Better than Ray Coleman's trashy bio, and at less than half the page count, but still lacking the heart and poignancy of Vivak Tiwary's The Fifth Beatle. More a collection of quotes organised into chapters, Debbie Geller's biography of Brian Epstein is based on interviews for the Arena documentary, and features Brian's catty butler Lonnie Trimble and also Marianne Faithful (I quite liked her contributions, very loving and spiritual). Of course Paul McCartney has to have an opinion, but some of his anecdotes are sweet:

'Brian's greatest expression was 'Ohh!', throwing his hands in the air. 'What do you think of it? Ohh!' Everything was 'Ohh!' And you knew exactly what he meant.

The same dumb soundbites from Yankel Feather, the Liverpool club owner who admits to not liking Brian and is also very homophobic (or doth protest too much), and Vera Brown, who refuses to believe that Brian was gay, also reappear, but their opinions aren't used by the author to judge the subject, as in Coleman's case. Brian's sexuality is openly discussed, and in more detail, examining his troubled love life and taste for rough trade, instead of just dismissing or 'discreetly' editing the lesser known events, such as Brian's arrest and court appearance for cottaging.

Worth reading - more concise and a good deal fairer to Brian Epstein's memory than certain other biographies. ( )