274: George, The Reluctant Beatle with Philip Norman

Something About the Beatles

The author of Shout: The Beatles In Their Time has brought out his third Beatles individual biography, forty plus years after the publication of his group one. George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle was put together tapping Norman's body of old interviews (with witnesses now beyond reach) as well as fresh research and new conversations (including his star witness, Pattie Boyd). The complexity of the subject matter is matched by the complexity of the narrator, who through series of unforced errors has led many a Beatle fan to view him with scorn. But SATB has always been about opening doors rather than shutting them, and if one is prepared to listen without prejudice, one can make up one's own mind on the value of what he has to say about George in this book.