 First edition cover | |
| Author | Philip Norman |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | The Beatles |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | MJF Books |
Publication date | 1981 |
Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation (also published asShout!: The True Story of the Beatles) is a book written by journalistPhilip Norman that chronicles the history of the English rock bandthe Beatles. The book was published by MJF Books in 1981, and later editions have been published byPan Macmillan[1] andSimon & Schuster.[2]
Shout! became a bestselling book and received a favourable reception for its content, including its coverage of the Beatles'Hamburg era,[3] although detractors have bemoaned its negative tone and questionable sources. Norman later wrote thatPaul McCartney had taken to calling the bookShite. Its claims and interpretations have since been largely contradicted by subsequent Beatles-related biographies, reference books and memoirs.
Shout! was a bestselling book upon release in 1981,[4] and has since sold over a million copies.[5] Randolph Hogan ofThe New York Times describedShout! as "the definitive biography [of the Beatles] – comprehensive, intelligent, sensitively written and exhaustively researched",[6] while theChicago Sun-Times lauded it as "the best, most detailed, and most serious biography of the Beatles and their time".[7]
In his review of the book inThe Rough Guide to the Beatles (2006), Chris Ingham writes that Norman displays a "clear dislike" for McCartney yetShout! merits the praise it has received, due to "the rigour of its research and insightful reflection of the times".[8] Writing in 2005, Beatles biographerIan MacDonald said that Norman's book "remains the sharpest account of The Beatles' career".[9] In 2017, Sibbie O'Sullivan ofThe Washington Post called the book "well-respected".[10]
In 2017, criticStephen Thomas Erlewine highlightedShout! as an essential Beatles book, although one that draws primarily from interviewees who "were ready to settle scores while keeping the fires of the Beatles' myth alight".[11] In 2020, Colin Fleming ofRolling Stone ranked the book seventh on his list of the "10 Best Beatles Books", writing: "The knock on this Philip Norman bio has always been that he looks down on his subjects, but ... the most compelling Beatles books tend to be the ones that you can have a mental punch-up over, disagreeing with a given take, but enjoying it all the same because it makes you think, or sends you back to reevaluate something."[3]
Paul McCartney voiced his objections to Norman's unfavourable portrayal of him inShout! as a "great manipulator".[8] Norman later recalled that he had heard that McCartney had taken to calling the bookShite.[12] In a 1988 interview, music journalistMark Ellen askedGeorge Harrison what he thought of Norman's characterisation of the four Beatles and of his suggestion that Harrison had learned thesitar because he was "desperate to have some identity" within the group. Harrison replied that Norman understood nothing about the Beatles' history and had missed the overlapping aspects of the band members' personalities, adding that he "wrote that book becausehe was desperate to have an identity is probably closer to the truth".[13]
By the 2010s, Norman had largely abandoned the narrative promoted byShout![14] Writing in her 2016 bookThe Beatles and the Historians, Erin Torkelson Weber said:
Certain aspects ofShout! continue to influence Beatles historiography. However, by the beginning of the 21st century major elements of theShout! narrative were no longer unquestionably accepted as the prevailing Orthodoxy, andThe Beatles Bibliography condemned its close-minded and inaccurate doctrine ... The vast majority of sources which emerged between the wake of Lennon's murder and the 21st century painted a far more nuanced picture of the Beatles, their music, and their breakup than the one Norman provided inShout! Multiple biographies, reference books, eyewitness accounts and memoirs contradicted many of Norman's ... conclusions and interpretations.[14]
