'A thorough,objective telling of McCartney's story - in and out of the most famous band ever.'ESQUIREThe first biography written with McCartney's approval and with access to family members and friends closest to him.In 2013,Sir Paul McCartney granted Philip Norman'tacit approval'as his biographer. The result is a masterly and complex portrait of the most successful songwriter in history.It gives a unique insight into McCartney's childhood,blighted by the loss of his mother when he was fourteen,and into the creative symbiosis and fierce rivalry between John Lennon and himself that powered the Beatles'music. Here,too,for the first time,is the full story of McCartney's triumphant but troubled post-Beatles years: the tragic death of his first wife,Linda,and the chaotic divorce from his second wife,Heather Mills.Paul McCartney is the definitive life of a long-misunderstood genius that superbly evokes half a century of popular music and culture.
Publisher: Orion Publishing CoISBN: 9781780226408Number of pages: 864Weight: 685 gDimensions: 197 x 133 x 53 mm
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Norman is an enviably skilled pen-portraitist,with a consummate abilityto conjure the presence of (McCartney)...A powerful sense ofMcCartney the man comes across in this book's evocative high points...Acapably executed biography,brimming with detailA thorough,objective telling of McCartney's story - in and out of the most famous band ever. But it's also a breezy read,considering the tremendous ground it coversMeticulous character study that adeptly shuns hero worshipWhere (the) book succeeds the most is bringing the reader into McCartney's private life... The most up-to-date account of Paul's lifeto yet appearA compelling narrative about a working-class Liverpudlian whoseextraordinary musical gifts made him the most successful songwriter inhistory... McCartney emerges from (the book) as a textured but decentmanNorman makes meaningful use of his access to members of Macca's Liverpool clan,a colourful crew to whom he's always remained close,as well as many business and musical associates,friends,lovers,collaborators and flunkies...The Beatles story is so amazing in every respect that when it's told as well as this,it's worth reading againAn enormous and sympathetic book ...The story of its subject's life from his childhood in Liverpool throughthe breakup of the Beatles in 1970 has lost none of its ability to charm... One of the best stories the past century has to tellPhilip Norman's considered biography portrays the'cute'Beatle in all his creative complexity and breadthThis biography is a compelling chronicle of the life of an immortal iconThis 800-page opus is crammed with detail...Read it for the detail and humour of the early years,and marvel at the revelationsMeticulous detail...you can even smell the sweat,rat shit and basement mold in the Cavern Club...Even Macca,who,to Norman's surprise,agreed to give him "tacit approval" without directly particpating,apparently had to concede that the guy is a Beatles scholar to reckon with. The Beatles'startlingly brief career is recounted expertly; Norman knows his facts...vivid storytelling...Norman gets as close as anyone has yet.Norman is perhaps the only biographer to provide an exegesis of the one Beatle most everyone gets wrong. This is thrillingly thorough stuff...richness of detail...McCartney is a rounded figure here(Norman) is a good interviewer and the book is charming when he lets his Liverpool sources speak about the days before the Beatles were inevitable...Paul McCartney is full of things that happened to Paul McCartney and through absurd fame and a few tragedies he appears to be an unusually decent man with few regretsWritten with the tacit approval of its subject,Philip Norman's Paul McCartney: The Biography is the most thorough examination to date of the ex-Beatle's life and music,also serving to set the record straight on McCartney's central importance in the group once described as "the 20th century's greatest romance"A colourful and detailed account of Macca's life and musicA very fair and multi-layered biographyWhat's left to reveal about one of the most chronicled musicians of the 20th century As it turns out,a great deal. With the notoriously guarded McCartney's "tacit approval," Norman sheds new light on well-known Beatles stories and then goes further,forging a thoroughly absorbing account of McCartney's life after the group's breakup: business ventures,parenthood,personal tragedy,the struggle to live and create beyond the legacy of his fabled band. The result is a tantalizing trip down the legend's own long and winding road.
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