Like so many other readers, my teenage years were touched, formed, affected, and filled by The Beatles and their music. Surprisingly, I have never read any other comprehensive histories of the group or its individuals, and Ian Leslie gives us a plethora of sources he used so that will be of help in the future. I won't be fact-checking Leslie's many footnotes so I can only say that the story he weaves is intriguing and very emotional. In fact, "John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs" is a mixture of psychology, emotion, and musicology and the combination is enlightening and enjoyable. There were, of course, things about John's and Paul's lives - separately and together - that I knew little about. As a teenager, I'm sure I was less than aware of the volume of drug and alcohol use/abuse. The extent of their codependency certainly wasn't something I thought about. "John & Paul" often left me crying because the anecdotes were so heart wrenchingly sad. After each reading session I found myself listening to one or two of the songs that the chapters are named for. It gave me some closure for the many wounds this book opened up. Regardless of some of the disturbing things that are revealed here (and probably in many of Leslie's sources), The Beatles and their songs will always remain, for me, tremendously important. I have recommended this book for my library to purchase once it is published. Amusingly, when I submitted the title - John & Paul - the librarian asked if it was about Popes!!

An exciting and very entertaining look at the partnership of Lennon and McCartney. In forty three chapters each focused on a Beatles song, Ian Leslie charters their remarkable journey. Theirs is a love of friends, partners, competitors, polar opposites, inspiration and of finding the emotional balance missing in each other. Their relationship was a duet of differences and like mindedness, wanting to impress and wanting reach new heights. The depth of who they were, how they collaborated and the security of knowing the other was there provides a fresh and insightful look at this ‘once in a lifetime’ partnership.
A must read for Beatle fans!
Thanks to NetGalley, Ian Leslie and Celadon Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Big Beatle's fan here and I really liked this book. Put the relationship into context in a way I hadn't read about before. Other books seem to focus on professional jealousy and this one showed the depth of the friendship and collaboration. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I've read a lot of books about The Beatles and this one is the best I've ever seen. It turns out to be the book I was always hoping to read without knowing it--a book focused exclusively on John and Paul's remarkable relationship. Leslie has amazing insight into The Beatles as well as into an artist's psychology. He hunts through lyrical clues to show how some instances where they're talking about their relationship in the songs.

It seems like Paul wanted to impress John who he viewed as a leader, but never realized how much John insecurity made him desperate to impress Paul. Leslie even makes a fairly convincing case that John may have had a confusing attraction to John.

Leslie has a great description of their respective songwriting styles-- "Paul created songs that felt as if they had always existed; John channeled transmissions from another planet. "

Thanks to Celadon Publishing for sending me a galley of the book in return for an honest review. Tell all the Beatles fans in your life that this is a book they need to read.