Linda McCartney

Rating:
Summary: Better than I thought!
Review: Band on the Run was made famous by Paul McCartney and Wings, one of the members of the band was Paul's wife Linda. This book is a deep look into her life and what she gave not only to Paul, but the Beatles, Wings and Paul himself.

Fields writes a book that almost brings Linda alive and gave this reader a real sense of the person that the media had only a glimpse of. Fields delves into Linda's relationship with the Beatles and you get to decide of she had anything to do with the break up.

The book has some pictures, I think there should have been a few more, spanning Linda's career and they are all black and white. Again the pictures could have been in color, but this small drawback will not in anyway detract from the excellent read of the book.

The book follows Linda from singer in Wings to animal rights activist and everything in between. Throughout the entire book you are treated to many first time stories from friends and family. One other thing I really liked was the way the author shows Paul's emotions without going to far overboard. Overall and excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, Light and Fluffy
Review: I became interested in the book after seeing the TV Movie. Linda McCartney did have an incredible life...although as one reviewer stated all her "pain and suffering" of her life I missed that part.Yes the loss of her mother was sad (but it is sad for all of us who lose their mother). Linda was not some "poor" single mom trying to eeek out a living though. She came from wealth and married even more wealth, although from this book and more so from the video "Wingspan" you can see that is definitly not why she married Paul McCartney.She loved him and was devoted to him, as he was to her. As a friend though I dont know what would compel Danny Fields to write about how cheap the McCartneys were,eg: not having taxi money cause people were happy to have them in their cabs for free..etc. The other thing that upset me but seems to be true in the story (Paul McCartney had final say over the original draft)was how Linda dumped her friends and did not try to get in touch with them. If they were her friends I am sure they would have kept her secrets.For most of the book she is portrayed as this loving, kind, warm, sensitive human being....yet the dumping of friends would indicate otherwise, although he was(is) such a private person, maybe this was something he needed and wanted at the beginning of their relationship.Of course Wingspan is a more in depth portrait of Linda and Paul's relationship, but of course that is a super positive portrayal as the interviewer is Linda and Paul's daughter, Mary and Paul himself. Pretty good book if you want a surface picture of Linda McCartney only, if you are curious about Linda and Paul's relationship watch Wingspan.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, Light and Fluffy
Review: I became interested in the book after seeing the TV Movie. Linda McCartney did have an incredible life...although as one reviewer stated all her "pain and suffering" of her life I missed that part.Yes the loss of her mother was sad (but it is sad for all of us who lose their mother). Linda was not some "poor" single mom trying to eeek out a living though. She came from wealth and married even more wealth, although from this book and more so from the video "Wingspan" you can see that is definitly not why she married Paul McCartney.She loved him and was devoted to him, as he was to her. As a friend though I dont know what would compel Danny Fields to write about how cheap the McCartneys were,eg: not having taxi money cause people were happy to have them in their cabs for free..etc. The other thing that upset me but seems to be true in the story (Paul McCartney had final say over the original draft)was how Linda dumped her friends and did not try to get in touch with them. If they were her friends I am sure they would have kept her secrets.For most of the book she is portrayed as this loving, kind, warm, sensitive human being....yet the dumping of friends would indicate otherwise, although he was(is) such a private person, maybe this was something he needed and wanted at the beginning of their relationship.Of course Wingspan is a more in depth portrait of Linda and Paul's relationship, but of course that is a super positive portrayal as the interviewer is Linda and Paul's daughter, Mary and Paul himself. Pretty good book if you want a surface picture of Linda McCartney only, if you are curious about Linda and Paul's relationship watch Wingspan.

Rating:
Summary: Not the nicest tribute ever....
Review: I have been wanting to read an intimate biography of Linda McCartney for some time now, so I was anxious to read this book. Written by her long-time close friend, Danny Fields, I would have expected a bit more. Even though the book delves deeper into Linda than any book on the Beatles has been able to, it still wasn't quite enough. A lot of what Fields says about her childhood and teen years, before he met her, is conjecture. There is very little detail about that period of her life. Fields knew her best in the mid-sixties when, as a single mother in New York City, Linda entered the then embryonic world of rock photography. There really was no rock press at the time, and Linda got in on the ground floor, and was able to be a part of a scene that very few people could imagine today.

While Fields vacillates from defending Linda to criticizing her, he is more than fair in his assesment, and, at times, a bit overboard in his praise of her. Although I didn't feel I knew Linda much better after reading the book, one point in Linda's favor became very clear. She was a very strong woman, with self-confidence and a deep, abiding love for her husband and children. She weathered storms I cannot imagine most women being able to handle. And, when the slings and arrows were aimed solely at her, instead of wallowing in self-pity, she felt instead a sense of pain for what the embarrassment caused Paul and her children to suffer.

This book doesn't shed a tremendous amount of light on Linda Eastman McCartney, but it is still valuable for the brief glimpse into the woman before Paul.

Rating:
Summary: A rare glimpse of Linda Eastman
Review: I was anxiously awaiting this book as I was interested to read about Linda Eastman's time in New York before she became Mrs. McCartney. Danny Fields did a wonderful job of letting us know what it was like to hang out with his good friend Linda in the mid-60's when rock was just starting to happen. That part of the book is fascinating. I actually felt like I was there. However, there wasn't much information prior to this period -- such as her previous marriage. Also, surprisingly, most of the photos that were used to illustrate this book were very disappointing. Danny does shows us what it was really like for Linda when she married Paul and the Beatles broke up -- how her life changed forever overnight. She's the one who was able to hold it all together for Paul and their family. Danny Fields gave an accurate and affectionate account of a very special woman and friend. This is the only book that I have seen about the real Linda Eastman McCartney.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate lightweight
Review: Linda deserved better. While Danny Fields gives a fair outline of the strong, intelligent Linda McCartney's life, the book itself is fluffy, lightweight, poorly written and veers constantly away from Linda. What's the point of having a biography about somebody if half the book isn't written about them?

Linda Eastman was born into an affluent New York family, and took up photography after the demise of her first marriage. She became a prominent rock photographer, hung out with rock stars and cutting-edge artists, and married the famous Beatle Paul McCartney. After the breakup of the Beatles they created more music, had children, and remained in love until her untimely death.

The unforgivable thing about this book is that I never felt, through it, that I knew much about Linda as a person. Oh, we hear plenty about how she dressed, her romantic liaisons, her job -- but we don't hear much about her. It's especially striking since Fields, the coauthor of the putrid "Dream On," keeps reminding the readers that he knew Linda, he knew the McCartneys, he includes photographs of himself posing with them, and so on and so on.

His writing style is truly annoying. Often he presents speculation as fact, and will latch on to insignificant details (such as Paul's Passover/Easter joke) as if they were immensely important. He seems to be trying to be chatty, but he only ends up sounding stupid. ("It was the best of times, it was the best of times"; "Bill was, er, pleasant") And enough with the leering, Fields. Brian Jones is mentioned three times in passing, but the only real comment on him is, "... if something that takes place in a phone booth in under eight minutes can be described as an affair." Why did he mention that? It has nothing to do with Linda, nor do the details of Jones's sex life add anything to the book.

Perhaps the most annoying thing is the self-promotion, and not just Fields saying every other page that he knew Linda. I got the feeling at times that Fields wants to write some kind of sixties journalism manifesto, but knows it wouldn't sell. He frequently interrupts the information about Linda to talk about himself, his job, what he thought of sixties rock journalism. He devotes an entire paragraph to talking about the word "canoodling."

Linda herself was a fantastic, strong and intelligent woman who took a lot of undeserved abuse. Hopefully, somebody will write an insightful bio about her. But Danny Fields did as well on this bio as he did in "Dream On" -- in other words, it stinks.

Rating:
Summary: Decent Book
Review: Never expected to be touched by this story when I began to read it. Linda was a remarkable women, and it wasn't because she married a Beattle. She was an accomplished person in her own right. We finally have a truthful look at Linda as she really was, a very talented person. A completely different picture conveyed than that of the hideous stories the media dished out at Linda all those years. It was a joy to read about the choices she made that enhanced her life and the lives of her family and friends. There is something special about a real love story, especially with so much fame and fortune involved. Linda and Paul were not only a husband and wife, Mummy and Daddy, but a business team. This was a great book. Linda was died young, but not before she had given more than she had taken from this world. I wished this book did not have an ending.

Rating:
Summary: PORTRAIT OF A PERSON
Review: This well crafted biography of Linda McCartney will certainly hold the interests of those who read it. Linda, most known for her photographs of famous rock stars of the 1960s and, later for marrying former Beatle Paul McCartney fully emerges as a person in her own right in this book.

Born to an affluent family having roots in the Manhattan suburb of Scarsdale, New York, Linda's trek down her long and winding road is carefully followed. Her stellar success photographing famous rock stars is well chronicled as is her later commitments to causes such as environmental isses as well as children's rights.

Linda is indeed a success story. She has pioneered and championed causes with singular determination; her four children are her best successes of all. In the 1990s, Linda launched frozen vegetarian dinners and had even released a vegetarian cookbook.

This book is such a treat. Linda McCartney has certainly commanded and deserves the utmost respect.