Andru J. Reeve

A great bit of rock history, perfectly frozen in aspic. Andru Reeve is without a doubt THE expert on this particular slice of the Beatle pie. And the writing style is facile -- in fact, it reads almost like a novel in the first section (the second section deals with how the hoax has "lived on" through the last 4 decades and is a bit more of a plow than the first 180 pages. Nonetheless, it is a decent account of the power of folklore and urban legends and is worth reading. However, if one is show more less concerned with this aspect of the rumor, they can skim this part. I don't recommend that!)

Despite what one of the other reviewers suggested, the book does contain a VERY meticulous and very well organized list of clues. It's located in the first appendix. The list, numbering 140 clues, is handily broken-down chronologically by album and then further grouped by either audio or visual "evidence". As suggested in the introduction, this comprehensive list can either be read, in toto, before tackling the main text, or it can be consulted along the way to augment and enhance the reading experience. Since I'm pretty familiar with the clues, I chose the latter. But someone approaching the subject with less prior knowledge can, and should, proceed with the former.

[Recommended for: fans of the Beatles or Paul McCartney, urban legend lovers, rock historians and lovers of a good mystery.] show less

This is the definitive account of the "Paul-Is-Dead" rumour. Andru Reeve presents the account in a thoroughly-easy way to grasp (despite what another critic said here). I couldn't put it down; I read the story of the rumor in two sittings, and looked over the appendices over the next couple of days (this book is a real treasure trove for the serious researcher, as Andru Reeve presents a bibliography that runs 25 pages. If you want to follow up with more in-depth articles, all you need to do show more is consult the bibliography and find some of these really cool articles that he sourced when he wrote the book.)
The best thing about this book is that it's FUN. It's a FUN and breezy read. Not at all didactic or bland. And it's LOADED with rare photos that I've never seen anywhere else. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for both the casual reader and the deep scholar. show less

A well-researched book on an interesting topic that nonetheless completely fails to be compelling. Thousands of people became caught up in this hoax as it unfolded, but the book completely fails to introduce that excitement to the reader. Its structure is chaotic and seems to assume familiarity with the subject in odd ways; I suspect the book would be a far easier read for people who remember the phenomenon first hand. The book is organized such that the "clues" come up in a jumbled, show more non-chronological manner that attempts to show the events that created the hype rather than the hype that the events created, but for someone unfamiliar with the basic premises of the hype it came across chaotic. The work of drawing the reader in is left to the transcripts of radio interviews and newspaper items that the original wave of excitement was built on, which without the word of mouth excitement of the time simply seem stupid. (According to the book, the original college newspaper item that sparked the whole thing was written in all of an hour, while high, and you can tell- I'm sure it made sense at the time, but its references to statements it hasn't made and various 'commonsense' assumptions make it quite confusing.) It's a good book, but it confuses the "how" the rumor progressed with the "why" it gained ground. If you remember this incident and want to know more about it, then this book is for you, but as an introduction to an interesting anthropological phenomenon, frankly, the wikipedia article on the subject was better. show less

Only for those who know and love the Paul-is-Dead Hoax. Others will be bored.