Being John Lennon

A Restless Life

By: Ray Connolly

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

What was it like to be John Lennon? What was it like to be the castoff child, the clown at school, the middle-class suburban boy who pretended to be a working-class hero? How did it feel to have one of the most recognizable singing voices in the world but to dislike it so much he always wanted to disguise it?

Being John Lennon is not about the whitewashed Prince of Peace of “Imagine” legend - because that was only a small part of him. The John Lennon depicted in this book is a much more kaleidoscopic figure, sometimes almost a collision of different characters. He was, of course, funny, often very funny. But above everything, he had attitude - his impudent style somehow personifying the aspirations of his generation to question authority. He could, and would, say the unsayable. Although there were more glamorous rock stars in rock history, even within the Beatles, it was John Lennon’s attitude that caught, and then defined, his era in the most memorable way.

©2018, 2019 Ray Connolly (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Stars taken off for inclusion of MDC’s story

Book is ruined with MDC’s miserable life story in the afterword. Hateful people who perform hateful acts have no place being immortal in history. NONE. Yoko is largely mostly criticized throughout, which isn’t totally unjustly so.

Well done.

Well done. The narrator uses different voices for each character. Overall nicely done I enjoyed it!

Perfect for non groupies

I like many Beatles songs but not very knowledgeable about the band. Being JL is a fascinating read, well researched and has great narration. Really enjoyed.

Fantastic

I loved this book. It was made even better by the exceptionally good narration. He is a wonderful storyteller. He has a great voice, good pacing and cadence, and even though he changed voices when quoting other people, it didn't sound ridiculous or mocking the way some narrators sound. It was thoroughly entertaining. I don't usually "read" audible books. When checking out the samples, I often find the narrating stiff and dull. Not with this book, though. This narrator made a good book great. I highly recommend the Audible version of this book.

interesting but not what I expected

it was worth the listening to wish it want more into John and yoko's life together but did I hear some things I've never heard before but all in all it kept my interest is hard to do

Excellent, but…

As a lifelong Lennon fan, I appreciated the accuracy of the story and overall enjoyed the Audible version very much. The one thing I found very disappointing was a final chapter dedicated to his killer. I found it totally unnecessary to provide an insight into this individual when that was exactly the type of attention he was seeking when he took John’s life. I’d ask the author to consider removing the chapter or replacing the afterword so it’s not the final word in an otherwise good retelling of Lennon’s life story.

great story great reader

Fist I love Jonathan Keeble he is my favorite reader. AND this story by Ray Connoly was a trip down memory lane of my entire childhood. the writing was Journalistic yet Poetic. Highly recommend his fo any one who grew up in the 60s.

Very personal insight into John Lennon

I’ve read several books regarding Beatles. This is the most insightful because it delves into John’s personality, explaining his behavior, from many people that knew him very well.

Nothing new here…

While Ray Connolly May have been around and had some inner access to John Lennon and the Beatles, you would never know it because there’s absolutely nothing new here and there are certainly no insights you would think someone who was there might have. Even if you know absolutely nothing about the Beatles or John Lennon there are many much better books on the subject. There’s an excellent performance, it’s too bad the material isn’t as good.