Paul is Undead (2010)

Original Release Date: June 22, 2010
Publisher: Gallery Books

Before I begin this review, I think it’s important for me to tell everyone that, while I like the Beatles, I wouldn’t consider myself a “fan” by any stretch of the imagination.

When it comes to music, a “fan” is someone who owns albums of the artist in question, and has probably seen the artist live in concert if they ever had the chance; someone who knows intimate details of where the artist has been and the things that artist has been through; someone who listens to the artist’s music even after it might not be considered “cool” or “popular” music anymore.

A “fan” is NOT someone who doesn’t own an album by the artist in question, or someone who doesn’t know anything about the actual person or people who are actually making the music. A “fan” is NOT someone who simply hears an artist’s songs on the radio and thinks they sound nice. That is simply someone who likes a song or a few songs from the artist, someone who has a passing fancy to the artist as a listener of music, and nothing more.

So, as I mentioned, I like the Beatles, but I’m not a “fan.” I don’t own any of their albums, and (prior to reading the book being reviewed here) I didn’t have a lot of in-depth background knowledge about the group or its members, other than what the “average” person might know. (As a side note, I am most definitely a “fan” of the rock band Journey, owning almost all of their albums and having seen them live as recently as last Summer; on many days I feel that I could easily go raging “zombie” on all the misguided people who think they are “fans” of Journey simply because they know the words to the chorus of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” But I digress.)