Product Description

Back in print for the first time in nearly thirty years, here is Yoko Ono's whimsical, delightful, subversive, startling book of instructions for art and for life.

"Burn this book after you've read it." -- Yoko

"A dream you dream alone may be a dream, but a dream two people dream together is a reality."

"This is the greatest book I've ever burned."-- John ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

I <3 Yoko--Even More Now!
Inspiring and thoughtful, this little book of instructions already has me thinking of exercises I can to to get my creativity going again. I'm only sorry I waited two years after putting this on my wish list to purchase it. I started following Yoko's Twitter feed, and she's pretty much doing the same thing there.

If you love Fluxus, Dada, and Surrealism, you will love this book. Imaginative little gems range from the Imppossible ("Drill a hole in the sky...") to the Possible ("Draw a map to get lost.") to the Inspirational ("Listen to the sound of the earth turning."). All her words are aimed toward touching the creativity of the thinking person and igniting the imagination.

If you don't get this book, you should read a bit about the Fluxus movement, Surrealism, and Dada before attempting it again. You do have to have a bit of background knowledge about art to understand why this is art and why it is important. If art doesn't make you think or feel, then it is not doing its job. (Even if it makes you angry that its called art--then it has succeeded in being art.)

As others here have mentioned, Ms. Ono was a very well off and respected artist long before her association with John Lennon. Admittedly, I didn't really understand her work until I attended her retrospective at the SFMOMA a few years ago and was completely inspired. Her work has a way of opening the mind unlike any other artist. It is important when engaging with her art to not be mentally closed off. Not always easy! But you can do it!

As a long time Beatles fan, I did originally hold some reservations about Ms. Ono, but the more I engaged with her work and learned about her, the more I have come to love and admire her. After all, how could I respect and admire John Lennon so much and not appreciate the person he loved so dearly and inspired his most beautiful work?

Raving Over Grapefruit
This is more than a wonderful book - it is truly a cherished treasure. No one views the world quite like Yoko and no one ever will. She will bring a breath of fresh air to your mind and spirit by asking you to go to the top of a hill, open a bag and pour all the light you can into it. Happiness is connecting with Yoko and shining like a 1000 suns. Grab this while you can before it becomes too scare to find. You won't regret it!

many different ways to improve one's life in simple and easy to follow instructions
A lot of people focus on the artist over the work of the artist.

In this case, I think the work of the artist can teach us a lot about the nature of the artist herself.

This book of instructions and drawings is playful and useful for perceiving life outside of the everydayness that we find ourselves sometimes stuck in.

If people are so interested in Yoko Ono and critiquing her as a person, what better a window to do so than through one's artwork.

Sublime
What can be said? On the surface, it's obviously the most pretentious twaddle ever hard-bound--- the constant little descriptions of strangely mute actions that she calls "pieces", each just a couplet long or so, can grate. Why not actually write a real piece of music, or make a painting, you might begin to ask. Well, look closer. Really close. And listen, too. Hear that rustling? That's wit, dry and crisp as bamboo matting under your bare feet. As she guides you through the tiny, many mansions of this curious paper house, familiar incense wafts, a subtle, fragrant empathy for humanity: we who are so frail, so ephemeral, so filled with dreams that long to burst forth like a cache of fireworks. No wonder John loved her.

(I freely admit that, as a fan of her music, I am somewhat biased. I was also lucky enough to experience an entire museum full of her films, sculpture, and other art, in Houston, in 2001.)

Wacky, funny and something for everyone
Grapefruit has something for everyone, even if you are dead straight.It's nuts and philosophical at the same time .. can take your mind far.Love it. ... Read more

Product Description
This riveting exposé of Yoko Ono covers her early life growing up as the eldest daughter of a wealthy Japanese family and her personal experience as a result of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of the World War II. Detailed are her move to New York for schooling during the 1950s, her first marriage to a composer, and her early days as an experimental artist in London during the early 1960s. New light is shed on her initial meeting with John Lennon and their 13-year relationship, and the rebuilding of her life after his tragic murder. Her life as artist, musician, businesswoman, and mother are explored from her youth to the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Great book about the greatest artist of our time.
Yoko Ono is, without a doubt, the greatest artist of any genre of all time. It is rare enough that a book is devoted to this musical legend, let alone one that is of the quality of this. Previously, books about Yoko Ono were either extraordinarily hostile, or squeezed between page, after page of information about John Lennon. This unique book, however is off the beaten path. It is written in a refreshingly favorable manner towards Yoko Ono. It is loving. We get the most complete information about Yoko Ono from the very early days of her life, until the current times. The book provides ample information which is not available elsewhere about her troubled childhood until her marriage with John Lennon, and after that, and of course, her legacy on popular music. Overall, "Woman: The Incredible Life Of Yoko Ono" is well worth the cover price, and more. You will not be able to find a more complete source of information about this wonderful and historic woman. It is an absolutely essential edition to any Yoko Ono fan's library. I hope this was of help, and that it inspires you to purchase this magnificent book.

Boring
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning anything new about Yoko Ono and her marriage to John Lennon.While it did explore some of Yoko's early years, there wasn't very much detail about her life since the death of Lennon.

A mixed bag (one bad apple)
I was really enjoying this book until I came to the 'After John' section authored by Mr. Clayson. Until then, I found it to be a very balanced and informative account of Ms. Ono's life, with intelligent critical analysis of her work and her place in cultural history.

Then suddenly (snark) I found myself in the presence of a (snark) "personality", a writer who seemed to believe (snark) that I was as interested in him (snark) and his snarky little proseas I was in her. ("Who is this jerk?" I found myself saying aloud just two paragraphs into Clayson's piece).Ugh.Ugh. One could almost sense the hand of an editor on his shoulder, occasionally injecting a sentence of bare fact into the (snark) narrative.

That said, I'm happy to be proceeding to what appears to be a return to the good form of the earlier chapters, with the final chapter on her art and music, happily not authored by (snark) Mr. Clayson.Ugh.

Overall: I'd recommend it at the price it's selling for here used. Just hold your nose through the third section, and then look for a source that treats Ms. Ono's 'post-John' biography with a little more seriousness.

Please, don't waste your money!
Many passages were written in an overtly hostile manner and saddled with the same tired cliches one has come to expect when reading about Yoko Ono. If that is not enough, this book is riddled with inaccurate facts from beginning to end...For instance, I'm no astrologer, but it's pretty well-accepted knowledge that like Yoko, those born on February 18 are born under the sign of Aquarius, not "Pices," as the book tells us. And contrary to what the book states, the Dakota apartment building where Ono resides is not on the Upper East side, but located on the Upper West Side. Even more disconcerting though, is the butchering of quotes previously put forth in other publications.For example, the authors write that Ringo Starr (when going to the Dakota shortly following Lennon's death) "muttered 'It was her who started all this'," as to imply....well, frankly, I'm not sure what! Regardless, what Ringo ACTUALLY said in an early 1980's interview when describing how he gently tried to quell Yoko's initial reluctance to meet his fiance during that difficult time was, "Remember, you started all this..."In other words, he was acknowledging that it was John and Yoko -- with their insistance upon being acknowledged as "a cohesive unit" despite protestations from those around them -- set the bar for recognizing importance of this type of togetherness.Basically, if one purchases this book, they are paying for 207 pages of junk.

A great biography for a remarkable woman
This is the first accomplished and serious book about one of the greatest artists of the 20th century: Yoko Ono. Villified and misunderstood, Ono now is getting some acknowledgement for her impressive works in music, arts and her political activism. This book is definitely a must. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Instruction: Don't buy
Yoko Ono is well known as an avant garde and conceptual artist who enjoys pushing boundaries. This book is an insult. The conceptual art it contains is from her 1962 showing of 22 "paintings" at Sogetsu Gallery.

In the forward Ono writes about her deep disappointment over the reception her patron/viewer as artist received. These so called conceptual paintings are something a child could have done better creating. This is definitely not Ono at her best.

Her works lack the conceptual (viewer as artist) depth of some of her later works. Compared to many others in the Fluxus movement (Joseph Beuys, Mel Bochner, and others), they don't compare well either in depth of concept or in the idea.

Save your money--I'd say save your time, but you can race through the 22 paintings in minutes as they don't really provide you with anything to focus your artistic efforts on that are worthwhile. Buy some of her later books. Her art has matured and the depth lacking in this book is not present in Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings by Yoko Ono or her latest Yoko Ono: Touch Me.

Beautiful, fabulous, mysterious, and poignant.
This is one of the most inspiring and special books I have ever owned.Yoko Ono is my absolute idol!This book is like a collection of personal and secret poems......to be deciphered under your own terms... ... Read more

Product Description
In this volume, Hans Ulrich Obrist elicits from New York art veteran Yoko Ono a portrait of her life and career that is unprecedented in detail. Across five interview sessions, Obrist quizzes Ono about her earliest works in visual art and music in Japan, her musical development in New York, her friendship with John Cage, her Fluxus days, the founding of the new state of Nutopia with John Lennon and her ongoing campaigns for world peace and human rights. Ono also recounts here the genesis of her installations and performances, so many of which have since become classics of their genre. Throughout these discussions with Obrist, in which architects and artists such as Rem Koolhaas and Gustav Metzger also participate, this icon of twentieth-century culture shows herself to be a generous and smart personality, and a multifaceted artist of enormous influence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Interviews!
This great collection of interviews with Yoko Ono over the course of some years help to reveal her ideas and process as an artist. I'd love to see more publications like this about her. As this book brings to light, she is a poetic, political, and playful creator who deserves closer study and understanding. -Jason Whiton (filmmaker/"The Sun is Down" w/ soundtrack by Whiton/Ono/Plastic Ono Band, creator/"Spy Vibe", author/"Mort Walker Conversations"). ... Read more

Product Description
The murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980, sent shockwaves around the world. The most acclaimed singer/songwriter of his generation, first a Beatle and then a boundary-pushing solo artist, was senselessly silenced forever at age forty; immediately, his final musical statement, an intimate, pop-infused collection called Double Fantasy, released only weeks before his death, skyrocketed to #1 worldwide, as did its poignantly titled single, "(Just Like) Starting Over."

His first studio recording since 1975’s Rock ’n’ Roll—and his first musical endeavor of any kind since taking a much-needed hiatus to raise Sean, his son with Yoko Ono—Double Fantasy represents more than a comeback album to Lennon fans and music critics alike. It captures a cultural icon at the pinnacle of his creative success and personal fulfillment; thirty years later it remains a musical touchstone and an affecting reminder of what could have been.

Starting Over is an oral history of the making of Double Fantasy and the definitive account of John Lennon’s last days. From early demos to sessions at New York City’s The Hit Factory, from the electrifying chemistry of the studio band to keeping the project under wraps to the album’s release and critical reception, here is fascinating, insightful commentary from all of the key players involved in its extraordinary creation: Yoko Ono, David Geffen, producer Jack Douglas, engineers, arrangers, session musicians, music journalists, and even Lennon himself via archival interviews.

Featuring never-before-seen photos of John and Yoko in the studio, candid images taken by David M. Spindel and Roger Farrington, Starting Over is the essential portrait for anyone who hears both a beginning and ending in the tracks of Double Fantasy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

This book on Double Fantasy hits a home run!!
As a huge fan, 1980 has always been my favorite Lennon year. He was so happy and the excitement of hearing new Lennon songs for the first time in 6 years, since 1974's Walls and Bridges album made my anticipation reach a fever pitch in late 1980. I still remember all the details of the event like it was yesterday. Having been a very intense Beatle fan for the last 35 years, I have long ago stopped buying most Beatle books because they don't offer much in the way of new information anymore. The Double Fantasy sessions however, was something that never got covered in great detail, until now.

Many people have been interviewed for the first time including muscians such as George Small and several engineers involved in the project. Just about every person from the media to fans such as Paul Goresh who spent many days outside the Dakota greeting John as he came and went to the studio are included here. Photographers also include their recollections and rare images of John and Yoko taken during the summer and fall of 1980 are included. The only thing not covered was details of John's trip to Bermuda where he prepared the demos for the songs that became Double Fantasy and the later unfinished Milk and Honey tracks. Fred Seaman(Lennons former personal assistant)legal troubles with Yoko Ono might have something to do with that.

The book is a relatively quick read and I enjoyed it so much, I plan on reading it again as soon as possible. That is something, I rarely ever do. Great book and VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

On a side note, I tried to meet John Lennon during the recording of this album on my 17th birthday on sunday August 17, 1980. I took a bus to NYC and spent the afternoon sitting outside the Dakota building. I did get to meet or see just about every celebrity that lived in the building including Yoko but not John. From arranger Tony Davilio's journal included in the book it appeared to be an off day from recording.

Double Fantasy for Lennon fans
John Lennon was one of the most-chronicled artists in recent history, however his final "house-husband" years were always a bit of a mystery."Starting Over" gives us an in-depth look at his final days as a musician, in which a deeply troubled and complicated man finally had found peace as a family man.Through a series of talking heads with just about everyone who experienced his last recording sessions - from wife Yoko Ono to producers and studio musicians - Sharp is able to paint a portrait of the making of a classic album in which Lennon finally achieves the satisfaction that had alluded him for years.The tragic ending to the story makes it even more bittersweet.We'll never know all the music which Lennon may have gone on to make had a mad man not ambushed him on the New York streets one 1980 day, but at least with "Starting Over" we can at least find comfort in the fact that the man had reached serenity in his life.

A great story, told right!
Finally, a book that tells the story not through hearsay, but through the words of the people who were in the studio during the recording of this fabulous work. Through these people we hear about the John Lennon that we admire; hard working, witty, and healthy. It's a fabulous book, read it. You won't be disappointed.

Wishing for something more substantial
I have to agree with the previous poster, I too found the title of this book to be a bit misleading. I was hoping for some actual details to the recording and mixing sessions. Instead, we are presented with a book consisting of blurbs from the session musicians, engineers, Jack Douglas, et cetera...most of which can be found elsewhere to a resourceful Lennon fan (the same can be said of the photos). I understand that the sessions were very brief, and sadly, thirty years later there's really nothing much more than memories left from that period. Notably absent are any comments from, or even a mention of Fred Seamen, who was Lennon's assistant at the time. Yes, he has been shunned by Yoko, which is unfortunate because he could have provided a wealth of information, much more than the session musicians that only worked with John and Yoko for a few weeks. Jack Douglas no doubt could have brought forth a lot of technical information, but itwould hardly fit in with the context of light pleasantries and recollections that this book is built upon.

Essential reading for Lennon fans
With books about the Beatles and John Lennon, it's rare to find one that tells the story from all original sources.Ken Sharp accomplishes this and much more, making you feel as if you're there, as Lennon and the band are about to lay down these final historic tracks.Kudos to Sharp for tracking down seemingly everyone involved in the sessions, from Yoko Ono, producer Jack Douglas to the entire session band.Lots of rare photos including the last photo taken of John and Yoko together - late afternoon December 8, 1980, as well as a photo of the last autograph John ever gave."Starting Over, The Making Of Double Fantasy" is a compelling and poignant tale of a legend's last musical legacy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

GREAT INTERVIEW
I had read this book years ago and like so many other things, you lend it out and never get it back.sigh.I was happy to find this online and ordered it straight away.It was ordered at the same time as my Amazon stuff (through a reseller) and it beat my Amazon order by a good 3 days!lol

This is a fantastic inverview.I only wish an audio were available.Maybe someday.

My Favorite book!
I love John lennon so i started reading biographys on him and interviews, etc to learn more about him. When I read "The Playboy Interviews With John Lennon and Yoko Ono" I HONESTLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I couldn't believe it; i started reading it in the afternoon and didn't put it down until late at night where i finished it! It is a wonderful, wonderful book with John's sense of humor and yoko's too and their insight into the world. It really is my favorite book because it is close to a John Lennon autobiography as the world will ever know. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

A Good Book About John and Yoko!!!!!!!!
I think that this book was very good.It took the reader in to the private lives of both John and Yoko.It gives us an inside look on what their own private lives were really like.That being when John was with The Beatles and his life afterwards and up to the end of his life.I recommend reading this book.It takes you into John's thoughts about life!!

essential insights
This is the definitive book regarding John Lennon. He reviews almost every song he wrote with or without Paul McCartney, which alone is worth the price of admission. In addition to that, he provides insights into his personal philosophies and world views. One could call it the perfect companion to the recent Beatles Anthology book. Crucial reading. How sad he had to die a little over 2 months after these interviews were conducted. Unfortunately out of print, do yourself a favor and try an out of print book search; you won't regret it.

One of my very favourite books...
I first read this book back in 1983, to gain a little insight of John...and it quickly became my favourite book.Although I don't think Yoko was or is everything he thought, this was a man who truly loved hiswife, and believed with his whole heart and soul in their marriage and lifetogether.He was enjoying making music again, so much (this interview wasdone in September of 1980) and was looking forward to the future...hopinghe'd be there with us.His love for his music, his wife, his sons, andeven the Beatles are all there.He gives his opinions on every subject hecan think of, both positive and negative, in his usual witty,straight-to-the-point manner that we all know him for.The interviewer dida great job, and was clearly a man who admired John Lennon as much as I do. He did a great job in this book, and it is my absolute favourite, out ofall of my collection.Anyone who wants a peek into what John thought andfelt and wanted you to know, should read this book...you will treasure itas I do. ... Read more

Product Description
Twenty years ago David Sheff climbed the back steps of the Dakota into the personal thoughts and dreams of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. From the kitchen to the studio and up those fateful Dakota steps, Sheff recorded 20 hours of tape, discussing everything from childhood to the Beatles.

Sheff gives a rare and last glimpse of John and Yoko, one that seemed to look beyond the kitchen table to the future of the world with startling premonitions of what was to come.
Amazon.com Review
John Lennon could be angry, as he is in Lennon Remembers: The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970, and nasty, as proven by Albert Goldman's brilliant, scathing The Lives of John Lennon.

But he could also be charming, smart, and extraordinarily witty, as he is in his last interview, published in book form as All We Are Saying. Co-interviewee Yoko Ono is charm-free but valuable, because she sparks the conversation and brings up fascinating stuff that Lennon wished she hadn't, like their mad plots to kidnap her daughter from her ex-husband. As interviewer David Sheff's tape rolls, John and Yoko's anecdotes flow effortlessly: the joys of making their 1980 comeback album, Double Fantasy; the mortifying horrors of John's "lost weekend" in L.A. with Harry Nilsson; John's interestingly twisted family life; John and Yoko and Paul's last get-together, watching Saturday Night Live the night producer Lorne Michaels offered the Beatles $3,200 to reunite on the show (they almost got in a cab and did it!).

Best of all is Lennon's song-by-song account of who wrote which famous tunes and where they came from. "Strawberry Fields" contains an entire childhood memoir, and the production reflects Paul's alleged "sabotage" of Lennon's work. "Please Please Me" was based on a Roy Orbison melody and Bing Crosby's punning song title "Please (Lend an Ear to My Pleas)." The "element'ry penguins" in "I Am the Walrus" refer to idiots like Allen Ginsberg who chant "Hare Krishna" worshipfully. "Hey Jude" was Paul's song comforting John's son Julian when John left his family for Yoko, and Paul's unconscious, reluctant farewell to his writing partner ("go out and get her").

Lennon had been publicly silent and artistically dormant for five years before these interviews, and he was just bursting with the exhilaration of the rebirth of his imagination days before his death. Reading this book is like sharing a day in the life of a very happy man. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

The Feng Shui of John and Yoko
I'm reading "All We Are Saying: the last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono" by David Sheff. A must for Beatle fans and art lovers, but more than that it is quite interesting on many levels. Thirty years have passed since both the 3-week long interview (the book is comprised of transcripts from those taped conversations, some of which you can find here on NPR) and John's tragic death a mere two days after the interview was completed. Yet there are passages in the book where the topics are eerily prophetic (John talks with near clairvoyance about American car manufacturers still designing cars for the 40's and 50's instead of what today's market wants and needs in a way that seems ironic now after last year's automotive bloodbath) and very relevant to where we are. Time after time both John and Yoko say in the interview that they don't have the answers, they are merely saying yet again what has been said before by others. The message is love. The message is peace. The message is do not follow leaders, do not follow us: get educated and make up your own minds. Then you will arrive at your own answers.Yoko Ono was much maligned by Beatles fans back in the day and the rants live on in blog comments being posted every day. The interviewer draws Mr. & Mrs. Lennon out on how painful that personally must have been for Yoko as well as for John. I am only partway into the book and I'm sure I'll have more to add later on. I am finding the couple's insights on Love & Relationship to be very meaningful and I think you will, too. See more about John & Yoko's feng shui at my blog [...]

A Wonderful Complete Interview of a Legend
This interview is an amazing series of sessions, made poignant because the life of Lennon would be taken a mere two months after the interviews were complete.John Lennon was at a perfect time in his life to make the interview and the interviewer was very in depth and complete.When Lennon would go off into a direction the interviewer through his questions would travel that path with him, drawinging him out more.

I am the owner of the original Playboy Magazine that has the first, edited portion of this interview and remember reading the complete one a year or so later, but coming back to this after 30 years is refreshing.The reader will find some the assumptions of Lennon out and out wrong (i.e. he is not religious...Lennon is sure about only one thing...he is not an atheist).

I find the best part of the interview takes place in the last portion where Lennon recounts some history behind Beatle songs...who wrote it, what went on behind the scenes and more.This is a very satisfying read, and I recommend it to any Beatle/Lennon fan.

get the original version cheaper
Search "The PLAYBOY Interviews w/ John Lennon and Yoko Ono" by David Sheff - it's the same exact book (minus the new foreward) and it's selling for a lot less!

John's reviews of Beatles & solo songs
The last 7 chapters of this book make the whole interview worthwhile, in which Lennon delves into the background of Beatles' songs, including Strawberry Fields, Revolution, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and many many more. He talks about what was going on at the time of each song, who was the primary author (usually himself or McCartney), and the inspiration for the lyrics and instrumentation.

It's interesting to note which songs were "given away," such as "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" and "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" (both written by Lennon with lead vocal responsibilities given to Harrison) and "I Wanna Be Your Man" (first given to The Rolling Stones, later recorded by The Beatles with Ringo on lead vocals). John is very forthcoming on which songs were Paul's, heaping high praise or harsh criticism on numerous McCartney compositions, with equal parts praise and criticism of his own work.

He eventually discusses some post-Beatles songs, including Jealous Guy, Imagine, Mind Games, and others. The interview done just days before his death is summed up beautifully and prophetically with Lennon saying, "Something could change [...] Who knows what's going to happen?"

The Walrus and the Carpenter


My favorite Lennon quote comes not from this book, but from the Beatle's set during the Royal Variety Performance for the British Royal Family in 1963:"Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands?And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."I love that, though I've been told you need to be raised in the British class-consciousness to fully appreciate the insolence of that.


I grabbed this book just out of curiosity, as a Beatles fan and a Lennon fan in particular.I read in a review that Lennon goes through the whole catalog of Beatles songs and comments on them.I thought that would be interesting to read.Yoko Ono was the least of my concerns, but they were and are a package deal.I bought into the popular cultural conception of Yoko as the villainess who broke up the Beatles.So the first thing that struck me, reading these interviews, is what an intelligent, sympathetic, and likeable figure she is, when heard in her own words, in the comforts of her home base.And the two of them together actually seem like a nice, well-matched couple, decent people who- against the odds- had found contentment amid the surreal circumstances of their lives.No doubt that they are eccentric in some ways, and some of their philosophizing has that post-Hippie, flaky, dated feel, as you might expect.They are artists after all.But at the same time, they surprised me at times at how level-headed they came off.Despite the near deification of the Beatles, it is John who continuously reminds us that they were just a rock and roll band that was in the right place at the right time and wrote some good songs.And they are able to honestly talk about the strain on their relationship caused by their celebrity.With all the typical defiant talk about letting people think whatever they are going to think, Yoko admits to the heartache of bad press:"It's a very strange thing that society can do that much to a relationship, but it does because we're social animals.We're social beings.A relationship is not isolated from society.""Society can break an individual.That is what happened."John, too, often displays the vulnerability buried within the armor of the iconoclast:"We're both sensitive people and we were both hurt by a lot of it."Enough time has passed for them to analyze the hostility garnered by Yoko, as a woman, when she began managing John's business affairs.John talks about the attitude towards Yoko at these meetings where she was the only woman, "They're all male, you know, just big and fat, vodka lunch, shouting males, like trained dogs, trained to attack all the time."Yoko is wonderful, chiming in with "I was emasculated."Then launching into her formulation of male aggressiveness, "you must have the womb-envy thing," she speculates.Men are aggressive to mask their intimidation and jealousy.After all, she notes, "we give life."

The most valuable part of this book, in which John systematically goes through almost every Beatles and solo Lennon song, is a concession John granted after blowing Playboy's scoop by giving an interview to Newsweek magazine.We get John's feelings about each of the songs as well as the memories triggered by them, what was going on in that period of his life and how they were written.Though John continues with the superficial model of `John songs' and `Paul songs,' we see that the truth is more complicated, they wrote the best of the Beatles "one-on-one, eyeball to eyeball... both playing into each other's noses."We see why they were great together (and why George and Ringo are two very lucky men to have been along for the ride) and why neither of them, as solo musicians, could produce songs that measure up well to the Beatles.There are several examples of the two of them contributing little touches to each others songs, the little shadings that profoundly deepen the work.Without Paul, John was mostly a writer of catchy tunes, superficial fluff with great hooks.Some of Paul's solo works come close to the best of the Beatles, but for the most part, he was missing the nuances- the melodies and tenderness- of Paul's sound.A song like "Michele" is a perfect example.Paul wrote a pretty little love ballad.John heard it shortly after hearing Nina Simone sing the blues, and he suggested the bluesy "I love you, I love you, I love you," bridge.Paul writes "It's getting better all the time," and John adds "it couldn't get much worse."Paul writes "We can work it out" and John adds "Life is very short..."Or conversely, John writes about "A Day in the Life," about a man violently killing himself, and Paul adds the sweetest little lick to ever float into a song from nowhere: "I'd love to turn you on."And so on.I particularly recommend this section as a morning commute read, riding the train with Ipod in hand, keeping the songs in your ears as you read John's analysis of them.

Of course, one can't read these interviews without being constantly reminded that John was assassinated just months afterwards.It gave me chills to read some of John's philosophizing in that light, "Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of fantastic nonviolents who died violently.I can never work that out.We're pacifists, but I'm not sure what it means when you're such a pacifist that you get shot."

And the heartbreak is palpable when reading of the pride John took in stepping out of the action and becoming a full time father to Sean."Here we are: I'm going to be forty, Sean's going to be five.Isn't it great!We survived!"

... Read more

Product Description
Y E S Yoko Ono accompanies the first major museum retrospective of the work of this pioneering avant-garde artist. In her prolific 40-year career, Ono has embraced a wide range of mediums, defying traditional boundaries and creating new forms of artistic expression. This volume is the first comprehensive art book devoted to her challenging and influential work.

Yoko Ono has created revolutionary forms of music, film, and the visual arts since the 1960s, when she emerged as an avant-garde force in New York, Tokyo, and London. This richly illustrated book includes essays by eminent international scholars and critics that not only explore Ono's life and career, including her contributions to the Fluxus movement and Conceptual art, but also enrich our understanding of her complex role as artist, filmmaker, poet, composer, performance artist, activist, and rock star. An anthology of Ono's writings and an illustrated chronology further mark this book as the most extensive survey ever published on the art and life of Yoko Ono.

The book includes a CD with new music by Yoko Ono, performed by Ono, her son Sean Lennon, and others.

ALEXANDRA MUNROE, director of Japan Society Gallery, New York, and a noted art historian specializing in modern Asian art, organized the accompanying exhibition in consultation with JON HENDRICKS, who has worked as Yoko Ono's curator and archivist since 1989 and is the author of Abrams' acclaimed catalogue raisonn Fluxus Codex.

MURRAY SAYLE is the Japan correspondent for The New Yorker. DAVID A. ROSS is director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. JANN S. WENNER is founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine. JOAN ROTHFUSS is associate curator of the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. CHRISSIE ILES is curator, Film and Video, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. KRISTINE STILES is associate professor of art and art history at Duke University in North Carolina.

Includes music CD. 360 illustrations, 102 in full color, 97/8 x 113/4"Amazon.com Review
Don't be fooled by the metallic cover: although this extensively documented book finally gives Yoko Ono her due as a protean conceptual and performing artist, YES Yoko Ono is no celebrity bio. It is actually a rigorous analysis--by experts in modern Japanese and contemporary Western art, performance, video, and music--of the innovative approaches that made Ono a seminal avant-garde figure in the Fluxus movement of the 1960s and continued to influence her work during the next three decades.

Ono was born in 1933 in Japan to a wealthy and pedigreed family. In her early work, the pan-artistic classical Japanese approach to culture mingles with her Zen-like search for moments of concentrated sensory experience and the anti-heroic stance of the young American artists she would meet in New York upon her arrival (with her first husband, a composer) in 1956. Also significant was her sense of herself as an outsider. She spent her early childhood in the U.S. with her family, only to be snubbed by Japanese schoolmates on her return.

In Secret Piece, from 1953, Ono wrote a musical score consisting of nothing but two half-notes in the bass line and a scribbled notation: "With the accompaniment of birds singing at dawn." It became one of the brilliantly inventive instructions for making art pieces in her 1964 book, Grapefruit, an early conceptual work. Since those heady days, she has continued to explore the possibilities, stumbling sometimes (the inert bronze sculptures of the '80s) but never abandoning her fascination with elemental feeling and observation.

YES Yoko Ono accompanies an exhibition at the Japan Society Gallery in New York (October 18, 2000, through January 14, 2001) that will travel to numerous venues in North America and Asia, beginning with the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

fantastic
this book is filled with the wide variety of work that yoko ono has amassed over a lifetime - really great book for a yoko fan!

DEFINITIVE!!!!
This is the definitive book on Yoko Ono's art. I originally bought this when it was first released, and paid the retail value of $60.00 for it, and am very happy to see the discounted rate here at amazon.com!
This book goes through the years that Yoko Ono has been an artist. It was once said, "Yoko is the most famous unfamous artist in the world. Everyone knows who she is, but nobody knows what she does." That does not hold true any longer for people who have read, and will read this book.
The photos in this book are great, and Yoko Ono as an artist is brilliantly portrayed in this informational book!
The price is incredible, and I'm almost thinking of buying a second copy-for safekeeping!

Fantastic book about an amazing artist of our times
This book is wonderfully informative about Yoko and her art. If you want to open your mind and stop believing the racist and sexist garbage the media has shoveled out about her (and about any woman who dares be anything but a worshipping dormat for men- especially any Asian woman) this is absolute a must read book. Yoko was the first Asian woman who dared in the West to publically be a Feminist. She has inspired a whole generation of women in Japan to publically stand up for their rights. She is also an inspiration to many women in the West as well, she was an equal partner in her marriage with John, both their careers were of equal weight. She and John inspired people to stand up and protest for peace, and Yoko continues this activism. She is respected by both Israelis and Palestinians for her peace activism, through her art. She also uses her art to speak out in favor of feminism, In the 80's she also began to do art activism in support of Gay and Lesbian rights. The media critics are finally beginning to open their eyes past the racist and sexist stereotypes Yoko has been the victim of. This book goes a long way toward informing readers of the real Yoko Ono and her amazing range of artistic talent, intelligence and humanitarianism. She will someday be called one of the greatest talents and visionaries of our times. Read this book and find out why.

The Sad Facts
I disdain Miss Ono's body of work.Had it not been for John Lennon, she would probably be another burnt-out artist whose mind didn't quite survive the 60's.Let us ask ourselves by what merit ths woman qualifies as an artist either visually or vocally.

Her art is at best simplistic, at worst attempting a movement that had passed by the time she was a few years old.When Duchamp did it, it was innovative.When Miss Ono did it years later, it a lame, drug-laced imitation of early 20th-century masters.

If we must endure widows of rock stars and their art, I sincerely hope the world ends before Courtney Love discovers the Dadaists.

YES, YES, YES
I was at the SFMOMA to see her YES exhibition, and exactly what I expected, I was overwhelmed with delight... Her art is whimsically amazing. Her music touches your heart and soul. Seeing all the people there that day, I was glad that Yoko is finally getting all the respect she deserves, after all these years... Also caught her live performance at the Los Angeles's Roxy almost 6 years ago just took my breath away. I truly think she's one of the true visionaries of our time. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1965, The New York Times called Tokyo-born, New York-based Fluxus artist Yoko Ono "a one person culture explosion." In this generous volume, Ono presents instruction pieces from 1961 to the present, including three scores from her iconic 1964 artist's book, Grapefruit--"Drinking Piece for Orchestra," "Bicycle Piece for Orchestra" and "Painting to Be Slept On"--which are republished here for the first time. Ono has explained the origin of these works: "...sometimes for financial reasons, sometimes for technical difficulties, I could never realize all the ideas which were literally bombarding me. But now, I could just write instructions. It freed me." Also included are more than 100 drawings from Franklin Summer, a series begun in 1994, comprising 1,400 inkblot drawings on paper, and Vertical Memory (1997)--dedicated to Ono's father--a photograph in 21 parts depicting a distorted face. The piece, which Ono considers her best, is a culmination of her life's work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Beautiful catalog of Yoko's exhibits
Between the Sky and My Head is a lovely collection of photos of Yoko's exhibits at Kunsthalle Bielefeld and Baltic Center for Contemporary Art in Germany in 2008.The shows featured work from 1961 to the present and include the Franklin Summer pointille' drawings which I greatly admire.I also saw a new artwork, Bastet, which I had not known about.Wonderful, quixotic, and born to inspire and make us think, Yoko Ono's artwork truly is special and justifies her fame as an artist long before she became Mrs. John Lennon.(Her work to keep John's name alive in the art world is touching too, but there are no Lennon works in the exhibit.) ... Read more

Product Description
The Other Rooms is a sequel to Yoko Ono's Grapefruit, a now classic artist's book that was first published in 1964 and became a cult classic following its wider distribution after 1970. Matching the satisfyingly compact size of Grapefruit, and beautifully bound in white cloth, The Other Rooms is conceived as a series of rooms that unfold the story of, in the words of the artist, "the life of a woman seeing through the eyes of her son." On page after page, or room after room, Ono walks the reader through her unique expression of motherly utopian pedagogy, providing observations and instruction "pieces" such as the following, for "Balance Piece": a) Politicians should wear pink transparent loose robes or pajama-like outfits without the bottoms at all times. b) A priest should wear a bright red suit with one sleeve and bell-bottom pants with his penis exposed at all times. c) The army should wear drag (cocktail party-type flair skirts) and high-heel shoes with jewelry (earrings, etc.) Other sequences simply describe imaginary rooms, and invite the reader to inhabit them, or suggest new approaches to tasks such as gardening, or to one's hometown, all in the serenely open style for which Ono is so famed. The Other Rooms is joyfully interactive in this sense, finding ways "to open doorswhere there are no doors." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Great Introduction to Yoko Ono
This book is in the style of the older "in their own words" series.It consists of quotes (with dates) from Ono on a wide range of topics:

her childhood,
art,
relationship with John Lennon,
the Beatles,
the Bed-In for Peace,
heroin,
each of her albums with and without John (up to 2001's BLUEPRINT FOR A SUNRISE),
John & Yoko's political involvement,
being a businesswoman,
Lennon's murder and the aftermath,
reuniting with her daughter Kyoko,
the 2000 retrospective art exhibit YES YOKO ONO,
becoming a Dance Club Diva with seven #1 remixes of her earlier work,
becoming 70 years young,
her devotion to equal rights for the Gay & Lesbian community,
politics in 2000,
her outlook on the future

These topics and more are all presented in bite-sized quotes from Ono, making it an excellent introduction to her life, art, music, philosophy, etc.It is not an in-depth study.

For that, see the book YES YOKO ONO Y E S Yoko Ono for her visual art, also Yoko Ono: Between the Sky and My Head Yoko Ono: Touch Me Instruction Paintings Yoko Ono: The Other Rooms.

For her music, any of her many albums, especially 2009's Between My Head & the Sky Yes, I'm a WitchWalking on Thin Ice Rising Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band Season of Glass, Approximately Infinite Universe, ONOBOX, or make your own choice!

Perhaps her best-known and most influential piece of work isGrapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings by Yoko Ono.

While the bulk of quotes come from Ono, there are also quotes from John, Sean, and Julian Lennon, Liam Gallagher of Oasis, as well as the former Beatles.There is a color section of 8 full-page photos (most new to me), and many black & white photos, many also unseen before.

All this in 28 short chapters in 104 pages - an excellent intro to Yoko Ono!

Disappointing rhetoric
This book contains exerpts/sentences coming straight from interviews that both Ono & Lennon had done over the years.There are a few remarks from others, Julian, Sean, & the like, nothing insightful into what makes Ono tick as an artist, just a few choice moments of rhetoric yet again being conveyed, very archival.Disappointing read. ... Read more

Product Description
In November 1980, on the eve of John Lennon's untimely murder by a lone gunman, photographer Allan Tannenbaum had unique and total access to John and Yoko, who were emerging from five years of seclusion and avoiding the media. As one of the few photogrpahers with whom John and Yoko were close, Tannenbaum was privileged to be able to capture many intimate moments between the two. The resulting photographs, many of which have neer before been available to the public, portray a couple deeply in love--playful, spiritual, and remarkably at home in front of the camera while expressing their feelings to each other. John cherished these images of Yoko and was moved by their beauty and grace.

This limited edition is enclosed in an elegant clamshell box, and includes a signed photograph by Allan Tannenbaum. Limited to 1,250 signed and numbered copies.

The prologue to this volume documents, through a rare set of images, John Lennon's last live performance. After John's shocking murder in December 1980, Tannenbaum continued to photograph Yoko, as well as the vigils and memorials that immediately sprang up throughout the city. This bittersweet collection is both a celebration of and tribute to one of our greatest srtists and an everlasting love affair.

Foreword by Yoko Ono, introduction by Chris Murray. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Oh Yoko
In the middle of a dream,
In the middle of dream,
I call your name.
Oh, Yoko.
Oh, Yoko.
My love will turn you on.
My love will turn you on.

John & Yoko Definitely A Love Story
Hard to believe that these photos were taken nearly 30 years ago! The book begins with photos of John's last public performance with his band "Etc" for Sir Lew Grade in 1975. Then we have John and Yoko of 1980, with John looking refreshed and wearing new shaped glasses: a mature looking Lennon! He does look pretty cool with the black jacket with Yoko by his side on the park bench. In one year John & Yoko was photographed by so many photographers - Annie Liebovitz, Paul Goresh, Allan Tannenbaum, Jack Mitchell and Bob Gruen (all appearing + others in Yoko's "Summer Of 1980" photo book). These photos in this book show a more natural side and loving side of the couple. It contradicts the events in coming months.

Excellent book!!
It's a superb book, very nice photos, most of them i have never seen before. The thing that i notice in the pictures, is that John never smiled in this book (apart from the cover and other two pictures, i think), he look's old, small, sad or maybe depresed. I have the Instamatic Karma too, and it's other John that appears on this book, he looks alive, happy and reflexive. In the end, it's a must buy for any Lennon fans.

Thanks.

Gorgeous!
This book is simply wonderful. It has some of the most intimate and beautiful pictures of John and Yoko ever published. A must have for any Lennon fan!

Portraits of Love
John and Yoko:A New York Love Story contains a collection of photographs by photographer Allan Tannenbaum of the long lasting romance between John Lennon and Yoko Ono.Many of the photos may have been seen by the public, and several have not been published before.Tannenbaum shows John and Yoko in their most intimate moments, which were shot at New York's Sperone Westwater Gallery and Central Park; the concluding photographs do not need too much description and show fans paying tribute to John as well Yoko posing in the same spot where John and she had walked days before.And by looking at the photographs, one can see it was yet another end to an era.

The most interesting part about the book is its beautiful layout.With the turn of the first page one can see what they are in store for.The pages are comprised of a variety of size photos from proofs to blown-up portraits of John and Yoko in glorious b/w and color, which capture their candidness as a couple and individually; Tannenbaum and book designer Barbara Genetin do a great job displaying the images.

Overall, this is a highly recommended book for John and Yoko fans or photography aficionados.With its over-sized coffee table book format, this may make a nice addition to anyone's book collection.
... Read more

Product Description
UK printing ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Too much solo-work talk
There are a few items that are gems in here, but most of it is boring because all the interviewer asked about were John and Yoko's solo work! Ugh. I like some of their solo work, but I'm a Beatles fan. It was John whovolunteered the Beatles bits in this interview, and I was hoping theinterviewer would encourage him to expand on that. But he'd then ask,"So, when you and Yoko were in the bag in Vienna...."Frustrating. I probably would have given this book two stars, but there isadded poignancy here, because John was murdered only hours after he gaveit. And he is so enthusiastic about so much in this interview, it adds tothe tragedy that a person with so much enthusiasm, with so much creativityleft to explore, couldn't live to fulfill it (more thanhe did already).His loss...and ours.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Master Piece
I bought this book in England in 1970 when it was released with the charming cover of a grapefruit atop a female posterior.

I loved the book and kept it rather than follow Yoko's instructions to burn it afterward.

Yesterday I read it again. It is funny how one's perceptions change over thirty years for better or for worse.

My conclusion is that this book is a Master Piece.

Sorry Yoko!

Please experience this book. SERIOUSLY!

WE ALL LOVE YOKO
I was lucky enough to come across a copy of this book at my local fleamarket...I would recommend it to anyone, whether or not you are a fan of the fluxus movement or Yoko's endeavors, it is a book which hascertainly changed my outlook on the world. I read somewhere that when CyndiLauper came to NY all she took with her was a paper bag with a pair ofclean socks and Yoko's book. After reading this book you could understandwhy.

sharing it with my 14 year old daughter
well my daugter found my copy of grapefruit and we read to together and laughed together and talked together it was a very enriching experience thanks yoko, we found your work very enlightening. take care all

The Best Book You Will Ever Burn
Yoko Ono is one of the art worlds few and true originals. She is unique ineverything she does,wether it be performance art or music. This book provesto be no exception. In Grapefruit Yoko lets you see into an avant-gardeworld that is bursting with imagination that can only be seen through hereyes.Lundy Eastepp

. ... Read more

Product Description
Yoko Ono - A Portrait of an Avant-Garde Artist is the biography of Yoko Ono, a popular Japanese artist and musician. Ono is known for her work as avant-garde artist and musician, as well as her marriage and works with English musician John Lennon, of Beatles fame. She currently lives in New York City. John Lennon once described her as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does." Ono first met John Lennon when he visited a preview of an exhibition of Ono's at the Indica Gallery in London on November 9, 1966. Lennon's first personal encounter with Ono involved her passing him a card that read simply "Breathe." He was taken with the positivity, humour, and interactivity of her work. Yoko Ono - A Portrait of an Avant-Garde Artist is highly recommended for those interested in reading more about this talented artist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

BEWARE
Beware!This book is simply copied verbatim from a Wikipedia article.The first page contains information about how it is published under the "GNU Free Documentation License."This "biography" has no author.It is not 68 pages, but 38 pages of very large print text with wide margins.

Ridiculous, this is a complete rip off.Save your money by logging onto Wikipedia and typing "Yoko Ono" in the search, or just buy a better book.Best one on the subject is called "YES YOKO ONO."

Very disappointing
I bought this book as I hoped it would contain information on Yoko's art.However, the book is very flimsy andboring; it seems to contain little information on anything.I've had books with as few pages as this one which still manage to be interesting and informative, yet this book is neither.Worse yet, there are no pictures - it is pure text.Even the photo on the front looks odd, as if it has been altered to fit the dimensions of the cover.I wouldn't recommend this book at all, it is a waste of money. ... Read more

Product Description
Great book on the lives and career of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. 50 color and black and white illustrations of photographs of the Beatles, Lennon, Ono. Includes credits / bibliography.Softcover. 317 pages. Measures 6 by 9 inches. Interesting book, nicely illustrated. ... Read more

Product Description
On the 21st anniversary of his death, a poignant John Lennon document back in print Lennon's last interview before his assassination on December 8, 1980, was first published in Playboy in a 20,000 word format in November that year. It saw limited distribution in the US in its full form as a 200-page book, reflecting 20 hours of tapes made that September, but was never seen elsewhere, and is now a collector's item. This new, revised edition is published with the rare participation of Yoko Ono. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must read for all Beatle and Lennon fans!
This book is a must have read for all fans of the Beatles or John Lennon.Written during the final weeks before his death, John is upbeat, frank and optimistic about the future.He takes time to go through - song by song - his recollections for many of the Beatles songs.Check it out, its a great read! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

A Wonderful and Very Enjoyable book about a Great Man.
Being a big fan, I have read many books about John and The Beatles. This book really shows you who he really was, with private memories of him. The book is composed of people who have had experiences with John or just were admiring fans. John changed so much. And he changed so many lives.
I could barely put this book down. It made me laugh and cry. It is a book to be treasured.

Really, really funny!
Way too many entries contain the phrase, "Well, I never met John, but..." and at least as many (sometimes the same entries!!) say "Yoko, love of his life and John's saviour..." or something like that. (Alica Keyes and her mom each has an entry of that sort.)

Might there not have been, in all the surviving people who actually knew John, maybe one or 2 who didn't deify Yoko?[I have to add at this point that I didn't have any preconceived idea of her.I was given a copy of this book and got my input from that. That inspired me to read more Beatles biographies later.]

This was a project so self-serving, so shameless, that it was really quite funny. It gets three stars for entertainment alone, and I think the production process for this book went something like this:

[Alicia Keyes and Tori Amos are having lunch at a tea shop in Manhatten. They are approached by Yoko Ono and two bodyguards.]

Yoko: Ms. Keyes, Ms. Amos.I'm sure you know me but have been too polite to violate my privacy.

Tori: Huh?
Alicia: YOKO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Yoko: I am compiling a book of memories of my late husband, John, whose contribution to art was recognizing mine.Would you like to participate?

Tori: But I never met the guy.

Yoko: That is immaterial. This is art; what matters is the impression. Write you impressions of me--I mean him, and you can be in a book.

Alicia: Wow!!

[at the next table, a man and his wife have been eavesdropping.]

Man: I think the way John treated his first wife is appalling, but has some absurdist potential. Can I write about that?

Yoko: [hissing] YOUR input is not necessary, Mr. Woody Allen!

Bianca Jagger [at next table] Guess you don't want mine, either.

Alicia: I can be in a book! I can be in a book!

Shameless
Memories Of John Lennon, "edited" and introduced by Yoko Ono. I put that word in quotes because I'm skeptical that this book was edited at all.

A real editor might have reminded contributor and onetime activist Tariq Ali that "Revolution" was a single, not an album.

Ali also writes of the day Lennon died:

"I think the tribute [John] would have loved was the spontaneous grief in Moscow as kids rushed to the Lenin hills and sang "Back in the U.S.S.R."

Yes, if I were John Lennon, I'd love it if people grieved for me by singing a Paul McCartney song, too.

Ali shares pride-of-place for ignorance with of all people, Ray Charles, who makes a similar mistake about "Yesterday."

The book as a whole overflows with gushing, largely unearned sentiment.If it was just another one of those things it would be bad enough but it's also absolute psychic head for Yoko.

Person after person: Yoko was the love of John's life; as an artist, Yoko was 30 years ahead of her time; the only possible reason one can be critical of Yoko is if one is racist or sexist or probably both.

I'm not saying some of it isn't true. I'm not one of those people who thinks Yoko was the devil (it's just that she couldn't sing). I'm saying it's unseemly for someone to include all that stuff about themselves in a book.

When they're not scubbing clean The Perfect Story of John and Yoko, the contributors are rewriting their own personal history as well. Or staking their claims to their own part of The Lennon Story.

Jann Wenner tells (again) the story of putting Lennon on the cover of the first Rolling Stone and conducting his lengthy interview with John. What he omits is that Lennon was furious with Wenner when the interview was published as a book against his express wishes.

Donovan's piece turns out to be about how, as he remembers it, he taught Lennon to finger-pick...and suggested the design for "The White Album."

It gets two stars because there are one or two nice things.But for the most part this is more of the revionist, there-is-nothing-nasty-in-John's-life deification of the man that has forced me to the following position:

Never trust anyone who says their favorite John Lennon song is "Imagine." They're drippy people.

wonderful book
this book is very touching and dear, it made me cry and laugh, and i think there will always be people who will say bad things about yoko because she has the courage to stand up for her politics, the courage to be true to who she is... people may not like these politics or they make think she's too radical or they may be saying those thing because of racism (as elliot mintz talked about john lennon's belief of this).i was really touched by this book and anyone who loved the many aspects of who john lennon was should read this book

Memories and Creative Inventions
Super inspirational book with a wealth of information about one of the most interesting people of the 20th Century and also one of the most complex members of the famous rock groups, the Beatles. I found my own creative juices flowing while reading this rich list of testimonials by others in contact with and being influenced from afar by John Lennon, the real person. The book's writers speak of the artist within this sensitive man as we may never have known him before. Thank you Yoko Ono for the creative inspiration offered to all those open minded sensitive souls willing to read this book. All positive energies needing connection between those same open minded readers of this book throughout the universe are possible! What else can be said.. SO READ IT - NOW! As John Lennon said, "We are all part of the sky, more so than of the ground". ... Read more