John

I gave 5 Stars only for Cynthia Lennon and their first-born son Julian 😇 I honestly don't care for John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their son Sean at all, because John Lennon was very ugly and selfish, being unfaithful. He's ADULTERY!!!! My love and support for Cynthia Lennon and their first-born son Julian ❤️❤️ I love Paul McCartney; He is far better man than John Lennon.

Cynthia Lennon offers us her first-person account of the dizzying time of Beatlemania through John, her book about her life with John Lennon, both before and after the Beatles. She doesn't try to include every little event of the times but she does do a credible job of showing an insider's view of a wild, wild ride. John fairly honestly portrays Lennon and his excesses, showing his background in detail and giving Cynthia's views on what she believes happened during and after their time together. Being what it is, it is obvious that Cynthia has chosen to put her spin on events, though she can hardly be blamed for doing so. Her devotion to John and their son Julian is evident. She is honest about her feelings for his family, which is a refreshing viewpoint. However at times it seems as though she is trying too hard to be fair, especially when it comes to her feelings over Yoko's miscarriages and the birth of Sean. While this is a noble attempt, it doesn't necessarily ring true, especially in light of the way Cynthia was treated by both John and Yoko. The early events depicted in this book do not shed any new light on the Beatles' experience; most of them feel as though they've been lifted straight from other books (in particular, from Peter Brown's excellent account, The Love You Make). I am hard-pressed to think of an account in John that hasn't already been told in many other places. Still, Cynthia manages to give us a touching view of the man at his home and if she wants to dwell on the loving relationship she felt they had, it is not my intention to take away from her expressions in this book. If she's chosen not to overly analyze her own shortcomings during this time, that's not a sin and just the fact that she came through it all is a triumph. Overall this book is well-written and it is always good to read an insider's account of the surreal experience of belonging to the Beatles' entourage. This book is enjoyable overall and Cynthia writes in an honest way that will capture your attention and keep you reading. If you're looking for an in-depth account, this may not be it, but it certainly does add to any Beatles' fan's enjoyment and knowledge. Recommended.

Cynthia Lennon wrote a beautiful book about John. The life and love they shared shows in each sentence. This book is going into my library.

"The first time I saw him I thought, 'ugh, not my type!'" And yet, Cynthia (Powell) Lennon became a vital and longstanding part of John Lennon's life. His first true love and wife, they shared the birth of The Beatles, a son and his entrance into the drug culture that ultimately ripped them apart. Her longstanding love for him shines yet, through other marriages and many hardships, John will forever be the love of her life. I must first commend "Cyn" for opening up her old wounds again to let those of us who love and mourn John Lennon to see him for the truth of his humanity and reveal all - good and ultimately bad. I don't think anyone can fully comprehend her long suffering in the public eye; from their public breakup, the knowledge of John's infidelity, her bravery in raising Julian on her own and seeing him long for his father, to all the speculation still occuring more than 25 years after his murder. This book really didn't change my feelings towards John, and I feared it would. I was afraid she would reveal too many awful things about his character, possibly a meanness or uncaring that would destroy the loving, insightful and encouraging messages in his songs. In short, I was afraid what she had to say would make him into a hypocrite. To my infinite relief this was not so. Some scenes are so painful, so hard to understand why he behaved the way he did and yet was able to write and sing such powerful messages they still reverberate today and into the future. Still, we have an inkling. Cynthia delves deep into her own past and John's, right into their childhoods. I was relieved to have the true story of why John was raised by Aunt Mimi. For a long time, I couldn't understand why he loved his mom, Julia, so much if she had abandoned him. Now I see Mimi took him almost by force, as a small child ripped from his mother and her one day commonlaw husband who could have been a new father to him. The revelation of Mimi's seemingly often and outrageous, controlling behavior definitely gives insight into John's rebeliousness, his temper and his tendency to run from a problem. Rebelliousness and unwillingness to face problems is often symptomatic of an ultra controlled childhood. Cynthia's continuing love for John is evident throughout the book. Through all the descriptions of their pains, struggles and disconnects she does her best to understand why things were the way they were. She finds reasons for his behavior and in an amazingly fair analysis, she puts blame on her own behavior. Saying that if she'd just stood up to him sometimes instead of always giving in to his every whim, he might have responded. As John was accustomed to a strong woman raising him, a little steadfastness in Cynthia may have been good. There is also the inevitable price of fame. Too much too soon became overwhelming. Cynthia describes fans haunting their homes, and John himself once spoke of how he was always tired after being on tour and coming home, Julian would want to play and all he wanted to do was sleep. Everyone wanted a piece of John, so sad that touring and fans took him away from his own family. His insecurity played into this as well, his own lack of self esteem hidden behind a brash exterior - this became a secret belief that he could not and did not know how to take care of the tiny human who was his son. John once referred to Sean as his second chance, to start over and do all the things right he didn't do for Julian. Older and wiser, unfortunately cut off from the son he always felt he had let down. We read this in his own words in the copy of a letter her wrote to Cyn and which she includes in this book. Not all was bad times though, John's careless attitude freed Cyn from her shy, reserved manner and in the early years of their relationship, she describes the happiness and love they felt, even making sure we knew that her and John always intended to marry, the pending birth of Julian just make it sooner rather than later. Keep in mind also that they were together for several years before the birth of Julian. For those who would like to relegate Cyn and Jules to a brief point in history, remember that she was there with John for 10 years, a fourth of his life! They were together from the birth of The Beatles right up until the final phase. Then, came drugs. John's experimentation with LSD was the first major fissure in their lives. Cynthia speaks of his increasing fascination with the drugs and its visions, her fear and the withdrawal into drugs which Cyn was unwilling to follow. Then, the fateful meeting with "the woman with hair like a dark cloud" and her introduction of heroin to John. The painful moment when Cynthia finds her in their house, wearing her own bathrobe. Cyn expresses her views on the effect of Yoko Ono on John's relationship with Julian, the control she took of his life and the doubt and mistrust she planted in his mind. Yoko had what Cynthia lacked, a strong will and commanding attitude, something John clung to as his own life felt spun out of control. I'll leave it up to the reader to form their own opinion, but I will just say that I stand on the side of Cyn in this issue. I believe she has been fair and insightful, doing her best to explain, not dramaticize or sensationalize their life together. She does not set out to vent her anger, monstracize John or set the blame on him now that he is unable to defend himself. She loved him, she still does and she wishes only to dispell the ugly rumors and let the people who love him know the love of her life for who he was. Altogether, this has been a revealing but kind look into the mythic life of John Lennon. Letting us see the man through the legend. Even through all the pain, Cyn never attempts to turn him into a monster, she shows us his soft side and vulnerabilities; the humanity of a celebrity we sometimes forget was a mortal man.

Just finished this riveting account of Cynthia Lennon’s life, and love with John Lennon; couldn’t put it down, was sorry when it ended. I was a little young during Beatlemania, and kind of just missed their whole era. Their music speaks for itself and I’ve always appreciated the brilliance there. But the story of the times and history, I really never was up on. I remember the John/Yoko days much more. I was so glad to have been given the rest of the story and perspective on his beginnings, and truly what was his first love and first family, which had always been a footnote to me previously. Not so. I now see and believe John was steered away and changed - by drugs, his own demons to work out, the need of whatever ‘spell’ that other woman cast at that time, whatever he was searching for. At any rate, what an eye opener to his whole other life before that era, with his first family. Well-written, from the heart. Cynthia Lennon seemed to write this in a more than fair way to all involved, while being honest and telling her true story. I’ve since looked into more about Julian too, and she raised a well-grounded son. Sad he never got what he was due from his father, financially and emotionally. Perhaps if John had not been killed so young they would have come ‘round to making amends there, as it’s been reported they were beginning to. He has been successful, creative and philanthropic in his own right and is his own man. Cynthia carried herself with grace amid it all, and raised up a good son. Highly recommend this book to anyone, Beatle fan or not. RIP Cynthia Lennon. Shine on Julian.

I only give three stars as the other editions, and previous released versions had a different cover. I thought this was more updated because of the date, but very, very disappointed that there were no photographs in the KINDLE edition. It seemed as if the other versions did have pictures. I may be wrong, however. John and Cynthia each had their issues, but I was pretty surprised to read how cruel John and Yoko were to his first wife Cynthia and their son Julian. I will have to keep John Lennon's memory in my love of his music only, as this was a real eye-opener as to how he treated his family and other people in general. While it could have been slanted with a bitter break-up, it doesn't read that way. I am surprised at how much Cynthia moved, changed careers and married so easily. She seemed to be constantly running to anything that would change her life. It never felt like she ever was comfortable with who she was and had great difficultly in establishing a really stable life for Julian. She seemed lost too, but in a very different way than John. I do admit to being a Beatles fan, and was not a fan of Yoko Ono. I'm still not, after reading this book. The other Beatles had "long and winding roads" too, but I was pretty stunned at John's extensive drug abuse in New York (geez he beat the drug deportation by the U.S., take much for granted???), his abuse of people and the constant alienation with Julian. You do wish Cynthia had more ability to stand up for what she believed in, but it always seemed to be about pleasing John, not upsetting John and trying to create a calm atmosphere for him outside of Beatlemania. In the end, those things clearly didn't matter to John - he just went off and did what he wanted. It is still painful to walk by the Dakota and Strawberry Fields, but now I will appreciate the man's talent, the sorrow of a life lost too soon, but with perspective of how he lived his life. I appreciate Cynthia's candor of her misjudgements as well as tell us what it was really like with John. It was also interesting to read her thoughts on the other Beatles, their partners and how their lives changed post-Beatles. You can only wish Julian the best for the rest of his life after reading this book, and now losing his mother who loved him dearly.

I have ambivalent feelings about this book. On the one hand, it's one of the most searing indictments of John Lennon ever written, with agonizingly personal insights. It depicts a man beset with his fair share of demons: drug addiction, depression, cruelty and insensitivity on a monumental scale. It's basically a negative portrayal of John, and Cyn admits on the last page that she wished she never would have met him. On the other hand, Cynthia Lennon has already told this story. This book is essentially the same book she wrote about John in the late 70's, "A Twist of Lennon." The same stories and same words are used throughout, especially the chonicle of the early Liverpool days. It's disingenuous in the extreme that she acts as if this book never existed and it's doubly maddening that she's raking in more money from the sale of a book identical to one she wrote 30 years ago. I'm thoroughly familiar with the previous book and precious little new is revealed here. The only new nuggets are surprisingly deft recollections of John's Aunt Mimi and of Yoko Ono, who is accurately portrayed as a wickedly cruel and manipulative witch. It's also interesting to see what she omits. In "A Twist of Lennon" she admits that John told her he'd cheated on her with "450 women." In this new offering, she leaves out that point. I have loved John all my life, but the book was terribly sad. He was clinically depressed and it went undiagnosed. He chose to self-medicate with massive amounts of drugs, his caustic wit and self-loathing. He turned his back on on the three people who loved him unconditionally. This includes Paul, Julian and Cyn, who loved him as much as anyone. The saddest and most eloquent parts of the biography are about Julian. In a way, it's hard to feel sorry for Julian, who ultimately inherited 40 million bucks from John's estate, but money is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It never buys you happiness and this is true with John's son. John's treatment of Julian is despicable, particuarly when he screamed at him not to laugh because it irritated him. Cyn poignantly adds that since that reprimand, Julian hardly ever laughed again. What an irony that Paul paid more attention to John's son than Lennon did himself. However, Cyn does little self-examination and eternally plays the vistim. I like Cyn, but she's traded on her marriage to John again and again through the years. She sold his love letters when she was down and out, she has written two books about him to cash in on her marriage (pretending the first one didn't exist). She also makes ridiculous errors in the book, such as claiming John wrote "All My Loving" for her. Any casual Beatle fan knows this is a Paul song, written for Jane Asher. I guess it's a sad indictment to admit that Beatle-besotted souls like myself will still defend and love John even though he was wicked S.O.B. Cyn goes out of her way to show John as a drug-addicted wastrel, horrible neglectful father and manipulated weakling. I'm sure it's all true but to those who love the boys, we'll always excuse and defend them, particularly the one cruelly gunned down on a New York City Street in December, 1980.

Having read "A Twist of Lennon" I was surprised at how much more there was to know about John's family, Mimi, their friends and how Mrs. Lennon (Cynthia) is, as expected, still the same, steady, gentle soul she was and always will be. If you're at all interested in wanting to get the feel of how surreal, fast and unexpected the rocket ride of Beatlemania was, this is probably the strongest view you'll get. This is one down to earth woman who manages to remain the same when she was treated, in the end, so badly. She really loved this guy. And that would become rare in every member of the group's life. Maureen and Cynthia were there before the money and the glory, so it was the real deal. As an aside, I really liked Jane Asher better than Linda. Ok, moving on. One of the remarkable things about the whole Beatle experience is that there aren't any players who stood out as divas. They all pretty much stayed somehow grateful but not lofty with their fame and talent. However, John went off the tracks at such a high rate of speed that I can see why Cynthia was caught off guard. Anyone who is not inherently manipulative cannot imagine anyone else being as shrewd as Ono was and still is. I'm never going to accept any sense of generosity, integrity or depth in that woman. Even if the media had never said a word about her, she just emits such a negative vibe that I am repelled each time I even hear her name or see it in print. The black and white of these two women is another fascinating part about this book. There is no guise in Cynthia's telling of the way things were and it was simply fabulous to read the stories of their early years together before Fame arrived. It's painful to watch John fall down the rabbit hole and leaving behind such destruction in his wake. But, the strong link in the whole story was Cynthia. And she's not martyring herself or patting herself on the back, she just tells it like it is and it's a story of a naive, sweet woman who fell in love with a very strong personality who was capable of enormous everything, including pain. I couldn't put it down.

Amo da sempre i Beatles e John e questo libro (che non ho ancora finito di leggere) mi riporta indietro nel tempo, quando iniziò la più grande storia della musica, che non si limitò solo alle canzoni, ma portò cambiamenti nella società, portò i giovani ad avere un ruolo mai avuto prima. Cynthia, per quanto ho letto finora, è riuscita ad essere imparziale descrivendo John con i suoi difetti ed i suoi pregi. L'amore per lui è andato oltre il dolore di essere stata lasciata. Avrei voluto leggere anni fa questo libro, che ho sempre evitato di comprare finora perché pensavo fosse 'di parte', pieno di rancore. Ma Cynthia dimostra anche qui di essere una bella persona. La vita può portare a percorsi diversi, anche se le persone si amano. (Per John Cynthia è stato l'amore giovanile, Yoko quello della maturità, della nuova consapevolezza di sé). Per ora non ho letto niente che già non sapessi (a parte dal punto di vista di Cynthia) ma mi commuove ripercorrere la storia personale di John, così fondamentale nella storia del più grande gruppo della musica ed oltre.

Loved this book. Literally could not put it down. A very down-to-earth account of a very unusual life. Very much found Cynthia had a balanced view overall of what must’ve been a difficult relationship.

Just couldn't put this book down. Reading the memoirs from someone who actually was there is priceless. Cynthia put it very kindly and raw at the same time what the man was really like. All the good, the bad and the ugly. It's definitely worth the read.

Ich habe mir das Buch gekauft, da ich mehr über die Persönlichkeit von John Lennon erfahren wollte. Mein Fazit ist: wenn man ihn bisher sehr verehrt hat, dann kann man das nach der Lektüre der Lebensgeschichte von Cynthia Lennon nicht mehr. Vor allem sein Verhalten bei der Trennung hat mich wirklich schockiert, ich hätte das nicht für möglich gehalten. Nicht von einem Mann und Musiker, dessen Credo auch war :"All I want is the truth". "The truth" kann man in Cynthias Buch nachlesen. Sie schreibt sehr prägnant, macht keine grossen Schwafelausflüge, sachlich und einfach nur das, was sie mit ihm erlebt hat. Am schönsten war die Beschreibung ihrer Erlebnisse mit John Lennon am Anfang ihrer Beziehung und am Anfang der Beatles Karriere. Das Buch beschreibt auch sehr gut Lebensumstände für Männer und Frauen in den späten 50er und in den 60er Jahren, das Swinging London, das Aufkommen der Beliebtheit von Drogen samt den Auswirkungen.

A great read. Very well balanced. Cynthia gets the chance to reveal some long overdue truths. Thought Yoko was a witch? Wait till you read this..