This book is a very comprehensive biography of a man who was always an enigma. Even though he achieved fame through the monster success of The Beatles, he was always the guy in the background playing his guitar. George admits through his lifetime that he always felt like a third wheel in that group, but he wanted to play his guitar, and that's what he did. I have always maintained that George Harrison is probably the most under-rated guitarist there ever was. He could play any instrument, and he could play any song after listening to it a few times. He could put any spin on any song if he so wished, and he didn't need to read music to do this. It was all done by ear. He came from a very poor but loving family and went on to the stars when he joined up with two guys who were from his neighbourhood. With the addition of a fourth, who always felt like a brother to George, they became THE BEATLES. The book gave a great picture of George's life as a Beatle, but it did not stop there. George went on to many successes, and much heartbreak after The Beatles broke up, but still he kept displaying his genius in music and in film. I loved reading how his songs came to being, especially my favourites like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun", and "Something". I loved reading how he grew and matured as a musician, albeit with many bumps along the way. I have always loved George's music, but now I feel that I understand the man behind that music a little better. RIP George Harrison, and thank you for the memories. ( )

Having read (and really enjoyed) Shout! as well as Norman's books on both Lennon and McCartney. I've also read his books on the Stones and Jagger, and even Clapton, back before Clapton lost his mind.

I do find that, while Norman can craft a decent story, and does give a lot of information, there's times when he makes mistakes, so the reader does need to take some of his facts with a grain of salt.

But overall, I likely enjoyed this one a little less than the others simply because I'd come to adore Harrison, and his legend has only grown in the two decades since his passing. He's not my favourite Beatle, but he'd been the one I'd most respected.

Norman tends to shatter a lot of the mystique around him, which is fine. I don't want a sugarcoated biography, I want an author that'll gimme some truth.

So, my disappointment is with the subject, not the author. Turns out, Harrison was as human as his three partners in the band.

I always find it fascinating how a person can hold such enlightened spirituality, or insight into the world and those who inhabit it, while also being so incredibly flawed and...well...human, I guess.

Overall, a decent book. I guess I just had one of those moments where I finally got to meet another hero up close and personal, and found out they're as flawed and confused as the rest of us. ( )

George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle by Philip Norman was largely what I was expecting, both positively and negatively. Fortunately, armed with some understanding of the relationship between Norman and Harrison, the reader can enjoy most of the information and discount Norman's pettiness.

Harrison once made a less-than-flattering (and more than likely accurate) statement about Norman, and in true Norman fashion he waited until well after his death to write a factually accurate biography with little bits of questionable, at best, analysis and interpretation. Ignore that and the book is largely a success.

So much has been written about the Beatles, even George, that the amount of truly new information here is limited. What we do get is the focus on George rather than any of the others. A lot of what we knew about Harrison was in the context of one of his bandmates. For instance, reading about Lennon you might get a tidbit about Harrison, but from a different perspective. This placing of George at the center of the story is probably this volume's most important contribution to the vast Beatle library.

I know I sound like this book was spoiled by Norman's axe he insists on grinding, but that isn't the case. Understanding the limits of a biased biographer allows a reader to still gain insight, and even helps generate more active reading since we have to be on guard for the juvenile "explanations" that say more about the writer than the subject of the biography.

Harrison's flaws and contradictions are certainly on display here, and it does a fan good to have a more complete impression of our celebrities. We all have flaws and we're all inconsistent in our thinking, so this is simply showing that Harrison was, indeed, human.

I would recommend this not just to Beatle fans but anyone who enjoys biographies that are less fawning than most. Just remember, this is not an objective critical look but a personally driven negative hatchet job, so be on guard.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )