Wednesday, November 27, 2024

We All Shine On - A Book Review



 

I first want to say that I do not know Elliot Mintz. I have never met him or communicated with him, and if I am 100% honest with you all, I have always found him to be a tad creepy. I don't have a real reason to explain why—it is just one of those feelings you have about a person. It may have to do with the overly photoshopped photographs he used to post on Facebook. I don't know.   I didn't expect much going into this book.  All of the reviews I had read on it just raved about how great it was, and then I realized that they were all written by people who knew Elliot Mintz.  I didn't even get a copy of the book for free from the publisher to review.  So I came into this book totally open-minded but not really expecting it to be great. 

I was pleasantly pleased with the book.   Elliot explains how he started a phone friendship with Yoko because he interviewed her on the radio for a nightly radio show he did.  From that point on, Yoko would call Elliot every night, and they'd talk about all sorts of things.  That went on for a while, and then John started to speak to him on the phone every night.  The phone calls were taking up so much of his time that he installed a line just for John and Yoko and a red light that would flash on when they called.  And--he never even met them!    I think they liked Elliot so much because he was a good listener, gave decent advice, and wasn't a Beatles fan (he was a 50s rock n roll fan). 

By the time he met the couple in person, they had become close friends and remained so for the rest of John's and Yoko's lives.  What I liked about this book is that Elliot doesn't try to sugarcoat Yoko at all.  He admits that a lot of the things she did and believed were strange, and he didn't necessarily understand it, but because Yoko was his friend, he accepted it.  And I totally get that because I have friends like that too.  I don't always agree with their strange decisions but accept them because I am their friend.   He and John got into arguments, and he didn't sugarcoat that as well.  During the Lost Weekend, Elliot stops talking to John because John says something so awful and terrible to him that he refuses to print it in the book. 

There were a few stories about John that I had not heard before, but what I really liked was how he told some familiar stories, but they were from Elliot's point of view.   And his point of view didn't contradict the others, but they just were a little different because that was how Elliot saw things.   Some people did not like that Elliot stated that he did not see much of May Pang in 1973-74.  That could very well be true.  That doesn't mean she wasn't there --- she obviously was.  But he didn't see her (he and John weren't on speaking terms for much of 1974), so he can only talk about what he personally saw.  I did find it interesting that Elliot says he got John in touch with the hypnotist in 1975, who was supposed to help John stop smoking.  May always claimed that Yoko was behind it and that she brainwashed John into going back to her through this hypnotist.  If Elliot is to be believed (and I don't see why he would be dishonest about this), then he is the person behind it and not Yoko.  

The part that absolutely shocked me was when Elliot asked Yoko the one question I think all of John's fans have thought at least once or twice about John's murder and Yoko's strong numerology and other beliefs.  And the answer Yoko gave totally shocked me.  I am still trying to wrap my mind around her answer. 

I recommend this book to anyone who is a John Lennon fan.  It is not a Beatles book at all but about John in their solo years.  If you have read all of the "Kiss and Tell" John books that came out in the 1980s and into the 1990s, then you need to also read this one to get the other side of some of the same stories.  It is a quick book to read and has great photographs.  




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