3.5 stars, actually.

I really like David Scheff’s writing and have read a lot of things that he’s written. He’s a great writer, and an emotional one. That works against him on this one.

Yoko is (or was, he said they drifted apart) a friend. His objectivity on this was questionable. I understand that, but it threw the book off for me.

The writing is different in different parts. In the parts where he’d gotten his information from John or Yoko, it’s really strong. But, in the parts where he’s not, it’s weak. There’s a lot about her life before John, but it’s handled in a way that is very respectful to Yoko, but leaves more questions than answers. If she was more famous than John before they got together, why are the reviews shown always negative? Where are the details of her art rather than the examples of celebrities who were influenced by her? Why did she keep leaving her daughter and moving around the world? The childhood she had didn’t make sense for her to have done that so much. There are questions that come in the later years when she and Mr. Scheff weren’t in constant contact.

I wanted to know more about Yoko. I learned some things before and after John. Yoko is a fascinating woman, but I think she deserves a non biased biographer.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, but all opinions are my own.

I haven't really read much about Yoko Ono even though I was a Beatles fan and grew up in that era. I hadn't even paid much attention to her life beyond that she married John Lennon.

What a great biography. It didn't get bogged down in any one thing and was just the right length. But it made me want to look up her art and music. The book is divided into decades of her long life. Primarily before John, during John and after John. It talks about her as a person not as Mrs. Lennon. She is a person of such depth and greatness on her own.

I recommend that everyone read this and learn more about this amazing woman.

I was given this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

thank u so much to netgalley and the publisher for this earc!

i was suprised at how much i enjoyed this one, it was very easy to read and very interesting. i would def recommend picking up if you have ever been curious about yoko!

Thank you for the advanced readers copy of Yoko. I learned so much about this mysterious, talented lady. This book was well written. However, what was missing was chronological photos of the Lennon’s and photographs of Yoko’s body of work. I felt that tie in would have been of interest, as Yoko is mostly associated with the break up of the Beatles. The reader who like me was unaware of how talented she is would have gotten a more complete picture of this icon.

David Sheff had the honor of conducting the final Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1980. The questions asked by the twenty four year old Sheff and the topics covered during that interview revealed an insight into life with the Lennon’s and remains a treasured time capsule.
In this well done biography, Sheff turns his attention to his friend Yoko Ono. He carefully but honestly covers the highs and lows of the avant-garde artist. Her name came into world consciousness when she entered the orbit of John Lennon and the Beatles and was tagged as the woman that broke up the band. Sheff unpeels the onion and reveals Yoko’s difficult yet privileged childhood, her art, marriages, heroin addiction, interests in numerology and astrology, her search for her daughter Kyoko, her husbands untimely and brutal death all defining the facets of Ono’s life.
Yoko is artist, musician, business woman, wife, partner and mother. She has been microscopically analyzed over the years and in the years following Lennon’s death she has managed to honor and protect her late husbands legacy but has managed to rise above all the negativity creating and promoting her beloved art.
A very worthwhile read.
Thanks to Net Galley, David Sheff and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

I got this book from Netgalley so I can read and review it before it’s published. Being a fan of The Beatles, I knew about Yoko. But, I was intrigued and interested to read her story as told by David Sheff, who is also a close friend of hers. Sheff is the one who got to interview them in 1980.

This book really dived into her beginnings, her performance art, her music, and the love of John Lennon and their son Sean Ono Lennon. How she came up with the ideas for her art was heavily discussed.

I had no clue she came from a wealthy family in Japan and her parents never quite respected what she did in her extraordinary life.

Her previous marriages before John Lennon and her daughter, Kyoko, with one of them was also discussed.

After John died, she persevered through threats and depression and got back in the game of art and music where she has thrived. Oh, she also was overseeing The Beatles as John’s heir, but recently, she has given that up to their son, Sean.

Overall, it was a quick read and I enjoyed reading about her life.

“John Lennon once described Yoko Ono as the world’s most famous unknown artist. Everyone knows her name, but no one knows what she does” . . .
WHICH WAS TRUE FOR ME!!

“Throughout her life, Yoko has been a caricature, curiosity, and, often, a villain—an inscrutable seductress, manipulating con-artist, and caterwauling fraud. The Lennon/Beatles saga is one of the greatest stories ever told, but Yokos part has been missing—hidden in the Beatles formidable shadow, further obscure by fragrant, misogyny, and racism”
I KNEW NONE OF THIS . . .
“This definitive biography of Yoko Ono‘s life will change that. In this book, Yoko Ono takes centerstage”.
I WAS READY TO FIND OUT!
also —
BEING A HUGE FAN OF THE AUTHOR — DAVID SHEFF —
I was excited to read - anything he was interested enough in to write!!!

My Review thoughts:
*WOW* . . . I learned a lot…more than I ever thought I needed to know!
There is a ‘ton’ of information to digest …. ninety percent of which I knew nothing.
But-Oh My! ….
….as human-interest stories go, few are more interesting than this one.
A whole new world opened up for me that I didn’t see coming.
…. Between reading of “Yoko” ……(during breaks) …. I found myself endlessly thinking about Yoko Ono, John Lennon, the historical unique years of music and art — the many details I knew nothing about with a growing craving to walk back in time.
Nostalgia for this history and the rock ‘n’ roll pop culture
lead me to watching YouTubes during the Beatlemania years …. (an era I grew up in …. but wasn’t a screaming-diehard).
Yet, like most people of my generation— I was influenced by the Beatles powerful cultural force — (from their music, hairstyles, fashion, and politics).

Reading ‘Yoko’ gives in-depth experience of who Yoko Ono is as a person from early childhood - adolescent- young adult - middle age - and old age. Yoko One is 91 year today.
I “imagine” (ha! no pun intended) . . . that I’ll be thinking about this book (the transformative influence it’s had on me)…. for years to come.
JUST GREAT!!! > unexpectedly more interesting and affecting than I had ever ‘imagined’.

David Sheff couldn’t have done a better job!!!
He explores Yoko’s place in history …. her influence on art, music, feminism, activism, and politics.
Yoko challenged societal norms and pushed the boundaries of artistic expression.
She also influenced John Lennon’s music … as well as his happiness.

As for her personal … most intimate life …. years of depression … feelings of being an outcast, etc. …. *90* years of life ups & downs …
Well ….. I’m left in awe!!!

“Many people’s impression of Yoko came from “the tired, sensational, and fictitious versions of the story that began when she met John and ended with his murder, a period of just fourteen of her ninety-plus years”.

Much of Yoko‘s work took the form of poetic instructions for actions and events…..requiring the participation of the viewer or listener….inviting the audience to join in.
Yoko presented work that was unfinished… work that required other people to complete them by performing physical or mental actions.

Much of her work explored the fragility of human communication.

Whether Yoko‘s work was characterized as an act of spiritual power, vulnerability, sacrificing of oneself, trust, etc. Yoko‘s intention for her art was to be about anything that people thought it was.

Yoko had been called an ‘ugly Jap’….. or John Lennon’s ‘Bitch’.
Racist and sexist comments came from the press, fans, the Beatles’ circle, and the other Beatles.

Traumas shaped Yoko‘s life. From early childhood on, the lesson was clear: she could rely on no one but herself.

Feelings of being afraid, ill, and starving—of wasting away— became reoccurring themes in Yoko’s art.

Throughout this book we learn of Yoko’s other marriages - children - and deeply personal & fascinating stories.
I’m still listening to old music and watching YouTubes.

One of the most significant events of Yoko‘s life occurred in 2017. Sean, her son, helped a fragile Yoko on stage to accept the National Music Publishers Association Centennial Song Award for ‘Imagine’ — one of the most important songs ever recorded.
Things were different in 1971, but in 2017, Yoko Ono was acknowledged for being the co-writer of ‘Imagine’.

“‘Rolling Stone’ described
‘Imagine’ as an enduring hymn of solace and promise that is carried us through extreme grief, from the shock of Lennon‘s own death in 1980 to the unspeakable horror of September 11th. It is now in impossible to imagine a world without ‘Imagine’, and we need it more than he ever dreamed”.
It wasn’t John‘s song alone, as he had said multiple times.
Yoko Ono finally received the credit…..that John said she deserved.

Last ….
….a very special acknowledgement to David Sheff …
He took on an ambitious project in writing this book …and did an outstanding job!!!
David Sheff moves me too!

Just ALL-AROUND GREAT!!!
A great treat - experience reading this book!!!
I loved it!!!

Super interesting to learn more about Yoko's life in Sheff's book. She is much more than a Beatle's wife! I found it enticing and exciting to read about her personal history. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I received this as a digital galley from NetGalley.

I was glad to see a comprehensive biography of Yoko Ono independent of John Lennon or any of the other Beatle wives and girlfriends. She had a career before and after her involvement of all of those folks.

I struggled with Sheff's objectivity (which I think he did too) but overall I found the biography to be very solid and well researched. It didn't make me want to revisit Yoko's music (sorry not sorry) but I have always appreciated her conceptual art, past and present. It was interesting to read about the development of her artistic identity and her childhood- both topics I did not know as much about.