Product Description

Award-winning biographer Elizabeth Partridge dives into Lennon’s life from the night he was born in 1940 during a World War II air raid on Liverpool, deftly taking us through his turbulent childhood and his rebellious rock’n’roll teens to his celebrated life writing, recording, and performing music with the Beatles. She sheds light on the years after the Beatles, with Yoko Ono, as he struggled to make sense of his own artistic life—one that had turned from youthful angst to suffocating fame in almost a split second.

Partridge chronicles the emotional highs and paralyzing lows Lennon transformed into brilliant, evocative songs. With striking black-andwhite photographs spanning his entire life, John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth is the unforgettable story of one of rock’s biggest legends.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81511 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–Partridge cuts through the mythology and misinformation surrounding the life of the legendary singer/songwriter and goes a long way toward revealing the complexities of his personality. She relies heavily on Lennon's own writings and the wealth of interviews he granted during his lifetime. What emerges is an unflinchingly honest portrait of a troubled, angry, and highly creative individual who was captivated by rock 'n' roll and often used it as a means of expressing his unhappiness and confusion. Partridge skillfully captures the amazing speed at which the Beatles were swept into astonishing popularity that led to an unrelenting schedule of touring, songwriting, and recording that slowed down only when touring became both too grueling and too dangerous. She doesn't shy away from the sordid details of the band's mercurial rise to fame and fortune but her nonjudgmental commentary focuses first and foremost on the music. Lennon's life after the dissolution of the Beatles is explored in depth, as are Yoko Ono's influence and the worldwide impact of his death. With an abundance of gorgeous black-and-white photos, some of them full-page or even spreads, this handsome book will be eagerly received by both Beatles fans, who are legion, and their elders, who will enjoy reliving the glory days of the Fab Four and exploring the inner workings of a creative talent.–Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 9-12. John Lennon's Aunt Mimi disapproved of his guitar hobby because "you could never make a living at it." Such anecdotes surface with delightful regularity in Partridge's biography of the influential mid-twentieth-century musician. As in This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie (2003), her mission is to uncover the person behind the image. Partridge's unflinching reports on the outlet from public attention that Lennon sought in a debauched lifestyle, in which "booze, pills, and joints were consumed in astonishing amounts," may cause some readers to think that the sensational aspects of Lennon's life have been overemphasized. But many YAs will find the nonjudgmental tone refreshing, and those drawn by the rock-music theme will admire Partridge's sensitive analysis of the Beatles' creative output. Dynamic design distinguishes the book inside and out, from the eye-catching size and shape that cleverly mimics an old vinyl album cover to the abundant archival photos within. A discography and an immense bibliography set readers on the right paths. Despite source notes limited to quotes, this has the markings of a YA biography staple--as hard-hitting as Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop (2004), and equally compelling in its perspective on the Swinging Sixties. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

The Horn Book Magazine, starred review
Young adult readers will be riveted, and Partridge is fair and open with the facts... book design is drop-dead gorgeous...

Customer Reviews

John and tyhe Beatles
John and the Beatles
This book is very good I did not want stop reading it, it was easy for me to concentrate on this book because I am a John Lennon fan and that's what this books about. In this book I learned that John had a wife before Yoko and that John was the first one to quit the Beatles. The style of writing in this book was superb, it's like Elizabeth Parker knew everything John thought his whole life. My mind did not wonder once while I was reading this it was the best book I have ever read. I would defiantly read another book by this author. I highly recommend this book to any John Lennon, Beatles, or music fan.

A Good Look at an Icon
John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth is a spectacular look at the rock legend's life in photographs. Many of these photos are ones we've seen previously, but some are first time published. These haunting pictures are all shown in black and white, much as Lennon wanted his life to be lived. Accompanying the photos is a truthful account of the facts of his life, told in accessible, vivid language. Overall, the book does not tell the rabid Beatles' fan anything new, but it is well done nonetheless, and a terrific introduction to the legend for those unfamiliar with Lennon.

One word of warning: Partridge often quotes Lennon and others precisely, which means that harsh language is used infrequently. She also depicts most all of the major facets of Lennon's life: drug use, extramarital affairs, violent temper. As the name of the book implies, anything less would be unthinkable when writing about a man so staunch in his search for the truth. Nothing is inappropriate, but it is graphic at times. I wouldn't have it any other way. Recommended.

A Bit Too "Truthful"
The book is nicely written, coherent, well organized, has some nice pictures, etc. The book is a pleasant children's biography of John from his birth and childhood until his death. I would have liked to give it 5 stars. However, here's the down side:

In my opinion, this is written in the style of a children's book with simple sentences and a limited vocabulary. I would estimate that the writing style is suitable for a child between the ages of, let's say, 9 and 12. The cover does not warn a purchaser that this book really is in a style written for children.

The problem, however, is the book seems bent more than most on exposing John's warts. For some reason, the author chooses to spend too much time on John's hot temper, violence, abusiveness towards women, adultery, cutting remarks, alcohol abuse, drug use, shoplifting, etc. I believe many people reading this book would not find John very likeable and would wonder why he is so famous and why the author wrote this book supposedly to honor him. Plus, more importantly, some of the weaknesses touched upon such as John's shoplifting, heavy use of drugs and adultery are, in my opinion, sensitive, adult oriented subjects. Thus the book presents a dilemma: while the writing style is geared towards children and young teenagers, the subject matter itself is more adult oriented and may not be appropriate for a 10 or 12 year old to read. A child may read this book and think to himself, "Gee, if John shoplifted, did drugs and abused alcohol and is considered a rock icon, maybe I should do the same."

Finally, like a number of books released in the past couple of years about Lennon, this one spends an undue amount of time on Yoko Ono, who presumably had to give permission to use some of the material needed to write this book. The book depicts her as a "genius" artist. More pages are spent discussing Yoko, her childhood, her life before John and her "talents" than are spent on Ringo or George and perhaps even Paul. Like the book Memories of John, this book may appeal to you if you are a Yoko fan. However, if you are not, you may wish to either borrow this book from a library or wait for it to go on sale.

I borrowed mine from a library and finished it in about one day.