In Their Lives

February 27, 2017
More than 50 years after the Beatles conquered America and unleashed Beatlemania upon the world, the Fab Four still exert an influence on popular music that even ex-Beatle Paul McCartney finds “astounding.” As in his previous collections, such as The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages, Blauner asks a range of writers to examine famous works; here, he requeststhe stories of their favorite Beatles songs, including “what the songs mean to them, the how and why of it all.” The 29 essays by artists such as Rosanne Cash, Rick Moody, and Jane Smiley are arranged chronologically by the songs’ release dates, so the collection serves as a miniature history of the Beatles. The author selection is somewhat arbitrary, but the authors all clearly care about the influence of the songs on their lives, and the essays are uniformly excellent and informative. Most fascinating is how often the authors address childhood and aging; cartoonist Roz Chast writes, “When I think about ‘She Loves You’... and how happy it made me feel to hear it, I think about how much it represented the mirage of a possible future.” This theme is echoed by novelist and music writer Bill Flannigan discussing “Two of Us” from the Beatles’ final album: “They showed us the way to go out into the world and get lost and they showed us the way to get back home.”

March 15, 2017
What's your favorite Beatles song?That's what literary agent and author Blauner (editor: The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages, 2015, etc.) asked some well-known novelists, journalists, music critics, actors, and musicians. Each contributes a pithy essay explaining why. Organized chronologically, a few standards are here---I Want to Hold Your Hand,- -Yesterday,- -Let It Be---as well as a few surprises. David Hajdu, music critic for the Nation, picks a song that usually ends up on the worst-songs list, -You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).- In an interview, however, Paul McCartney said it was -probably my favorite Beatles track.- John Lennon -relished- it, as well, and Hajdu finds it -irresistibly, if vexingly, compelling.- Singer Shawn Colvin writes, -lyrically, I can't think of another heartbreak song as satisfying to sing as 'I'll Be Back.' - Rosanne Cash picks -No Reply- from 1965: -a handful of words, expertly woven into a fierce melody.- New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik is a fan of the 1967 double A-sided single -Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane,- a -perfect expression of the Beatles' art at the high point of their artistry.- Chuck Klosterman -loves- the -sixth-best song [-Helter Skelter-] on their fifth-best album- because it -intermittently resembles the blades of a lawn mower falling out of alignment after hitting a brick.- Throughout the collection, we learn a great deal about how these songs came to be written and what the Beatles thought about them. Lennon dismissed -Let It Be- as -a bad Christmas carol.- The first song a female musician played on was -She's Leaving Home.- Other Beatles' fans picking their favorites include David Duchovny, Jane Smiley, Amy Bloom, Pico Iyer, Rebecca Mead, Jon Pareles, Alec Wilkinson, Toure, and the sly Rick Moody, who cheats, picking the -Golden Slumbers-/ -Carry That Weight-/ -The End- medley. A charming, delightful collection for Beatles fans and music fans in general.

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March 1, 2017

With this perceptive, heartfelt collection, Blauner (Coach; Brothers) has compiled pieces from 29 writers such as Francine Prose, Rebecca Mead, and Chuck Klosterman, each of whom muses on a particularly inspiring Beatles song. Though the anthology is tinged with affection, it's no mere love letter to the group. Along with sentimental remembrances of childhoods spent picking out a favorite Beatle is probing critical analysis: Nicholas Dawidoff untangles myriad threads--John Lennon's dreamy vocals, the influence of Buddy Holly--to achieve a deeper understanding of "A Day in the Life"; Peter Blauner teases out Paul McCartney's subtle yet significant contributions to "And Your Bird Can Sing." Understandably, some selections pack more of a punch than others. The most powerful pieces combine examinations of the songs with an emphasis on the intimate: the buoyant "Octopus's Garden" is the backdrop for Elissa Schappell's quietly searing essay about her father, who was diagnosed with cancer when she was a teenager; Gerald Early uses "I'm a Loser" to explore gender, socioeconomic class, and ethnicity. VERDICT This insightful addition is bound to appeal to serious Beatles aficionados, longtime followers of the group seeking a nostalgic walk down "Penny Lane," and casual music fans.--Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
Blauner, who's previously edited collections about brotherhood, baseball, Central Park, and Boston, gathers writers' essays on 28 Beatles songs: Maria Popova covers Yellow Submarine, the song of her Bulgarian parents' Saint Petersburg courtship; Adam Gopnik writes about Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane, the single famously excluded from Sgt. Pepper; Roz Chast, Chuck Klosterman, Gerald Early, Jane Smiley, and too many others to name join in. Arranged in order of their song-subjects' release dates, the brilliant and varied essays pull the tablecloth from under so-familiar songs, revealing bits and pieces in new configurations, and in contexts that are personal, technical, social, and universal. Commonalities emerge as writers remember moms, babysitters, and friends' parents unearthing the records, and discover that now the songs are heard and understood differently. With reflections on John, Paul, George, and Ringo; pop music's inherent nostalgia; and an essential incomparability that these gathered writers agree upon, this is a collection that music fans and fans of music writing will love (even more so with headphones on).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)