John Lennon in My Life

“Pete Shotton was John Lennon’s best friend at Quarry Bank School and they did everything together. They formed a kind of Just William gang and were obviously naughty boys—not absurdly naughty, but they’d shoplift and things like that, played practical jokes and were naughty in class. In some ways John wasn’t a very friendly character, but when he became famous he stuck with Pete Shotton. He obviously needed Pete Shotton to keep his life at least slightly real. Eventually he brought Pete Shotton into the Apple organisation and Pete Shotton ended up running the boutique. It was all a disaster, of course. This book is ghostwritten, but it just has that tang of truth. You feel he’s telling you exactly what happened, through this Dr Watson perspective, with John as Sherlock Holmes.” Read more...

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Craig Brown, Comedians & Humorist