The Beatles Anthology

As much as I love the scrapbook aesthetic of this book, I couldn't be bothered to actually read it. Interview transcripts are incredibly boring to read (even when they're curated, such as in this example), and that's literally what all of the text is. It maybe would have worked better if it was just one of the boys talking, but all of their voices start to blend together pretty quickly, and since there's no real unifying voice the entire tone becomes very jumbled.

Well damn, that took a long time. I bought this behemoth back in 95 when the Anthology series came out, and it's shocking to me that I let it sit on a shelf for the next twenty years before finally digging into it.

And even then, it took damn near half a year to read.

But it was worth it. I do believe now that I've read the definitive oral history of the Beatles, by the only four that could adequately describe it...the four that lived it.

Amazing book. Amazing photos. Amazing stories. Amazing band.

A good coffee table ornament, suitable for digesting a morsel when you're dressed up and ready to go out for an evening and your spouse says "I'll be ready in a minute." There's an extraordinary section on The Beatles trip to The Phillipines, and the shock that they are not just members of a band anymore; they are prisoners of their popularity, and will never again be able to go out in public unmolested and unprotected.

It's great--really THE book on the Beatles. Who better to talk about the Beatles than John, Paul, George and Ringo!

Although I love it, there are some issues. First off, I'd recommend reading a basic biography on the Beatles before hand (to get the main events and people down) or else it can get a little confusing. Also, the sheer bulk of the book makes it very difficult to read comfortably (I actually lugged it with me on the plane, and I found that to be the most comfortable). It also tends to be slightly repetitive--you ARE reading about the same event from four perspectives. Minor details that bother other people, are that the pictures aren't labeled and sometimes, the print is difficult to read, but I didn't find it too bad.

All in show more all, it's a definate must for any Beatle fan, whether you read it cover to cover, or just simply leave on the coffee table and flip through it on occasion. show less

The Fab Four are the alpha and omega of all things music as far as I'm concerned. There have been 8,000 books written about them and I'm sure I have most of them, but if I have to choose just one, it certainly will be the one in their own words! Liverpool Hope University is now offering an MA in Beatles studies; may have to apply to that program (since I know I can at least pass the courses).

The ultimate Bible for any hardcore Beatles fan. It has everything and anything about them, all told from the Beatles themselves. Great pictures too.

I'm such a Beatles fan that I'd love just about anything writing about them. I would have given it a 5, but I can't get enough of the Beatles.