December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died (Book)
*Starred Review* Greenberg, a best-selling author and television producer, seizes the reader’s attention and heart in this finely honed chronicle of the death of John Lennon. This page-turner begins with the release of the album Double Fantasy, a ravishing collaboration between Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono an achievement that ended a sweet period of seclusion with their then-five-year-old son, Sean. Lennon was 40 and rejuvenated creatively and emotionally. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Greenberg emphasizes Lennon’s happiness, noting, with no small irony, how safe he and Yoko felt living in the Dakota, a fanciful old Manhattan apartment building, and how friendly Lennon was to the fans who gathered there, including his killer, Mark David Chapman. Greenberg enfolds a wealth of fresh biographical facts and penetrating insights into this richly dimensional and riveting account, circling deftly between Lennon’s past and his last months in 1980, and the chilling story of Chapman’s obsession with Lennon and history of concealing his mental illness, and how close he came to not pulling the trigger. Greenberg’s definitive and unforgettable inquiry into John Lennon’s death illuminates the cruel mysteries of madness, and, more resonantly, all the qualities that made Lennon such an exceptional and compelling artist. --Donna Seaman