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

I enjoyed reading the standard version. It was much better than I thought after reading the initial excerpts posted online. But I wasn't surprised because of all the glowing reviews people posted here. I didn't personally experience the "Paul's early life being missing" which was such a hot topic a while back.

Overall best Beatle bio (or 1/3 of Beatle Bio) I've read, and I've read most of them. The only thing I got tired of (and this has been mentioned by a few others) was Lewisohn's overuse of Beatle song titles and lyrics to describe events in the story. If he did this once or twice, it would have been cute and humorous. But after so many instances, I found myself groaning each time I came across another one. I put that down to the editor NOT doing his job well enough.

 

I think just the price (although I agree the current going rate is fair) has just scared off most who had been on the fence. USA readers were looking at a coat of $150 approximately when the deluxe was first published. And another thing is I think most were just waiting (as I was) for a US edition to be printed. As we now know that won't occur it's a bit easier to justify the current price.

 

I thought it was coming out in the U.S. until I heard it wasn't. I did buy one recently. Shipping was over $11 coming from Germany. I just did not believe it wasn't going to come out here.

 

Exactly; it seemed inevitable that they would issue it here to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. visit. Plus, I was kind of hoping that there would be a bunch of overstock and they'd be slashing the price after a couple months. But the fact that they're actually taking pre-orders to determine whether or not they can reprint indicates to me that this second printing isn't gonna be a mono box-style "This will be around forever and at a huge discount after the initial hype dies down" sort of thing. It still costs a lot more than I'm comfortable with, but this is very likely the last opportunity to get a copy without resorting to paying something ridiculous on the second-hand market, so I bit the bullet this time.

Also, I know that we've been repeatedly told that they lost money on the extended edition, but something just doesn't add up. It cost close to 100 pounds and sold out its initial run. For them to lose money, they had to have deliberately printed it in quantities that were never going to possibly be cost-effective. It's fair to say that they seriously underestimated the demand, but how do you lose money on such a premium-priced book (especially one that forgoes a premium-style presentation)?

 

My guess is that the publisher had a contractual agreement with ML to release the extended version but had no clue that it would sell out so quickly. They probably just printed the minimum quantity agreed upon (obviously not a smart move). I wanted to get the extended version but it was just too expensive (overpriced). I saw the standard edition at the library, read through it in a week and surprisingly it left me wanting more. I really want to read the extended edition now...

 

I know shipping updates are tedious but I thought a few might be interested, I ordered the extended special edition from bol.com on February 16, it arrived today (February 26). It was very poorly packed, just thrown loose in a larger box with no padding so a couple of the corners of the outer slipcase are dinged. It cost a total of $140.12 including shipping (I'm in California).

 

For what you have to pay that book should come in well protected packaging. At this point I feel more inclined to have one of my friends in Liverpool buy the book and I'll just reimburse them personaly. At least I know the book will arrive in better condition than what Amazon UK or any other retailer to this point has done.

 

Did Mark mention Brian Epstein making a pass at Pete Best in the extended edition? I'm pretty sure it wasn't in the standard edition.
Had Pete gone along with it, how much more difficult would it have been for Brian to sack him?

 

No pun intended.......

 

Not quite...it was around 74 pounds for most of the pre-order time period, which comes out to about $120, and I can say personally, I didn't think a US version of the deluxe would be published. Also, for things like the Beatles or other UK bands, I always prefer to have the UK edition of things anyway, so I'm glad I got the book from Amazon UK when I did. What I do take issue with is that I don't think the packaging and presentation of the book justifies it being that expensive...it's nice, sure, but is it $120 nice? I don't think so, personally, even though I'm still happy to have it.

 

I don't recall it so far in the extended edition, as of 9/62 (i.e. unless it occurred after he was sacked).

 

I recall Pete saying, on some TV documentary or other, that he told John that Brian had propositioned him and that John asked Pete "What did you say?", Pete then replied something akin to "What do you think I said?! I told him no." So it must have happened before the sacking.

Maybe Mark doesn't deem it significant, or doesn't believe Pete's story. Maybe he'll mention it in the next volume when dealing with Brian and John's holiday in Spain.

 

HAZZAH!!! IT HAS ARRIVED! All the way from Germany. It took three weeks but it was packaged in a mile of bubble wrap inside the box for which I am very appreciative.

 

One question; If it says is 'First Printed in November 2013' does that mean this is a first printing? Wasn't there already a second printing before it went OOP?

 

Dave, where did you purchase it from? I got mine from Bol.com yesterday, but it wasn't "packaged", it was like Jeffco's experience above, just tossed in a box which arrived beat to hell. The cellophane on the book itself was ripped and the outer sleeve dirty in spot, with a few corner dings for good measure. BUT, at $140 U.S. total, a relatively "good" price.

 

Mine reads "First printed in Great Britain in 2013 by Little, Brown
Reprinted in 2013"

Whatever that means...I thought a reprint has yet to take place!!

 

Me too

 

Mine just says 'First printed in Great Britain in 2013 by Little, Brown'. I guess I got a first edition and you have a second. I did read possibly in part 5 of this thread that there was a second printing done so the next one will be the third.

I bought it from Amazon UK from this seller: http://www.amazon.co.uk/shops/annikhali

The book actually shipped from Germany. I paid about $80 more but I'm happy. It showed up just days before they announced the reprint.

 

I did

 

Here is what Amazon UK reviewer Scpolity said re printings of this book: "Now a bit of confusion about the reprinting of this special edition. The real reason for this reprint was a bit of an error. The very first issues were printed on the wrong paper. Hence some reviews over the quality of this item, saying the quality was under par. Mine was damaged & had to go back, i noticed my replacement, was on much higher quality paper. The first ones may suffer from foxing & aging due to the very porous paper quality. So it seems a bit of a mess up over the paper quality ... Hence a reprint was needed."

"Overall it doesn't matter, it all depends on how many will be produced! If after this run they stop, all of them will be a nice investment, as these editions really are the last word. If you still look around you can pick them up at just under £70 ... At this price whatever edition is a bargain. Check in the reviews for the link & let's hope that price is still going!"

 

The paper in my copy feels smooth. What is your copy like Rick?

 

Got my extended edition signed by the author when he spoke here on the anniversary of the DC concert. Very nice guy. Very cool to have. I plan to get him to also sign my extended versions of the next two volumes!

 

I wonder if there will be extended versions of the next two volumes! If there are, I'd bet that they will be eBook releases only.

 

Dave, my pages also have a smooth feel and seem to be of a high quality. My printing information reads the same as Mooserfan's, i.e. "First printed in Great Britain in 2013 by Little, Brown
Reprinted in 2013"

 

My extended version says: "First printed in Great Britain in 2013. Pirated in China in 2014." The paper feels like sandpaper, and most of the time the word Beatles is spelled as "Beetles". Otherwise, it's a beauty.... Arnie