Dreaming the Beatles

The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World

By: Rob Sheffield

Narrated by: Rob Sheffield

Rob Sheffield, the Rolling Stone columnist and bestselling author of Love Is a Mix Tape offers an entertaining, unconventional look at the most popular band in history, the Beatles, exploring what they mean today and why they still matter so intensely to a generation that has never known a world without them.

Dreaming the Beatles is not another biography of the Beatles, or a song-by-song analysis of the best of John and Paul. It isn’t another exposé about how they broke up. It isn’t a history of their gigs or their gear. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles music on their parents’ stereos and their faces on T-shirts. What do the Beatles mean today? Why are they more famous and beloved now than ever? And why do they still matter so much to us, nearly fifty years after they broke up?

As he did in his previous books, Love is a Mix Tape, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, and Turn Around Bright Eyes, Sheffield focuses on the emotional connections we make to music. This time, he focuses on the biggest pop culture phenomenon of all time—The Beatles. In his singular voice, he explores what the Beatles mean today, to fans who have learned to love them on their own terms and not just for the sake of nostalgia.

Dreaming the Beatles tells the story of how four lads from Liverpool became the world’s biggest pop group, then broke up—but then somehow just kept getting bigger. At this point, their music doesn’t belong to the past—it belongs to right now. This book is a celebration of that music, showing why the Beatles remain the world’s favorite thing—and how they invented the future we’re all living in today.

Whimsical and Bright

I wish this went on forever. Wait a minute; it will. Ya, ya, ya, yaaaaaaa.

Still Dreaming...

My introduction to Rob Sheffield's writing, who is now one of my favorite authors, affectionately writing about one of my favorite bands. So, of course, "Dreaming the Beatles" has become one of my favorite books. I read the book on it's release and just now completed the audiobook for a revisit. Sheffield's writing, and delivery in the audio, is hilarious, with thoughtful. detailed and well-researched anecdotes of the Beatles and the world they still impact. Many of these stories I hadn't heard before. I have since devoured Sheffield's whole bibliography and now waiting for more.

Beatles Fans: A MUST..!

This book captures the nuance of what makes The Beatles such a unique gift to our culture. It’s written from a “fanboy“ perspective but totally justifies why. It’s also a good analysis of rock ‘n’ roll from the 60s - 2000s.

Enjoyed it so much I bought it again

Loved it. Fascinating structure, full of interesting details. I loved the audiobook and, when I finished, bought the hardcover so I'd be able to thumb through it at my leisure.

Faded toward the end

I really enjoyed the first half, three quarters of the book. I learned a lot and will looking for the boots he speaks of. Minus one star for saying at one point Dylan was trying to keep up with the Beatles and for the comment on Neil Youngs’s Tonight’s The Night.