Yoko

The Biography

By: David Sheff

Narrated by: Max Meyers

An intimate and revelatory biography of Yoko Ono from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Boy.

John Lennon once described Yoko Ono as the world’s most famous unknown artist. “Everybody knows her name, but no one knows what she does.” She has only been important to history insofar as she impacted Lennon. Throughout her life, Yoko has been a caricature, curiosity, and, often, a villain—an inscrutable seductress, manipulating con artist, and caterwauling fraud. The Lennon/Beatles saga is one of the greatest stories ever told, but Yoko’s part has been missing—hidden in the Beatles’ formidable shadow, further obscured by flagrant misogyny and racism. This definitive biography of Yoko Ono’s life will change that. In this book, Yoko Ono takes centerstage.

Yoko’s life, independent of Lennon, was an amazing journey. Yoko spans from her birth to wealthy parents in pre-war Tokyo, her harrowing experience as a child during the war, her arrival in avant-garde art scene in London, Tokyo, and New York City. It delves into her groundbreaking art, music, feminism, and activism. We see how she coped under the most intense, relentless, and cynical microscope as she was falsely vilified for the most heinous cultural crime imaginable: breaking up the greatest rock-and-roll band in history.

This book was nearly a half century in the making. In 1980, David Sheff met Yoko and John when Sheff conducted an in-depth interview with them just months before John’s murder. In the aftermath of the killing, he and Yoko became close as she rebuilt her life, survived threats and betrayals, and went on to create groundbreaking art and music while campaigning for peace and other causes. Drawing from his experiences and interviews with her, her family, closest friends, collaborators, and many others, Sheff shows us Yoko’s nine decades—one of the most unlikely and remarkable lives ever lived.

Yoko is a harrowing, moving, propulsive, and vastly entertaining biography of a woman whose story has never been accurately told. The book not only rehabilitates Yoko Ono’s reputation but elevates it to iconic status.

What I did not know…

An insightful account of the influence of Yoko Ono. It took some time for people to know her. And yet, some still do not.

The narrator is appalling

I was really looking forward to this book, given the author’s access, but the narrator is so awful - apparently John Lennon was Irish, and the other characters were laughable and distracting - that I couldn’t stand it, and ended up finishing the book on my own. I expect better from S&S. I honestly don’t know how this performance made it to release.

Important story nearly wrecked by the narrator

I am a longtime admirer of Yoko’s and I will see this through, but not before commenting on the narrator. He oversells almost every line with rises and falls and dramatic pauses. And he attempts doing a different voice, compete with an accent, for everyone that is quoted - painful pretend Japanese for Yoko but also a jolly Brit for John, a weird lockjaw for art historians, etc etc. it’s rough.

john lennon killed fluxism

incredible. listen to this, scream at the sky, boycott the corporate fat cat owner of this platform, make a tuna fish sandwich and eat.

Great Book, Great Narrator

I was captivated by this story and the narrator delivers a wonderful performance. The author has so many quotes and so I think it really called for a professional narrator that has the ability to bring each character to life. I learned so much about Yoko and about John too. I highly recommend.