[bomp] Shotton The Dark

[NankerPhlg@xxxxxxx]

Rob B.
<<< i haven't started the book yet, but this looks to be one of those rare 
rock & roll memoirs by someone who was actually there that tells something like 
the balanced truth, and humanizes the people involved. pete shotton's "john 
lennon in my life" is another one, anaffectionate-but-not-sugarcoated insider's 
version of stuff. the shotton book is, IMHO, the best of the beatles memoirs - 
there are some gut-bustingly hilarious stories in there >>>

I agree..I greatly enjoyed Pete Shotton's book, and for a few reasons. Number 
one, as you said, he has great stories to tell (as opposed to, say, Alf the 
chauffeur's book, whose stories were only mildly amusing). Number two, he tells 
them well...They read like an uncle fondly sitting in a chair happily telling 
some stories from his younger days. But even when Pete's not telling stories, 
he's shedding light on what John was like when he was home, away from the 
fans and the limelight...and it's almost a bit sad...John, having conquered the 
world at such a young age, was bored.  He had this huge house and he only 
really used about three rooms. Took up new interests as diversions (board games, 
electric race car tracks), but then lost interest. You sense a guy who was 
thinking "Fortune and fame kinda sucks." (And to that end, you actually almost feel 
glad Yoko came into his life, giving him new motivation to get off his ass 
and do stuff)

And what happened to Pete? Well, not too long ago (don't know exactly when, 
but after 1985 at least) he co-founded a popular restaurant chain in England 
that was a huge success...He eventually sold out of the business, apparently for 
a huge amount of money, so he's more than financially secure.

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