Review: Meet the Beatles

No, not the album, but Steven Stark's new book about the cultural influence of the group. He argues that they helped create a feminising influence on culture in both their music and lives. I would write at greater length, but I sent off a query to the Journal of Popular Culture and they may be able to use my review (completed tonight). I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in reading about the group's influence as well as what they said and did. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but I did learn a couple of things I did not know about the Beatles (really!) including tour manager Neil Aspinall's affair with Mona Best (!) which resulted in, among other things, a son. Stark loses steam by the end, but it was a fun and interesting read throughout. A little too Paul-reliant for my tastes, particularly considering how Mr. McCartney has tried to ret-con the past now that there are fewer folks to disagree with his "memory" of what happened, but on the whole Stark's narrative proves entertaining.