Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by teresatumminello
In Their Lives: Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs by Andrew Blauner
4.0
While reading these personal essays, I was reminded of [b:The Peanuts Papers: Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life|44300078|The Peanuts Papers Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life|Andrew Blauner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568403393l/44300078._SX50_.jpg|68829678], which I thoroughly enjoyed. The most interesting pieces (here, there, and everywhere—sorry) are the accounts that end up speaking to wider sociocultural issues, as the best essays do, or the ones where a change or shift has happened in the writer’s perspective.
The editor states in his introduction that the book is presented chronologically, “according to the date of the song’s release.” That’s not consistently true, especially in the middle of the book, which bothers my obsessive-compulsive sense of proportion. My other quibble is the (very) few factual errors in a few of the authors’ stories, which may have been mistakes not corrected in the editing process, things like which song was a Paul or a John song, plus it's a fact that Ringo had his new last name before he joined the Beatles. But these are minor issues, taking away nothing from the writers’ insights about the songs and their place in our culture.
It was fun to read an essay or two at bedtime and if the book has missed that final star from me, it’s likely because, unlike with the Peanuts essays, I know “too much” about the Beatles. (Maybe I should heed George’s words: All the world is birthday cake/ So take a piece but not too much—and now I’ve mentioned all four of them.) Funnily enough, as I just went to check on my review of the The Peanuts Papers, I see it has the same editor.
The editor states in his introduction that the book is presented chronologically, “according to the date of the song’s release.” That’s not consistently true, especially in the middle of the book, which bothers my obsessive-compulsive sense of proportion. My other quibble is the (very) few factual errors in a few of the authors’ stories, which may have been mistakes not corrected in the editing process, things like which song was a Paul or a John song, plus it's a fact that Ringo had his new last name before he joined the Beatles. But these are minor issues, taking away nothing from the writers’ insights about the songs and their place in our culture.
It was fun to read an essay or two at bedtime and if the book has missed that final star from me, it’s likely because, unlike with the Peanuts essays, I know “too much” about the Beatles. (Maybe I should heed George’s words: All the world is birthday cake/ So take a piece but not too much—and now I’ve mentioned all four of them.) Funnily enough, as I just went to check on my review of the The Peanuts Papers, I see it has the same editor.