decent listen.