In Their Lives

Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs

By: Andrew Blauner, Paul McCartney

Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn, Richard Poe, John Keating, Kevin R. Free, Eva Kaminsky

For fans of Tune In, an anthology of essays from 30 luminaries about their favorite Beatles songs. Blauner anthologizes essays from 30 authors, actors, and musicians reflecting on their favorite Beatles songs, creating a monument to the enduring impact of the most popular band of all time. The diversity of favorite tracks and the variety of reasons contributors love them speak to the range of the Beatles' song catalog and the power their music still has more than 50 years after they arrived in the United States. The essays explore life at its many stages, from optimistic youth to spiritual awakening to mid-life crises, and how the Beatles' music can be a lifelong soundtrack. Whether listeners remember the Beatles' music as a solace in times of trouble or as a celebration, in their lives, they've loved them all.

©2017 Andrew Blauner (P)2017 Recorded Books

Just plain wonderful

I loved this more than expected. I'm especially glad they found people of color with lovely stories -- a Black young man singing "I'm a Loser" out loud on the way home from school and the women whose parents would whistle "Yellow Submarine" in a crowd to be able to locate each other.

Think personal essays, w Fab Four as the thread

These essays are not about the Beatles so much (though you do learn a lot about "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields") and not always about song composition (though you do get some analysis, like "I'll be Back" or "Tomorrow Never Knows"). What you get is Beatle songs and the meaning they had in the lives of the writers, just as suggested by the title. Some of these are ver personal, and drift away from the Beatles songs. Others are exquisite mini-memoirs. Some are social commentary, like the"Hester Skelter" piece. And some are just about why somebody likes a Beatles Song, like David Duchovny's "Dear Prudence." I loved it. But I love personal essay writing. I will listen a second and probably third time too.