The John Lennon Letters cover art

The John Lennon Letters

Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies

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The John Lennon Letters

By: John Lennon, Hunter Davies
Narrated by: Allan Corduner, Christopher Eccleston, Yoko Ono
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About this listen

John Lennon was a writer as well as a musician. It was entirely natural for him to put pen to paper whenever he had an idea, a thought, a reaction or a desire to communicate.

He lived - and died - in an age before emails and texts. Pen and ink was what he turned to. John wrote letters and postcards all of his life; to his friends, family, strangers, newspapers, organisations, lawyers and the laundry - most of which were funny, informative, campaigning, wise, mad, poetic, anguished and sometimes heartbreaking. For the first time, John's widow, Yoko Ono, has given permission to publish a collection of his letters. The Editor is the Beatles' official biographer, Hunter Davies, who knew John well.

John's letters are in a way something of a mystery - where are they all? Over the years many have come up at auction, then sold to dealers and collectors. Or they have been kept by the recipients, locked up safely. It has been a wonderful piece of detective work tracing many of these 250 letters, postcards and notes, which are arranged in chronological order, so that a narrative builds up, reflecting John's life. It will be visual - in a sense that many of the letters are reproduced as they were, in his handwriting or typing, plus the odd cartoon or doodle. THE JOHN LENNON LETTERS is fundamentally a book to read and study, providing a unique insight into the mind of one of the great figures of our times.

John's letters are read by Christopher Eccleston. Christopher Eccleston is an English actor who has had a hugely successful career in film, TV and on stage. His regular appearance on the TV series, Cracker, in 1993 brought him recognition and he went on to star along side such actresses as Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett. He won the 2011 International Emmy Award for his performance in Jimmy McGovern's Accused. He played John Lennon in the 2010 TV movie in and has twice been nominated in the Best Actor category of the BAFTA TV Awards.

Hunter's editorial materials are read by Allan Corduner. Allan Corduner trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has appeared on stage in PASSION at the Donmar Warehouse, SERIOUS MONEY in the West End and TITANIC on Broadway, and on screen in YENTL and TOPSY-TURVY, amonst many other roles. He is a highly experience voice actor and memorably narrated the voice of Death when reading THE BOOK THIEF. He has read Elspeth Coopers' WILD HUNT novels for Orion.

Includes a foreword read by Yoko Ono

(p) 2012 Orion Publishing Group©2012 Hunter Davies
Diaries & Journals Entertainment & Celebrities Letters & Correspondence Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence Music Celebrity Funny

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Critic reviews

[Davies] has done a sensitive and scrupulous job collecting and annotating Lennon's letters, and the book is beautifully designed
A must-read for Beatles fans
The letters offer an opportunity to see Lennon less as icon than as human being
A massive deposit of freshly excavated notes, screeds, asides and howls, each lavishly reproduced and carefully annotated, "Letters" is the most intimate book ever published about Lennon. In its revelation of the man's psychology, it far surpasses all previous accounts by wives, lovers, half-siblings, ex-aides and even the best biographers.
All stars
Most relevant
Whilst the lennon letters give a fascinating insight into his petsonnal life, the persistent 'hard scouse' interpretation of Lennon's voice is often a little distracting.

Very interesting. Lennon voicing a bit monotonous.

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loved this. Christopher Eccleston really sounds like Lennon. definitely for hardcore Beatles or Lennon fans. nicely read by both narrators.

Great for John Lennon fans

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Fantastic and very well read. It gives you a great insite to the man JL a must for any real fan.

Brilliant!!!

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Terrible. Nothing new to learn here if you're interested in the life and works of John Lennon. Not surprising, as it is 'penned' by the worst writer I have had the displeasure to read.

Yes folks, the bumbling and always dull Hunter 'hack' Davies is at it again. No research, no new insights...

I'm bored writing this. AVOID, thank me later x

Avoid

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