The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story
Usually I wait until the end of the next month to post the books I have read but this book...this book needs it's own entry.
I had already had it on hold because BEATLES and then it won the Eisner Award for best non-fiction graphic novel. And let me tell you, it DESERVED IT.
First of all, the story. I'm a HUGE Beatles fan, I know who Brian Epstein was. But this story, which was both well researched but then also elaborated on in ways that the author admits are fiction since he has no way of knowing what the exact conversations were like between Brian and other people. This isn't The Beatles story, this is Brian's story, with the Beatles as a backdrop. It's the story of a young man, trying to find his place in the world. But it's not just as simple as being successful. Brian Epstein was gay and in the 1960s, being gay in the UK was ILLEGAL. So here is a man who is in charge of the band that becomes the symbol of "All You Need is Love" and he feels like he can never be loved. It's heartbreaking.
And then the artwork. Oh my god, it is just beautiful. There is nothing more to say, it is just so gorgeous, so well laid out. The colors are perfect. The imagery...
This book has so much to offer. Even if your knowledge of the Beatles is just a few songs, the basic history, this book is worth looking at to see the social and cultural issues that are the same and that have changed (or have they?). It's a look into that world, a peek behind the curtain of the man behind Beatlemania. Of the naive and innocent man who tried so hard to dive into a business he knew nothing about, and how it pulled him under.
Go get this book now. You can read it in an afternoon. But it will stay with you long after.