Post by toddmagos on May 23, 2017 19:37:56 GMT
I'm new to the forum, though I've visited occasionally before this. I've just self-published a new book on the Beatles, and have not yet been told that it's not cricket to bring it up or discuss it. If any of you are willing to spring for a copy, I'd *love* to have feedback. So here goes, a little background. It's called Who Wrote the Beatle Songs: A History of Lennon-McCartney. It's available at Amazon, both in trade paperback and Kindle. It's really new, so we have low introductory prices now - the price will go up later. I recommend the actual book - the footnotes are right at the bottom of the page, and the index and bibliography are easy to use. However, the Kindle version is very cheap (6 dollars with no postage), and you can access it immediately.
I've written books in other fields (Utah and Mormon history mostly) that have done well. However, I've been fascinated by the Beatles' songwriting, Lennon and McCartney as individual songwriters and as collaborators, for decades. I've been keeping files on this and finally decided it was time to create a book out of my research. For various reasons -- it's a long story -- I decided to self-publish. In this book I look at each song written by the Beatles during the Beatle period, and try weigh the evidence to see who wrote each song. Lots of footnotes, partially because of my academic background, but also because a good footnote gives you the date of the interview, and allows the reader to go to the source, see the context, make sure the quotes are reliable. So I think this is the best book available on the Beatles' songwriting. It's a long book (432 pages) and goes into a lot of depth.
So, if you're willing to take a look at "Who Wrote the Beatle Songs", I'd be interested in your answers to the following questions:
1. Do you find the book readable?
2. As you well know, there has been a partisan divide between John and Paul, John fans and Paul fans. Did you find my treatment of both Paul and John, and their role in songwriting, fair?
3. Did you come across any mistakes? Or was there anything you disagreed with?
I've written books in other fields (Utah and Mormon history mostly) that have done well. However, I've been fascinated by the Beatles' songwriting, Lennon and McCartney as individual songwriters and as collaborators, for decades. I've been keeping files on this and finally decided it was time to create a book out of my research. For various reasons -- it's a long story -- I decided to self-publish. In this book I look at each song written by the Beatles during the Beatle period, and try weigh the evidence to see who wrote each song. Lots of footnotes, partially because of my academic background, but also because a good footnote gives you the date of the interview, and allows the reader to go to the source, see the context, make sure the quotes are reliable. So I think this is the best book available on the Beatles' songwriting. It's a long book (432 pages) and goes into a lot of depth.
So, if you're willing to take a look at "Who Wrote the Beatle Songs", I'd be interested in your answers to the following questions:
1. Do you find the book readable?
2. As you well know, there has been a partisan divide between John and Paul, John fans and Paul fans. Did you find my treatment of both Paul and John, and their role in songwriting, fair?
3. Did you come across any mistakes? Or was there anything you disagreed with?