John

This is Cynthia Lennon's second book about her ex-husband. The first (A Twist of Lennon) was short, pointless, and boring. This one is longer, contains lots of details, but is still boring in parts.

Cynthia describes her youth and love affair with fellow art student John in a monotone voice, with no emotional fervor whatever. Their long separations as John became famous and his growing drug use caused problems, but you don't feel it from her bland writing. It's only when the hated Yoko Ono enters the story that the narrative heats up, and even then it's fairly tepid. Ono is described as a conniving witch who cast a spell over John and made him abandon not only Cynthia, but their young son as well.

There are many candid photos of Cynthia and John but very little about the Beatles, so if you're looking for inside stuff about the Fab Four, keep looking. When Cynthia does write about Paul, George, or Ringo, it's like they weren't all that important to her. We get much more detail about her family and John's family, and the whole Beatles era is described with less passion than one would read in a newspaper account.

I was hoping for more, but the book is written with a oddly uninvolved voice and there are occasional awkward sentences. A better editor or a ghost writer might have brought more life to this story that should have been engrossing, but instead is just okay.

Just one chapter (2/4 people found this helpful)

I agree with a previous reviewer about the name dropping, this isn't word-for-word but an example would be: John and I often ate at (substitute some flash trendy restaurant) and on that particular night as I looked across the room I saw Brian Jones who was to sadly die only months later...etc etc, Its almost as if the editors/publishers asked her to spice it up a bit. A lot of the time when the interesting stuff happened Cynthia was at home at her mothers house. The only good chapter unfortunately is when John Lennon died where she geniunely does have plenty to say about the time and Yoko's treatment of her and Julian beggars belief.

Hmmmmm (3/6 people found this helpful)

Really not sure about this.

Loads of name dropping, some of it feels made up or spun!

Just doesn't feel right.

In places there is a sense of the book having been written simply to make money.

She was married at one time to a very talented person, cashing in on that connection feels a bit creepy. Half way through I felt like throwing the book across the room, not for any other reason than it made me cringe.

John (6/6 people found this helpful)

This is an extremely readable and highly insightful look at John Lennons life from one of the few people who was actually there to witness the highs and lows. Cynthia comes across as someone with integrity and honesty and her stories seem almost painfully true at times. I guess, any story is told with a degree of bias but this doesn't seem excessive and she paints a good picture of the various sides to his character and relationships. You get a clear insight into the early days of the Beatles, his relationship with Cynthia and some idea of the dynamics in his relationship with Yoko. It is so easy to read that you'll fly through it in no time at all and will be gripped throughout. An immensely enjoyable read and highly recommended.

An Excellent Read! (8/8 people found this helpful)

Over the years there have been so many books written about John Lennon, mostly by people who did'nt really know the real person.Once you've read one you've read them all. This is one of the downsides of flogging the dead. I am a big fan of John Lennon and have read much about him and his life. The thing that attracted me to this particular book is that it is written by the one person who for ten years knew Lennon better than anybody. From the first page i was drawn into the book and read it very quickly. I really enjoyed the early chapters when John and Cynthia first met, through to the early beatle days.Cynthia tells us of her memories of john and what he was like as a REAL PERSON, not just a beatle or a musical genius.Cynthia comes across as a very genuine person and a loving mother to Jullian. If you want to find out about the real John Lennon then there is not a better book out there.

Cynthia Lennon

Reader Reviews:

Could have been so much better (0/0 people found this helpful)

Just one chapter (2/4 people found this helpful)

Hmmmmm (3/6 people found this helpful)

John (6/6 people found this helpful)

An Excellent Read! (8/8 people found this helpful)

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