The author and Echo's Page of Paul formally recognize that this is no official review of these books, merely the author's opinion.  The author's opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Echo's Page of Paul (particularly since Echo hasn't read all of these books:)  This review was originally published on a private Paul McCartney list on 7/11/00.

      Hunter Davies originally wrote "The Authorized Biography Of The Beatles" back in 1968 but it was revised and re-released last year with a new intro and lots of new material.  I especially enjoyed Mr. Davis' musings about his frustrations about trying to get his original manuscript to print after it had been edited and re-edited by practically every person even mentioned in the book, including all four Beatles and every member of their immediate families.  I guess Queenie Epstein (Brian's mother) was especially bad about that, wanting full control about everything printed about her son.  It's a great read, either version, but I personally like the new version better.
       "Blackbird" (1992) was written by Geoffrey Giuliano, which should say a lot by itself to anyone familiar with Mr. Giuliano's work.  I personally found it very gossipy and full of sordid tales about the McCartney's and the break-up of Paul's band Wings.  It's very biased and exploitive and more Anti-McCartney than it should be for a book that's supposed to be  "an even-handed account" and "a definitive study of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney", according to it's reviews.
        Between Mr. Giuliano's fascination with "the fabulous Jo Jo Laine" and Denny Laine's incessant whining about how abused and under-compensated he was by the McCartneys... my suggestion is to take most of this book with a grain of salt.
       "Many Years From Now," Paul's own limited biography released in 1997 and penned by Barry Miles, an old McCartney friend, is pretty good, except that I had the distinct feeling that I was reading a version of events the way Paul wanted us to see them...not necessarily the way they actually happened.
        In his attempt to "set the record straight", he's very frank about some things, like his use of drugs and his lifestyle and friends during the Beatle days but then there's a huge gap missing during the events of the 80s and 90s...some of his most productive years musically.
    Any and all of these books are entertaining.  I recommend all of them to read, taking from each of them what you will.  But keep in mind that they all paint very different pictures of "our guy" through the years.

Judy Johnson