Paul McCartney: A Life

Peter A Carlin

Touchstone, Nov 3, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 384 pages

More than a rock star, more than a celebrity, Paul McCartney is a cultural touchstone who helped transform popular music as one half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo. In this definitive biography, Peter Ames Carlin examines McCartney’s entire life, casting new light not just on the Beatles era but also on his years with Wings and his thirty-year relationship with his first wife, Linda McCartney. He takes us on a journey through a tumultuous couple of decades in which Paul struck out on his own as a solo artist, reached the top of the charts with a new band, and once again drew hundreds of thousands of screaming fans to his concerts. Carlin presents McCartney as a musical visionary but also as a layered and conflicted figure as haunted by his own legacy—and particularly his relationship with John Lennon—as he was inspired by it. Built on years of research and fresh, revealing interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators spanning McCartney’s entire life, Carlin’s lively biography captures the many faces of the living legend.

What people are saying

Review: Paul McCartney

User Review  - Brian Young - Goodreads

I am a huge beatles fan so this book instantly interested me. I had to choose a book for a book report in my english class and it had to be non-fiction, and after searching forever I found this. From ...

Review: Paul McCartney

User Review  - Scott Holstad - Goodreads

This was an interesting book to read. The Beatles were a little before my time, and I grew up listening to Paul's Wings, but I've always been interested in the Beatles and Paul McCartney, so I enjoyed ...

About the author

Peter Ames Carlin has been a senior writer for People, a TV critic for The Oregonian newspaper, and is the author of Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney: A Life. Carlin lives with his wife and three children in Portland, Oregon. Visit PeterAmesCarlin.com.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Paul McCartney: A Life
• Author: Peter A Carlin
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Touchstone, 2009
• ISBN: 1416562230, 9781416562238
• Length: 384 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts; Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Rich & Famous