John & Paul. The Beatles. Book Launch

Name: John & Paul. The Beatles. Book Launch
Start: 2025-04-23T19:30:00+01:00
Location: HQ Urban Kitchen

Schedule

Wed, 23 Apr, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

HQ Urban Kitchen | Swansea, WA

We're delighted to welcome Ian Leslie who'll be in conversation with Jude Rogers for the Swansea Launch of John & Paul: A Love Story In Songs.
John and Paul begins in 1957, when two teenagers in suburban Liverpool meet and decide to play rock ‘n’roll together. It ends twenty three years later, when one of them is murdered. In between, we see them become global stars, create countless indelible songs and play a central role in creating the modern world. Lennon and McCartney were more than friends, rivals or collaborators. They were intimates who both had the fabric of their world ruptured at a young age, and who longed to make emotional connections with each other and with audiences. The pop song was a vessel into which they poured feelings of grief and euphoria and everything in between. When they couldn’t speak what they felt, they sang it. After the break-up of their group, they maintained a musical dialogue at a distance, in songs full of recrimination, regret and affection. Ian Leslie traces the twists and turns of their relationship through the music it produced and offers rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration and human connection. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, this is a startlingly fresh take on two of the greatest icons in music history.
‘I don’t think anyone is writing about The Beatles as well as Ian Leslie is right now.’ PETE PAPHIDES
‘Leslie is one of those thinkers who can spin something smart and important out of just about anything . . . Eclectic and stimulating.’ NICK HORNBY
‘The first new Beatles story in decades – and the one that will make your heart burst.’ CAITLIN MORAN
'The most moving and revelatory book on Lennon and McCartney I have ever read - so joyous, so sad. About the alchemy of youth, of friendship, of love. I just wish I could enjoy the experience of reading it for the first time again.' TOM HOLLAND
'I was enthralled by John & Paul - one of the most insightful books I've ever read on creativity, genius, and collaboration'. JAMES SHAPIRO
‘No writer has ever gotten to the heart of the John & Paul saga as brilliantly as Ian Leslie.’ ROB SHEFFIELD, ROLLING STONE JOURNALIST
‘Ian Leslie's new book is the best study of [John and Paul’s] friendship, from improbable beginning to melancholy end -- and of all the songs produced between - that we have ever had.' ADAM GOPNIK
Ian Leslie is the author of acclaimed books on human psychology: Born Liars, Curious, and How To Disagree. He has written for, among others, the New Statesman, The Economist, the New York Times and the Financial Times. Leslie is the author of a popular newsletter on culture, creativity and ideas: The Ruffian. He has been a Beatles fan since he was seven.
Jude Rogers is a Welsh journalist, lecturer, arts critic and broadcaster. She is a music critic for The Guardian and also regularly writes features and articles for The Observer, New Statesman and women's magazines such as Red Her articles have also been published by The Times and by BBC Music and she broadcasts on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 6 Music. She is a senior lecturer in journalism at London Metropolitan University.