I really liked The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson despite the fact it had very little to do with John Lennon’s last days. Patterson did a great job of covering the formation and history of the Beetles. Not having read a lot about their early days, it was all very interesting.

The last days thing came across more like marketing for the book and really didn’t apply. Yes, he told the last days throughout the book but it was in little tidbits. I see what he was trying to do but the title was misleading.

The other thing that bothered me was Patterson’s style of adding dialogue to historic events – dialogue that is clearly fictional. Again, I see what he is doing and it makes it ultimately more “story-like” but just not truth. It may just be a personal peeve of mine as I cringe every time I see a film “based on true events.” It’s kind of like the news – based on true events… vaguely.

That said, despite the minor slams listed here, I did enjoy what I learned about the Beetles history.

by Chris Doelle