Any book where I learn more than I already know about any of the Beatles, together or separately, is a good book. This is a good one, and this is what the utterly deplorable [book:The Last Days of John Lennon|53019360] should have been, but of course, was not.

Womack, who also wrote a two-volume biography of George Martin, busts out all his usual overused words (such as "calculus" and "bravura" for example) but he does a pretty good job of giving some context leading up to 1979 and 1980 in the life of Lennon and Ono.

Even better, he never names Lennon's murderer. He doesn't give him that power, and for that alone, this is a good book.

I will admit, when I got toward the end, knowing what was coming, I got the same lump in my throat, I got the same tears in my eyes, and I mourned for the loss of John Lennon all over again, 44 years after the first time.

Overall, despite some minor issues, this is a good capture of the last couple of years of Lennon's life. ( )