Paul McCartney book review

Many Years From Now Reviewed by: oiiopo, on april 03, 2009

Richness of Content: The content in this book is great, it really captures all the recording sessions that The Beatles had and everything that went on between them. By the end, all the Beatles songs have some backstory to them and makes them much more memorable. Much of the account is by Paul McCartney himself, with the rest of the information filled by Barry Miles, so it feels very much like reading Paul’s own autobiography. The content was almost completely centred around the Beatles, however, the book does not make much reference to his later years as a solo artist or with Wings, which was rather disappointing. In the end, it seems like a history of the Beatles; everything involved with them is there, but not much else is.

Style: The style was very straightforward and very easy to understand. Much of the writing is just retelling of the events and pointing out features. This makes Paul’s writing very distinctive, as he writes as he was being interviewed, while Barry writes from a narrating point of view.

Overall Impression: The great thing about this book is that it shows the Beatles beyond their music, it shows all the backstory behind all the events, the albums, movies and memorabilia, and really gives a personal account as well as the narration. All the songs are given some coverage as with all the events and Barry leaves no stone unturned in this biography. What is not great, however, is that the book shows only the progress of the Beatles, and leaves very little about the rest of Paul’s life. This is just a minor flaw, and the rest is a very personal and well woven biography of Paul McCartney.