The Lennon Companion

While this books is easily worth the cover price to any Madonna fan or pop culture theorist, as it contains dozens of articles and texts that would be otherwise largely inaccessable, the editorial work is horrible. There are several transcription mistakes, which are painfully obvious even on a cursory reading. There are also many mislabled items, most notably pictures. The worst is a series of articles that are from USA Today dated 1996 - that discuss Madonna's "new" video, "Like A Prayer",which premiered seven years earlier. The articles are obviously mislabled, and no one caught on.A recomened book for the content, but not for it's shoddy editorial job.

Being an extrememly dedicated Madonna fan, I am inclined to like almost any book about her. This was no exception. My favorite parts were towards the beginning because there were a lot of interviews, which I love. There were a lot of articles on other people's opinions of her work and although they were enjoyable to read for the most part; some times it would get a little monotonous. There were also some parts where it seemed many articles in a row would be negative, and that was a little annoying to read over and over. But that's what opinions and commentaries are for, right? That's definitely what this book is!

The above speaks for itself

This is an odd collection of commentary on and by Lennon, sometimes boring or missing the point. However, it is interesting to note how some things were received in their day, and the introductory essay from the Boston Phoenix is the most perceptive thing I've ever read about Lennon - apart from Lennon's own massive Playboy and Rolling Stone interviews, which are not included here. Fortunately, we do get the Maureen Cleave article from the 1966 Daily Mail. All in all this collection is somewhat random (as are its chosen illustrations), but interesting.

This constantly engaging volume offers a grab bag of John Lennon "stuff" from the early days through his 1980 murder. For one thing, it destroys the myth that there was no isnightful writing done about John or The Beatles prior to 1968 or so. Articles by Gloria Steinem and Tom Wolfe from 1964 prove both entertaining and prophetic. As well, the book contains some great obscure interviews with John & Yoko; thus John's voice is as well represented as those of others writing about him. This is a must for serious Lennon fans, and a good read for casual ones.