The Search for John Lennon: The Life, Loves, and Death of a Rock Star

In time for the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death, music journalist and author Jones (Hero: David Bowie)delves into the psyche of the former Beatle by investigating his connections to the most important people in his life. She begins with his bohemian mother and seaman father, both of whom abandoned him, and his aunt and uncle Mimi and George Smith, who raised him in a modest Liverpool home. After offering an account of Lennon’s relationship with his first wife, Cynthia Powell, and friends Pete Shotton and Stuart Sutcliffe, the author outlines the now-familiar birth of the Beatles, the group’s formative time in Hamburg, the emergence of manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin, and the Beatles’ invasion of America. She ends with Lennon’s symbiotic marriage to avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, his 14-month fling with May Pang, the disregard of son Julian, and the all-encompassing rearing of son Sean. Throughout, the author depicts her complex subject as an insecure, charismatic, cruel, self-absorbed, sex-crazed, creative genius who found a modicum of peace during his final years.