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ericfheiman's review against another edition
4.0
You need good music, but you also need good writers to talk about it, Luckily, this book pretty much has both.
bclark8781's review against another edition
3.0
Ho-Hum. With very few exceptions, most of these chapters are talking about the writers' youth and when they first got into the Beatles. What did I expect?
snowmaiden's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really know that much about the Beatles. I remember hearing "Yesterday" on the radio a lot as a child, and forever etched in my memory is the day I heard "Eleanor Rigby" on a transistor radio in the waiting room while my parents talked to their lawyer behind closed doors. But I don't think I even realized these songs were by the same group (as demonstrated by the fact that I spent a lot of years trying to find that song I'd heard called "All the Lonely People.")
All this is to say that I'm really not the target audience for this book, and yet I won it in a Goodreads giveaway, so I've been dutifully making my way through it one essay at a time. Most were written by people a generation ahead of me who were young kids during Beatlemania. Although each of the essays is ostensibly on a particular song, most of these people ended up writing very similar things about how the Beatles formed the soundtrack of their childhoods. A few of the essays take a different tack and try to analyze the assigned song musically. It was embarrassing to admit that I'd never even heard of some of the songs thus analyzed (such as "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Dear Prudence"), but I did end up finding some of them on Youtube and listening to them.
I hadn't heard of most of the writers here, but there are a few essays from famous authors (most notably Francine Prose and Jane Smiley) and some from non-writer celebrities (like David Duchovy and Roseanne Cash). As is usual with these kinds of projects, the essays from many of these famous people seem kind of phoned-in, while most of the others are really quite good. My favorite is undoubtedly Pico Iyer's essay on "Yesterday." Maybe some of that is because of my familiarity with the song, but it's also because he's one of the few authors who submitted a deeply personal essay that wasn't about early childhood. Instead, he wrote a meditation about how the song helped bring him together with his eventual wife. I'm always a sucker for a love story, and this was no exception.
I can't say what a passionate Beatles fan would think of this book, but I'm sure there are enough reviews from them already. All I can say is that this collection was hit or miss for me, but there were enough hits to make me slightly more interested in learning about the Beatles. I suppose that's a win.
All this is to say that I'm really not the target audience for this book, and yet I won it in a Goodreads giveaway, so I've been dutifully making my way through it one essay at a time. Most were written by people a generation ahead of me who were young kids during Beatlemania. Although each of the essays is ostensibly on a particular song, most of these people ended up writing very similar things about how the Beatles formed the soundtrack of their childhoods. A few of the essays take a different tack and try to analyze the assigned song musically. It was embarrassing to admit that I'd never even heard of some of the songs thus analyzed (such as "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Dear Prudence"), but I did end up finding some of them on Youtube and listening to them.
I hadn't heard of most of the writers here, but there are a few essays from famous authors (most notably Francine Prose and Jane Smiley) and some from non-writer celebrities (like David Duchovy and Roseanne Cash). As is usual with these kinds of projects, the essays from many of these famous people seem kind of phoned-in, while most of the others are really quite good. My favorite is undoubtedly Pico Iyer's essay on "Yesterday." Maybe some of that is because of my familiarity with the song, but it's also because he's one of the few authors who submitted a deeply personal essay that wasn't about early childhood. Instead, he wrote a meditation about how the song helped bring him together with his eventual wife. I'm always a sucker for a love story, and this was no exception.
I can't say what a passionate Beatles fan would think of this book, but I'm sure there are enough reviews from them already. All I can say is that this collection was hit or miss for me, but there were enough hits to make me slightly more interested in learning about the Beatles. I suppose that's a win.
bamahnken's review against another edition
4.0
I received the ARC for In Their Lives as part of the "First to Read" program in exchange for my honest review.
In their Lives is a collection of essays from various writers (some in the music industry some not) that each focus on one (and in a few cases two) Beatles song that affected them the most. Some writers chose to go the technical route and discuss the meaning or even detail the melody and how it was constructed while others wrote a more personal essay on how the song impacted, or soundtracked an important part of their lives. The stories are in order by release date which shows the progression in their sound and also shows how they went from point a-b: the beginning of Beatlemania to what fans thought was an all-too-soon break-up.
I think the mix in essay type reaches a broader audience, although if you're in love with the Beatles you would probably read either way. I preferred the personal essays, and the essays that delved into the song meaning, the music theory essays went slightly (ok, completely) over my head. The note from Paul McCartney in the beginning of the book was a nice touch and it's nice to know that even after all these years it still interests him to know how his music had affected so many people. 4.5/5
In their Lives is a collection of essays from various writers (some in the music industry some not) that each focus on one (and in a few cases two) Beatles song that affected them the most. Some writers chose to go the technical route and discuss the meaning or even detail the melody and how it was constructed while others wrote a more personal essay on how the song impacted, or soundtracked an important part of their lives. The stories are in order by release date which shows the progression in their sound and also shows how they went from point a-b: the beginning of Beatlemania to what fans thought was an all-too-soon break-up.
I think the mix in essay type reaches a broader audience, although if you're in love with the Beatles you would probably read either way. I preferred the personal essays, and the essays that delved into the song meaning, the music theory essays went slightly (ok, completely) over my head. The note from Paul McCartney in the beginning of the book was a nice touch and it's nice to know that even after all these years it still interests him to know how his music had affected so many people. 4.5/5
sidonia's review against another edition
3.0
I wouldn‘t probably have read this book if one of the contributors hadn‘t sent it to me. (Thanks, RC!)
Although I‘m not the biggest fan of the Beatles, and besides knowing only a couple of the mentioned songs, I enjoyed the essays.
I consider this book part of my education, and learned a lot about the music business, the 60s / 70s, and daily life struggles and adventures of the writers.
Although I‘m not the biggest fan of the Beatles, and besides knowing only a couple of the mentioned songs, I enjoyed the essays.
I consider this book part of my education, and learned a lot about the music business, the 60s / 70s, and daily life struggles and adventures of the writers.
scostner's review
4.0
When my father died two years ago, my brother and I talked about his influence on us as we were growing up. Dad was a computer programmer; my brother earned a double graduate degree in mathematics and computer science, while I run coding and robotics programs at my elementary school. Dad loved to read; we are both avid readers. But one of the earliest influences he had on us was music. He loved music and performed in many church groups, and there were often records playing in the house when we were young (yes, vinyl). The majority of the albums were by gospel or folk groups, but Dad also had The Beatles. And that is where our love of rock and roll began.
Reading through the essays in this book was like having conversations with my brother about the different songs. Remembering the first time we realized this was a different type of music than The Kingston Trio or Simon and Garfunkel. Noticing songs on the car radio that we had heard on the stereo at home and singing along. Thinking of the first time we managed to play one of the songs on the piano or guitar. Laughing over the memories together. Famous authors and musicians may have written the essays, but there is an inclusiveness about them that pulls you in as you read. We all have similar memories of where we were when we first discovered a Beatles album (whatever the medium), or a story about our favorite song. The remembrances of how a specific song connects to a life event or loved one are also something communal that we can add to with our own memories.
If you are a Beatles fan of any age, or simply interested in rock history and its impact on culture, then you should pick up a copy of this book. The discussions of how the group changed the face of popular music and how the songs changed as they matured as musicians and explored new techniques are interesting even to those of us not in the industry. Putting the essays in chronological order by the release date of the songs was a great idea. Even though the authors may have come to each song at different points between its release and the present day, we can still see the group's evolution over the years. And it reinforces the point that The Beatles have a continuing impact on those who have been listeners all their lives, those who have only recently discovered an affinity for their work, and everyone in between.
I highly recommend this book for young adults and up. (There are some instances of language that keep it from being ideal for a younger audience.) I received access to the galley for free through the First to Read program.
Reading through the essays in this book was like having conversations with my brother about the different songs. Remembering the first time we realized this was a different type of music than The Kingston Trio or Simon and Garfunkel. Noticing songs on the car radio that we had heard on the stereo at home and singing along. Thinking of the first time we managed to play one of the songs on the piano or guitar. Laughing over the memories together. Famous authors and musicians may have written the essays, but there is an inclusiveness about them that pulls you in as you read. We all have similar memories of where we were when we first discovered a Beatles album (whatever the medium), or a story about our favorite song. The remembrances of how a specific song connects to a life event or loved one are also something communal that we can add to with our own memories.
If you are a Beatles fan of any age, or simply interested in rock history and its impact on culture, then you should pick up a copy of this book. The discussions of how the group changed the face of popular music and how the songs changed as they matured as musicians and explored new techniques are interesting even to those of us not in the industry. Putting the essays in chronological order by the release date of the songs was a great idea. Even though the authors may have come to each song at different points between its release and the present day, we can still see the group's evolution over the years. And it reinforces the point that The Beatles have a continuing impact on those who have been listeners all their lives, those who have only recently discovered an affinity for their work, and everyone in between.
I highly recommend this book for young adults and up. (There are some instances of language that keep it from being ideal for a younger audience.) I received access to the galley for free through the First to Read program.
mrs_merdle's review
4.0
This was fun. The essays varied in a number if ways - really, the only unifying factor was that they all had something to do with a Beatles song - some of them were historical in that they documented what the Beatles were doing at the time of the writing and recording of the particular song being written about, some were personally historical, with stories of what the author was feeling and doing when they first heard the song, some were analytical in the extreme (Ben Zimmer's microscopic look at I Am the Walrus, while obviously meant to point out the foolishness of looking too deeply at lyrics that were purposefully nonsensical, nevertheless looked too deeply at lyrics that were purposefully nonsensical) and some were only peripherally about the song (a very affecting essay by Elissa Schappell about her father's death from cancer, and Octopus's Garden). I especially enjoyed Francine Prose's essay about her young granddaughter's love of the Beatles, and Chuck Klosterman's about the song Helter Skelter, which made me think maybe I should check out his other writing...