John and Paul

The story of the love and jealousy between two geniuses behind The Beatles, who merged and multiplied their talents to produce one of the greatest bodies of creative work in history.

''I don''t think anyone is writing about The Beatles as well as Ian Leslie is right now.'' PETE PAPHIDES John and Paul were more than friends, collaborators or rivals in the sense we normally understand those terms. They were both exceptionally intense young men who had the fabric of their world ruptured at a young age. They longed to connect - with each other, with audiences. The pop song was a container into which they poured everything they couldn''t say; their pain or joy, or both at the same time. The Lennon and McCartney partnership was responsible for 159 of The Beatles'' 184 recorded original songs. As their relationship changed, so did the music they made. Even when their relationship deteriorated, their creative partnership flourished - during the last year of The Beatles they were still prolific collaborators. After the break-up, they maintained a dialogue at a distance, in songs full of recrimination, regret, and affection. There have been millions of words written about The Beatles, but this is the first book to focus on what lay at the heart of this phenomenon: the alchemy of two young men. Ian Leslie explores this volatile, madly creative quasi-marriage and misunderstood story. The result is a wildly enjoyable biography, told through the songs, which will make us see and hear John and Paul afresh.

Autorentext
Ian Leslie is the author of acclaimed books on human psychology and behaviour, translated into over a dozen languages. Malcolm Gladwell describes him as "one of my favourite writers". Previous books include Curious, about the desire to learn, and How To Disagree, on the art and science of productive disagreement. Ian has written for the New Statesman, the Financial Times, the Economist and the New York Times on culture, technology and psychology and he is the author of a popular Substack newsletter, The Ruffian. Ian is a fellow of the Royal Society For Arts. He lives in London with his wife and two children. He has been a Beatles fan since he was seven.