This book was edited by editors with VERY literary credentials. And that is one of the things that is wrong with this book. It has a bunch of poems about the Beatles, a bunch of short stories about the Beatles (actually, the Beatles are only peripherally a part of most of the fiction), so there is too much that is dryly academic in this book. And then the first-person pieces are mostly fans' memoirs, that any Beatles fan could write. Having said that, I gave the book three stars instead of one or two, mainly because of a fascinating piece "The Beatles in Tonypandy." That what happens in this piece seems rather improbable, is what makes it so entertaining. The Beatles in the mid-sixties went and stayed with a pigeon expert in the South of Wales for about six days. This town of Tonypandy was so remote, no one recognized the Beatles, and they could go about as they wanted. I don't want to tell the rather odd things that happened during these six days, because I think it will spoil it for you. But it is a fascinating piece. Whether it's worth the price of the book, I don't know, because I checked mine out of the library. But it is great piece to read for any Beatles fan. The other piece that is interesting in parts is "Sod Manila!" which includes the article's author witnessing a conversation between the Beatles in their hotel room in the Phillipines, when the country was ready to tear them apart for snubbing the Marcoses. The other pieces (except for a few so-so ones) are ones a flipped quickly through. So, except for the two gems, this is a dry affair.

This ia a book of many poems, short stories, essays and more. It is solely about how the fab-four affected many peoples lives. It was done very well and has many great authors, such as marcus allen in it. When I read this book it really made me think of when I was a teenager and how I felt about the beatles. This editors in this book did a wonderful job with it. Many of these great clips of writing are about how children were alowed to stay up that memorable night, when the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan Show. Others tell about how they actually got to meet and talk to their favorite Beatle. One Story tells of a young girl who goes to John's house and meets him. All she does is say hi to him but he answers rudely and she is embarrased. If you can read this wonderful book.