Beatles Biography by Mark Lewisohn (6th edition)- plus Lewisohn news. *

That seems to be the story of this book. A lot of us thought it might be a bit of a bore, but it's the opposite...

 

It's like all the books written before about the Beatles were showing the story in Satellite View mode, now we're on Street View... Can't wait to read the second volume!

 

I am currently reading the extended edition and I think that it is brilliant. So far it is better than I could have hoped. You can tell that he spent a decade working on it.

 

With life responsibilities, it feels like it's taking me a decade to read it

 

I regret not getting the extended edition now. I was reluctant to read the book at all - as I've mentioned, Beatles pre-1962 never much interested me, so a book mainly about that subject sounded like a snoozer and I didn't bother with the book until it'd been out a year.

Given that attitude, there was no way I was gonna drop big bucks for a book with MORE material I thought I'd find boring. Now I want it!!!

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-The...d=1429037721&sr=8-1&keywords=Tune+In+Extended

As this will never become available state-side treat yourself to this book from across the pond. It may take a few weeks to get to you but you've waited this long. I love my edition!

 

Wow the price went up! I got the extended edition when it came out in 2013 and it was only 74 quid to have it delivered here to the US. Still, well worth it!

 

I'd like to suggest that Ben (themess) do a non edited audio book of the deluxe edition and send we forum members however many CD's it requires for free.

 

The fact the full edition still hasn't been released in the US is obnoxious on so many levels

 

You can directly blame that on his two publisher contracts; Little Brown (U.K) and Crown Archetype (USA). I'm sure this has been dissected in previous posts. One has the rights that do not extend into the other's territory.

 

I don't doubt there are rational, legal reasons why this is the case. But in the end, it results with a sizable (daresay enormous) market only having access to an inferior version. So I'm just saying it's a shame.

 

I did also read from Mark himself that the extended edition was a sort of vanity project that was so cost prohibitive that the publisher not only didn't want to do it for the US market but was hard-pressed to undertake a second (and final) printing for the UK market. A shame as there should just be ONE version of a series of books like this, and it should be the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink extended edition. Period.

 

Anyone know how this has done sales-wise in the US and UK?

 

I'd be interested in who agrees with that last sentence given that Lewisohn has to eat and the Standard edition being his bread and butter. Are those extra pages really worth all that extra money - what are you missing reading the Standard edition. Has anyone read both. Is it a case of extra Beatle events and conversations or just extra scene setting, flavour of the times and outsider opinions.

 

I was briefly excited when I saw the Kindle version (£19.95!) but alas, I'm in the US, so computer says no.

 

I see what you're saying about the practicality of it and in terms of his projected sales. I was speaking solely as a Beatles fanatic...if you're going to write the definitive 3-volume bio, why not chuck it all in?

And I've read both and there are tons of extra little details, photos, endnotes, etc in the extended edition. Maybe not groundbreaking things that most people would get too fussed over, but I loved it.

 

The US publisher should "Capitol-ize" the books. Pull out enough chapters from Vol 1 to make a mid-sized book, maybe call it "Read the Beatles". Take a few more chapters, put them together with some other Lewisohn writings, maybe call that one "The Beatles' Second Book". Hold back enough chapters from Vol 1 to release later with a few advance chapters from Vol 2. Then do similarly when the UK Vols 2 and 3 are released. The US would eventually get every chapter from all three volumes, just spread out in different configurations over 7 or 8 different books. And of course any black and white photos would be colorized.

 

Great book - gave my father-in-law a copy at Xmas (although I warned him of the swearing and sex!). I sensed from watching the recent 'Cilla' UK TV drama that the writers there may have used Lewisohn's tome as a guide to the events and culture of Merseybeat in the first two episodes. A lot of the storyline seemed more fleshed out for an ITV drama (ITV being the main commercial station in the UK) and it all seemed familiar now having read the book and I don't mean the usual details every tom, dick & harry knows about those heady days.

 

I'm not naive to the fine print in legal agreements and royalties and per unit costs and all that. But I'm not buying the cost prohibitive argument. It defies logic that it's cost prohibitive to publish the extended version in the US, yet not only one pressing, but also a small 2nd pressing, was done in the UK -- a country with 1/5 the population.

And what exactly is cost prohibitive about a US digital version other than the US publisher being unwilling to agree to royalty rates that were perfectly acceptable to the UK publisher?

 

My thoughts too. Butcher that book, change the fonts and punctuation, even throw in a German translation of a couple chapters just to keep it real.

 

Correct. Mark Lewisohn has told me he would love to happen, but it's not.

 

I don't blame the author for a second. But it's a very unfortunate (and I suspect, unnecessary) situation.

 

there's not even a release date on the horizon for vol. 2, is there?

 

2020 per Lewisohn.