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Paul McCartney

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 677 ratings · 86 reviews

More than a rock star, more than a celebrity, Paul McCartney is a cultural touchstone. As one half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo, he helped transform popular music, moving from the simplistic pop of "Love Me Do" to the avant-garde symphonics of "A Day in the Life" to generation-binding anthems such as "Hey, Jude" and "Let It Be." Along the way the Beatl...more More than a rock star, more than a celebrity, Paul McCartney is a cultural touchstone. As one half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo, he helped transform popular music, moving from the simplistic pop of "Love Me Do" to the avant-garde symphonics of "A Day in the Life" to generation-binding anthems such as "Hey, Jude" and "Let It Be." Along the way the Beatles ascended from the dank basements of working-class Liverpool to heights of fame and wealth no previous entertainer could ever have imagined.

McCartney's own ambitions fueled much of the group's progress. But even as he steered himself from childhood tragedy to his meeting with John Lennon to the gestation of the Beatles and their rise to international acclaim, the same appetites that drove the group to its greatest creative and commercial heights also served to tear the band members apart.

Still, McCartney's career didn't end with the Beatles' breakup. Nor, for that matter, did the bonds between the Beatles. And in this definitive biography, Peter Ames Carlin examines McCartney's entire life, casting new light not just on the Beatles era, but also on his years with Wings and his thirty-year relationship with his first wife, Linda McCartney. He takes us on a journey through a tumultuous couple of decades in which Paul struck out on his own as a solo artist, reached the top of the charts with a new band, and once again drew hundreds of thousands of screaming fans to his concerts. Carlin presents McCartney as a musical visionary, capable of crafting pop gems such as "Band on the Run" and "Maybe I'm Amazed." But he also reveals a layered and often conflicted figure, as haunted by his legacy -- and particularly his relationship with John Lennon -- as he was inspired by it.

Built on years of research and fresh, revealing interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators spanning McCartney's entire life, Carlin's lively biography captures the many facets of Paul McCartney and paints a vivid portrait of one of our era's living legends.

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Hardcover, 374 pages

Published November 3rd 2009 by Touchstone

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Sep 25, 2010 Donal Keady rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

We'll never really know, will we? But just try to tell some people that. Beatle books are a plentiful species, and they should all be read to get an overall picture. I'm not sure if this book needed to be written, but it should be read all the same. It's entertaining enough in its own way. The writing style sometimes gets on my nerves, and Carlin does have great affection for his subject.
People get so polarised when it comes to the Beatles. They have rigid ideas about who they were, what they sa...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Brian Young rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Beatles Fans, Paul Fans, Music Fans.

Shelves: music

I am a huge beatles fan so this book instantly interested me. I had to choose a book for a book report in my english class and it had to be non-fiction, and after searching forever I found this. From the first page, to the last page, i was simply in love. I thought i knew alot about paul before, but never this much. From the begining where he lost his mother to recent times, I can now honostly say that I know paul. The way Peter Ames Carlin writes the book it is so inviting and just screams read...more I am a huge beatles fan so this book instantly interested me. I had to choose a book for a book report in my english class and it had to be non-fiction, and after searching forever I found this. From the first page, to the last page, i was simply in love. I thought i knew alot about paul before, but never this much. From the begining where he lost his mother to recent times, I can now honostly say that I know paul. The way Peter Ames Carlin writes the book it is so inviting and just screams readability. The colorfull cast of charecters include all 3 beatles, Michael Jackson, and many more, even Elvis Pressley. I had no clue Elvis and The Beatles had met untill i read this book. It also covers somemore of pauls sadder momments including the loss of his mother, the beatles break up and aftermath, and even his divorce from Heather Mills, which I can say affected me in a way that no other book has, it made me feel rather angry. In other words, Peter Ames Carlin has successfully wrote the greatist biography I have ever read. Now dont misinterprete that as me saying its flawless, because it is not. There are somethings that were just unnessicarily graphic, for example there are parts in the book where there is fairly crass masterbation talk, with several F-Bombs and C-Bombs spread out amongst the rest of the book. I mean I know its a biography and all, but there were ways of paraphrasing which I easily came up with. Although some of the crassness is also my favorite parts because Paul and the Beatles were some funny guys. With all there Brittish charm and all. Another flaw was it was rather hard to follow at some points. I fully believe the author could have left some parts out and added in the intire middle of the beatles. The book talks about the Begining of the beatles, skips the middle, and hurrys through the final years, and then later when they reference parts of there middle carrer, only diehard beatles fans would understand it. I know its a biography for one of the Beatles, but you should still make it more friendly for newer beatles(and paul) fans. All in all this was a really enjoyable book to read. I loved my experience with it. I would gladly read this book again. I give it 4 out of 5(less)

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Jun 05, 2011 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir

I've never read any other McCartney or Beatles-related biography or memoir, so I can't really speak to the accuracy of this one. But still, for me, this book would fall between so-so and ok. I didn't dislike it, but something seems missing or like its just skimming the surface. [Maybe it's because I'd just listened to Keith Richard's book, which is great; this one doesn't have that depth & I wonder if the author ever actually interviewed Paul for it -- no endnotes/bibliography in the audiobo...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Lily Bart rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really hated Paul McCartney as a kid. I thought he was the lame Beatle, the wimpy Beatle, the one hiding behind a smile and a smirk while John Lennon changed the world with his bold ideas and George Harrison defied the wealthy in favor of spiritual quests and Ringo Starr just took in and healed all of the loneliness and pain of teenage life on earth with his big, sad eyes.

Having grown up a lot in the past thirty five years, I was really impressed by this book and all it reveals about Paul's re...more I really hated Paul McCartney as a kid. I thought he was the lame Beatle, the wimpy Beatle, the one hiding behind a smile and a smirk while John Lennon changed the world with his bold ideas and George Harrison defied the wealthy in favor of spiritual quests and Ringo Starr just took in and healed all of the loneliness and pain of teenage life on earth with his big, sad eyes.

Having grown up a lot in the past thirty five years, I was really impressed by this book and all it reveals about Paul's real achievements as a Beatle and a man. I never knew that Paul, like John, lost a mother at an early age. But while John was running around punching out little old ladies and bullying helpless cripples in order to "forget" Paul was actually trying to make something of himself musically. This book provides a fascinating analysis of how differently the two of them operated -- Paul was an effortless mimic who could pick up any instrument, or singing style, and duplicate it perfectly within weeks. Whereas John tended to just sound like himself and to hell with anyone who didn't like it!

The best passage about their songwriting was something like, "but while Paul wanted to woo the audience with melody, John wanted to jar them. His goal was to get in their faces and tell them exactly how he felt -- and to force them to feel something too." How these two opposite approaches resulted in the greatest rock and roll music ever made is an amazing story. And the author really take you into the nuts and bolts work in the studio, too, describing how "Come Together" began as just a few lines of surrealistic poetry John made up while stoned out of his mind, but later became an elaborate musical tapestry of whining guitars and shivering drums which was largely orchestrated by Paul. (Though it's also interesting to note the extent to which John and George and even Ringo really, really resented Paul's tendency to "direct" them in the studio.)

Altogether a fascinating book -- one of the best rock biographies I have read!

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Jan 01, 2010 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reason for Reading: I like the Beatles but I love Paul.

Comments: Normally, I steer away from biographies, trying to read memoirs instead unless the person in question is dead and never wrote their own auto-biography. Well, Paul is neither, but given his extremely private nature I find it doubtful he'll ever write a memoir and if he did it would not be in-depth but more like musings of good memories. So I jumped on this book when it came out.

Again, I find when reading these types of biographies o...more Reason for Reading: I like the Beatles but I love Paul.

Comments: Normally, I steer away from biographies, trying to read memoirs instead unless the person in question is dead and never wrote their own auto-biography. Well, Paul is neither, but given his extremely private nature I find it doubtful he'll ever write a memoir and if he did it would not be in-depth but more like musings of good memories. So I jumped on this book when it came out.

Again, I find when reading these types of biographies one has to be wary as the authors are often out to dig up every piece of dirt they can on the celebrity or they don't particularly like said person and simply enjoy writing a book that trashes them. This is not what I want. I want to read a respectful, true account of the celebrity's life and author Peter Ames Carlin delivers on all accounts.

Right from the start one can tell that the author respects his subject and throughout the book when the controversies arise he shows the reader a 'pro-Paul' position. But this does not mean that he paints a fake rosy picture. Paul McCartney is exposed here warts and all. He was egocentric during the Beatles days, always being the leader, creating rifts among the other members and yet not realizing it until years much later. The intensely close relationship between him and John Lennon is examined from all sides even during the years they publicly shunned each other and Yoko Ono's influence over John. George and Ringo are given very little space in the book. The book is about Paul and his relationships with these two do not stand out much more than 'mates'. Though we do get at inside look at Paul's brotherly affection to George, which was not always appreciated.

Past the Beatles, the rocky years with Wings are covered in detail, Paul's true love, once in a lifetime relationship with his beloved Linda, his semi-success in the 80s as a solo singer, his disaster of a marriage with the vengeful Heather Mills and his eventual settlement into simply being Paul McCartney, the last of the Fab Four (as nobody really counts Ringo). We also see Paul's reactions to nthe deaths of both John and George. A very interesting, funny, informative look inside the life of a brilliant, sensitive, egocentric, perfectionist, caring, simple-life loving man who is one of the 20th century's most recognizable and influential musicians.(less)

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Dec 21, 2009 Judith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like the rest of the world, I loved the Beatles, and after the Beatles, Paul McCartney. But I never felt drawn to read any books about McCartney, till I read a review of this one in the NYT. I don't know how this book compares with other biographies of McCartney, but I enjoyed it tremendously. I learned so much about the group and the individuals in the group from the stories in this book and it changed previous impressions I had in so many ways.

For example, I hadn't really realized what an inc...more Like the rest of the world, I loved the Beatles, and after the Beatles, Paul McCartney. But I never felt drawn to read any books about McCartney, till I read a review of this one in the NYT. I don't know how this book compares with other biographies of McCartney, but I enjoyed it tremendously. I learned so much about the group and the individuals in the group from the stories in this book and it changed previous impressions I had in so many ways.

For example, I hadn't really realized what an incredible drive and work ethic Paul and John shared. From a very young age, all they wanted to do was practice, perform, and create. I also didn't realize how badly the group was managed financially, and I think that ties in with their youthfulness. These four guys made and lost fortunes overnight and were royally screwed at every turn. When they weren't losing money, they were trying to figure out ways to plow their money back into communal democratic projects which also failed. But the worse part is how they lost out on their royalties. I have to quote this part of the book because I found it so interesting:

"The Lennon-McCartney copyrights had been up for sale a few times over the years and something always stood between Paul and those precious songs. When ATV put the catalog on the market in 1985, Paul had an inside line on buying Northern Songs for a reported 20 million [pounds:]. But then Paul had decided to bring Yoko into the deal. . . Yoko agreed but took over the negotiation herself, assuring Paul that she could get the catalog for a fraction of the 20 million asking price.. . . When the dust cleared, all Paul's most beloved songs belonged to the guy who lived in his own amusement park with a chimp for a companion. . .
'I feel like a friend has [the songs:],' Yoko was quoted as saying. . . .there was a wrinkle in the U.S. copyright law that saw to it that the heirs of a songwriter who died during the first 28 years of his copy-right were automatically granted ownership for the second 28 year term no matter what. In other words, Yoko was going to get control of John's 50 percent of the songs without dropping a dime."

I loved all the inside stories on Paul and Linda's rustic home life. They were apparently slobs and their house pets not always house-trained. They served their guests beans and toast for dinner. When they hired band members to play for Wings, they bunked in a dormitory-style loft that Paul had built in the barn. It sounds cold and wet and dirty, and I was for once glad that I had not married Paul McCartney
despite my adolescent crush. But I was touched by how much they did seem to love each other. I don't know of any other musician who would want his wife to be with him so badly that he insisted she be a member of the band, so that she could not just travel with him, but actually be on stage with him. (Talk about a way to keep out the groupies!) And for all our criticism of that decision, it didn't appear to hurt his music; it clearly cemented his marriage and even their children turned out okay.

I was also completely moved by his complex and intimate relationship with John Lennon and all the twists and turns it took through the years. We all suffered when Lennon died, but i don't think anyone suffered worse than Paul McCartney.
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Aug 04, 2011 Steve Curll rated it 2 of 5 stars

Keep the kids from this book. It is full of expletives, both from Paul and friends,and the author. It is difficult to sort the author's speculation about songs and situations as the documentation is not noted in the text. Many of his statements are completely undocumented and presented as fact. For example, he claims that Paul wrote the last line of Norwegian Wood to state that the narrator was scorned and gleefully looked back at the blazing apartment after he torched it. Looking for documentat...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book invites the reader into the extraordinary life and career of one of Britain's most famous rock icons, Sir Paul McCartney, beginning with his childhood in Liverpool and including his musical union with Lennon at age fifteen. I was amazed to learn how much of the Beatles was influenced by McCartney, from the group members and the image, to the endless list of his own compositions (or Lennon-McCartney originals that were, according to Carlin, predominately the works of the latter), since...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

It is impossible for my children to understand what the Beatles meant to my friends and me when we were teenagers. They were our cue to music, fashion, politics, religion. We thought about them all the time and no conversation went far without them being brought up. I still remember which of my friends liked Paul, which George, (you had to pick one as your favorite). These days, I dearly love Beethoven, but for sentiment, nostalgia and comfort I still turn to the Fab Four. That being said, a boo...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Scott Holstad rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book to read. The Beatles were a little before my time, and I grew up listening to Paul's Wings, but I've always been interested in the Beatles and Paul McCartney, so I enjoyed this book. While the author is clearly a fan, he doesn't hold back his critiques either, which balances the book out.

I learned a lot I didn't know. For instance, I didn't know that Paul was the musical genius in the group and taught Lennon how to play the guitar. I also didn't know he was so contro...more This was an interesting book to read. The Beatles were a little before my time, and I grew up listening to Paul's Wings, but I've always been interested in the Beatles and Paul McCartney, so I enjoyed this book. While the author is clearly a fan, he doesn't hold back his critiques either, which balances the book out.

I learned a lot I didn't know. For instance, I didn't know that Paul was the musical genius in the group and taught Lennon how to play the guitar. I also didn't know he was so controlling, and tried to direct everything the group did himself. He took that to extremes at times, but it shows he was driven, that he had a good work ethic (which he got from his father). The book focused a lot on the Lennon/McCartney relationship, both good and bad, and often left out George and Ringo, which I thought was a shame. I didn't know Paul was responsible for so many of the Beatles classics, and it was sad to read about Lennon's increasing disillusionment with the group, even before Yoko was on the scene. And yes, Yoko was evil. She really did drive the group apart. Tragedy. We learn a lot about the Beatles in this book, but the author keeps a lot out -- too much. For instance, early on, the boys are broke and playing lots of concerts, trying to make it. Several pages later, they're all driving a Rolls Royce. Huh? How did that happen? I'd have liked to learn about how their empire started and grew and how they adapted to their new financial situations. We were also told how the other three Beatles bought houses in the suburbs with their wives. I didn't even know they were married, and we are never told when or how this happened. We're not even told how John met Yoko, which I think would be critical to a book that has so much to say about Yoko. The breakup of the Beatles is tragic to read about though.

When Paul met Linda Eastman, he was already engaged. I didn't know that. When he and Linda married, it was no big deal. They had kids -- well adjusted, by all accounts -- and grew their family. Linda was a photographer, which I didn't know, so when Paul tried to make her a member of his new band, Wings, she was a little nervous. Here, I don't think the book treats her very well. She sings off key, can't play the keyboards that she's just learning for the group. She's basically in the band cause Paul wants his wife in it. She really doesn't get any credit for the Wings success, which I think is a bit unfair.

Paul was a total whore before he married Linda. Apparently he liked the groupies. But as far as I can tell, he and Linda had a great marriage, so when she died of cancer in the '90s, it was sad to read about and difficult to read about Paul's attempts to adapt to his new life without her.

Paul was also into drinking and drugs, and he and Linda smoked pot til the end. I didn't know that. I don't know that that makes a difference to me, but I hadn't realized that. Lennon was into harder stuff though.

Paul was cheap. He paid the members of Wings 70 pounds a week for years, which was less than they could have made as session musicians. He promised they'd share in the royalties when they started selling albums and touring, but he never did it. He's treated pretty roughly here in the book, but apparently it's deserved.

When Paul meets Heather Mills shortly after Linda's death, you can just tell it's a bad idea, especially with no pre-nup. His kids were opposed to it. Virtually everyone was. And while Heather was a model, she had apparently done some lying about her past. She's not painted well in this book, and after they're married a few years, she becomes a first class villain. She's truly evil, and fortunately, she got away with less of Paul's money than I had thought or remembered.

Paul's solo works in the '80s through the present are interesting to read about. I didn't even know about most of them. I'd be interested in listening to a few now after reading about them. One thing that the author does is give a brief run down and comment on virtually every song on every album Paul's involved with, including all of the Beatle's, Wings', and his solo efforts. I'm not sure how I feel about that, because they're just snippets of words about these songs, but I guess they're there for a reason, so I won't complain. Carlin is a big fan of Paul's music, that's all I can say....

It was a good book to read, and quite easy to get through. I would give it five stars, but it leaves out too much that I would consider to be critical info, so I'm downgrading it to four. Still worth reading though. Good book.(less)

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Jun 15, 2010 Angela Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Donal, Michael, Lisa

Shelves: biographies

As far as content, this book is great. Nowhere does it go too far with either beatifying or villifying the man, his friends and bandmates, or the women in his life. It's fair, it's fascinating, it's fun. It is just the right length-- you never get sick of Paul (well, who could, anyway?). Though I have yet to read a book that gives Ringo enough credit, I thought the Heather Mills episode was handled deftly.

The editing is problematic. I was distracted by bizarrely constructed sentences and grammat...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Jeff Williams rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Carlin writes this book as an extended album review. It's not a bad book but not a page turner either. There is little new insight that a fan is not already aware of here. It seems like a sympathetic essay written by an enthusiastic fan. Carlin takes a number of liberties speculating on what people thought or intended. He seems to slide through the Wings years quite quickly choosing to portray McCartney and his wife in a negative light and running from project to project with little insight from...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Alicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

An intimate look into the life of one of the four greatest rock stars of all time, Paul McCartney: A Life follows Paul's journey from grammar school in Liverpool to global super-stardom. It captures all of Paul's complexities, his slip-ups and his greatest triumphs. The bulk of this book is a very detailed account of the inner workings of the Fab Four; I loved the indulgence, but I think, at times, it lost its focus on Paul. I also felt that after Linda's death and the dissolution of Wings, the...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Suzanne Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: music-books, biographies

My first musical purchase, while in junior high, was a 45 of “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Helter Skelter” on the flip side. As I graduated to high school, Paul McCartney and Wings were reaching their peak. I remember listening to a favorite 8-track in my car of the James Bond soundtrack for “Live and Let Die.” Of course I grew up hearing the Beatles music as a group … their music is timeless. But Lennon's solo work soon became my favorite of the ex-Beatles. John's death is still shocking....more

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Jan 31, 2010 Khofmeister rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good, fast read that covers (so far, anyway) his early days, the Quarrymen, the Hamburg ventures, all of the Beatles years, and, apparently, Wings through his current-day musical exploits. It does not go into great depth in any one period and is relatively light on the musical aspect of his compositions, which may leave a little wanting for those with a musical background. But it's not intended to be an analysis of the music in that respect, there are other books out there for that; rather, it's...more

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Sep 24, 2010 Maggie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: beatles, borrowed

I'm not as familiar with the Wings period, so this was a nice overview. This book isn't by any means in depth but it was a quick read. I liked that the author didn't completely kiss up to Paul by actually listing off some of the reasons he had problem retaining Wings members, (principal among them: he was cheap), and why some of his solo stuff wasn't as good as it could be (a huge ego, which is why he needs John since he'd actually listen to criticism from him and him alone). The part about Lind...more

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Apr 11, 2010 Matthew added it

It feels more like a really long Wikipedia entry than a proper bio, but it's fun to imagine Paul McCartney slapping tables and yelling at people.

It's usually presented as a series of events of which Paul McCartney was one participant -- I don't think it has a very strong POV. About 2/3rds of the book is about his time as a Beatle, which is fair I suppose, but it also feels like the author would have much rather written a book about John Lennon. Which is funny, since one of the recurring ideas of...more

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Dec 24, 2010 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The author pulls no punches in his biography of 1/4 of the greatest rock and roll band ever. He also does a decent job of revealing the cost of devoting oneself to fame and fortune--the cost in the losing of ones very soul as well as the lost friends and loved ones.

Mr. Carlin had also steeped himself deep and long into the music itself of the Beatles and Paul's work with Wings and solo stuff. It was a treat to catch phrases of song lyrics in the story.

Unfortunately it seemed like the author or...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

The one thing that really struck me as I read this book is that, as much as Sir Paul would like to think otherwise, his genius as a musician and songwriter is very much a result of his collaboration with John Lennon. The music that he and John produced during their too-brief tenure as Beatles was revolutionary, transcendent of their era, and quite literally altered the course of history. After the Beatles called it quits, Paul charged ahead, attempting to recreate that magic on his own and not q...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Aaron rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who hate Paul McCartney

Recommended to Aaron by: Thankfully no one

I have read close to 400 books on the Beatles, solo and together, and this is one of the worse. It is a complete rewrite of other books, very little original, and quite frankly, the author is not a fan. Also, he spends very little time on his solo career, Red Rose Speedway is given all of half a page, Chaos and Creation even less! I urge fans to not read this book but search Many Years from Now.
A big disappointment and complete waste of time. Also, the grammer is about a grade one level.

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Jan 06, 2010 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

The Beatles were on speed in Hamburg. Becoming icons messed up their lives and their friendship. John could be a violent wacko jerk. Paul was probably much more talented musically. The Beatles started out with 3 guitars. Paul only switched to bass later. He played a lot of guitar on Beatles albums, which I never knew. The book itself is OK, I think most of it may be rehash but he may have interviewed some of the people around during the Beatles heyday and uncovered a few new nuggets.

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Sep 07, 2011 Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars

A story I love re-reading no matter how many times I read it. This time with lots of details about how much of a dick McCartney could be. But now I have a much clearer picture of what exactly he did after the Beatles, an informed interest in exploring his solo work, and a sense of how much Linda meant to him. The scene where she dies is heartbreaking. Carlin writes with a precise insight that strives to explain the reasoning behind, if not always justification for, things Paul did, such as treat...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: music

I do think that Paul McCartney is a musical genius, and I also feel that when people write about the Beatles, they usually dwell on John. It was nice to hear about Paul, and I was particularly interested in his post-Beatles life. I liked hearing about Linda, and about his relationship with Wings. There are a lot of books on the Beatles, of course, but this one was mostly interesting for its novel insights on his life after the Beatles.

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Jun 03, 2012 Daniela rated it 5 of 5 stars

Me encantan The Beatles,(son mi banda favorita)y Paul McCartney es el beatle que más me gusta. Había querido leer una biografía completamente de él hacía mucho tiempo, pero la mayoría de las que encontraban no eran autorizadas y no contaban con un punto de vista objetivo, hasta que leí esta.
Cualquier fanático de Paul McCartney le va a gustar este libro, porque a pesar de lo malo que podemos encontrar, McCartney es un ser humano increíble.

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Dec 27, 2009 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

The early Beatles stuff is a detailed review of information everyone from my generation is familiar with. The more interesting stories are from more recent events that I didn't follow as closely. The best thing in the book for me was finding out about the album Run Devil Run that I had never heard of. The previews on amazon.com are enough to sell it to me. It's a collection of blistering hot 50's rockers, the kind of music I really want to hear from Paul, and the opposite of his later mostly sed...more

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Dec 30, 2009 Gary Shapiro rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book has it's problems. Chief among them is the fact the Beatles story, well and thoroughly told elsewhere, takes up more than half of this book, even though that group ended in 1970 and McCartney has continued to live and work all the time since then. Nevertheless, it is a fun if occasionally infuriating read. Visit From The Bookshelf to hear my interview with the author. http://web.mac.com/garyshapiro

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May 06, 2013 Przemek Skoczyński rated it 2 of 5 stars

Przy biografii Lennona pod tym samym tytułem, książkę o McCartneyu czyta się jak konspekt. Mam wrażenie, że autor mógł kilka motywów rozwinąć i przedstawić bardziej szczegółowo. Dla fanów pozycja obowiązkowa (szczególnie ze względu na opis losów Paula po rozpadzie The Beatles), ale dla przypadkowych osób niekoniecznie. Dobrze, że autor stara się być obiektywny i nie wystawia muzykowi jedynie laurki.

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Feb 03, 2010 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Donna

Well, Paul is portrayed as a real stinker here. Considering he is the purported richest musician EVER, he is amazingly tight-fisted and unwilling to assist family or colleagues. His working class parents, whom he admired greatly, would be ashamed of his self-centered behavior. This obviously unauthorized bio definitely took some of the shine off of my admiration for this rock legend.

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Feb 08, 2012 Lorraine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, 2012, audio-book, re-reads

This is a comprehensive biography of the man, from birth up to his third marriage, warts and all. McCartney is a great performer, song-writer and composer, and his work with John Lennon produced some of the greatest songs of the 20th century. Paul fell into depression when the Beatles finally broke apart, but got Wings started and experienced great popularity and success again, this time as an adult and without the screaming mania, and with Linda by his side giving him stability and support. Aft...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Amblingbooks.com marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, people-biographies, arts-entertainment

The bestselling author of the definitive biography of former Beach Boy Brian Wilson offers new insight into the life and music of Paul McCartney, one of the world's most popular and influential musicians.

Listen to Paul McCartney on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.

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