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JOHN
LENNON
THE LIFE
PHILIP NORMAN
To Jessica
Table of Contents
4 SHORTSIGHTED JOHN WIMPLE LENNON
PART II TO THE TOPPERMOST OF THE POPPERMOST
PART III A GENIUS OF THE LOWER CRUST
14 LEATHER TONSILS IN A THROAT OF STEEL
20 MAGIC, MEDITATION AND MISERY
ALSO BY PHILIP NORMAN
FICTION
Slip on a Fat LadyPlumridgeWild ThingThe Skaters’ WaltzWords of LoveEveryone’s Gone to the Moon
BIOGRAPHY AND JOURNALISM
The StonesThe Road Goes On ForeverTilt the Hourglass and Begin AgainYour Walrus Hurt the One You LoveAwful MomentsPieces of HateThe Age of ParodyThe Life and Good Times of the Rolling StonesElton JohnDays in the Life: John Lennon RememberedShout!: The Beatles in Their GenerationRave On: The Biography of Buddy Holly
PLAYS
The Man That Got AwayWords of Love
I was never really wanted.
John Lennon was born with a gift for music and comedy that would carry him further from his roots than he ever dreamed possible. As a young man, he was lured away from the British Isles by the seemingly boundless glamour and opportunity to be found across the Atlantic. He achieved that rare feat for a British performer of taking American music to the Americans and playing it as convincingly as any homegrown practitioner, or even more so. For several years, his group toured the country, delighting audiences in city after city with their garish suits, funny hair and contagiously happy grins.
This, of course, was not Beatle John Lennon but his namesake