This year marks the anniversary not only of what would have been John Lennon's 80th birthday but also the 40th anniversary of his death in New York. Understanding John Lennon takes us back to where it all began. While other writers have only touched on the 'cause' of John's genius, Francis Kenny reveals its roots in the post-war nature of Liverpool, John's family with its complex history, and the pain and hurt John felt during his childhood, revealing how his early life experiences shaped his brilliance as a songwriter and musician. Of all the books on The Beatles, this is the only one by an author who was himself born and raised under the same influences as the band's, in the heart of Liverpool and still lives there. From the maritime nature of the city to its blue-collar background and the Irish heritage of its people, this book provides an insight into post-war Liverpool and John's family life, which gave rise to his brilliant but conflicted nature and traces how this ultimately contributed to the fall of The Beatles. Covering Lennon's life from Liverpool to New York, Kenny writes with sympathetic understanding of the confusion, pain and corrosiveness that can, at times, accompany the demands and expectations of the creative process at its highest level. With new material revealing the real source of inspiration of 'Strawberry Fields', we are provided with a thought-provoking insight into a complex mind and a genius in the making. Whilst most books regurgitate the same stories about John's childhood and his time with The Beatles, this book presents an original insight into the founder of a band that was at the forefront of a social and cultural revolution. It is the only work to reveal the true sources of John's genius which continues to leave an enduring imprint on our everyday life and imagination. Francis Kenny, after spending 20 years in the construction industry in the UK and abroad, was awarded a degree by Liverpool University and went on to obtain MAs in Social Policy, Urban Regeneration and Screenwriting while teaching in special education and the social sciences. With extensive research into The Beatles spanning a lifetime, he published his first novel, Waiting for The Beatles in 2006, including an associated screenplay and television work, followed by The Making of John Lennon in 2014. In Understanding John Lennon, he takes a deeper look into the formative influences in John Lennon's life.

An omnibus edition of two works of John Lennon’s “fascinating…whimsy” (The Sunday Times, London) poetry, prose, and drawings that will “jolt [you] into gusts of laughter” (The Guardian). A humorous compilation of poetry, prose, and artwork from two of John Lennon’s classic works, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. Known as the Beatles’s Renaissance man, Lennon is widely regarded as one of the most impactful musicians in history. Originally published in 1964, this “quirky, funny collection of stories, poems, and drawings” (The New York Times) is a must-have for John Lennon and Beatles fans everywhere.

Profiles John Lennon from his childhood to his death, reveals the offstage Lennon and the violence that shaped his tortured life, discusses Lennon's hidden existence with Yoko, and assesses his impact as a cultural hero

John Lennon was a rock star, a school clown, a writer, a wit, an iconoclast, a sometime peace activist and finally an eccentric millionaire. He was also a Beatle - his plain-speaking and impudent rejection of authority catching, and eloquently articulating, the group's moment in history. Chronicling a famously troubled life, Being John Lennon analyses the contradictions in the singer-songwriter's creative and destructive personality. Drawing on many interviews and conversations with Lennon, his first wife Cynthia and second Yoko Ono, as well as his girlfriend May Pang and song-writing partner Paul McCartney, Ray Connolly unsparingly reassesses the chameleon nature of the perpetually dissatisfied star who just couldn't stop reinventing himself.

Lennon's greatest words of advice, inspiration, aspiration and perspiration - from early Beatles fame to the day he died.

In his commanding new book, the eminent NPR critic Tim Riley takes us on the remarkable journey that brought a Liverpool art student from a disastrous childhood to the highest realms of fame. Riley portrays Lennon's rise from Hamburg's red light district to Britain's Royal Variety Show; from the charmed naivetéf "Love Me Do" to the soaring ambivalence of "Don't Let Me Down"; from his shotgun marriage to Cynthia Powell in 1962 to his epic media romance with Yoko Ono. Written with the critical insight and stylistic mastery readers have come to expect from Riley, this richly textured narrative draws on numerous new and exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends, enemies, confidantes, and associates; lost memoirs written by relatives and friends; as well as previously undiscovered City of Liverpool records. Riley explores Lennon in all of his contradictions: the British art student who universalized an American style, the anarchic rock 'n' roller with the moral spine, the anti-jazz snob who posed naked with his avant-garde lover, and the misogynist who became a househusband. What emerges is the enormous, seductive, and confounding personality that made Lennon a cultural touchstone. In Lennon, Riley casts Lennon as a modernist hero in a sweeping epic, dramatizing rock history anew as Lennon himself might have experienced it.

John Lennon . . . as much a part of our world today as he ever was He touched many lives in his brief forty years, and continues to move and inspire millions more to this day. Now, invited by Yoko Ono, friends, family, and fans from all walks of life—including some of the great artists of our day—reminisce about Lennon as a visionary and friend, musician and performer, husband and father, activist and jokester. In their own words and drawings, poems and photos, Lennon's life from his childhood through the Beatles years to the happiness and tragedy of his final days become stunningly vivid. Intimate glimpses gathered from musicians who knew John, such as Pete Townshend, Sir Elton John, Billy Preston, and Joan Baez; friends and relatives such as producer David Geffen, publicist Elliot Mintz, and cousin Mike Cadwallader; and artists who followed him such as Bono, Alicia Keys, Steve Earle, Jello Biafra, and Carlos Santana. And, for the first time, renowned photographer Annie Liebovitz presents every frame of the historic last session with John and Yoko. Memories of John Lennon is a rich and deeply felt appreciation of a truly great man.