DARK HORSE: The Secret Life of George Harrison

by Geoffrey Giuliano ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1990

This so-called ""secret"" life of former Beatle Harrison is little more more than a rehash of material well covered in earlier books on the Fab Four. Giuliano (with Julia Baird, John Lennon, My Brother--not reviewed) raids the wealth of information available to anyone with a library card and doesn't hesitate to repeat unsubstantiated anecdotes or quote the most unreliable sources. His own last conservation with the rock star took place in 1983. Giuliano does provide, however, a once-over-lightly history of Harrison's youth and the early years of the Beatles. Through the mid-60's, when the band was still touring and performing, Harrison tried to balance his personal life with his public persona and found the conflict devastating. His forays into the drug culture and his attraction to Eastern mysticism, particularly Krishna-consciousness, are delved into here, but Giuliano merely repeats others' observations, earlier interviews, and what George himself related in his book, I Me Mine. Harrison's middle career years--from the Bangladesh concerts in 1971 until his resurgence in the late 1980's--are largely overlooked: those are the very years when Harrison was most ""secret."" And, at times, the book reads like the shoddiest kind of entertainment journalism. For example, the author's contention that Harrison's breakup with Pattie Boyd had to do with his religious beliefs regarding sexual abstinence is juxtaposed with the lurid testimonial of a ""groupy"" claiming an extramarital fling with the musician. A passage on Friar Park, Harrison's bizarre country estate, is quite detailed and rather interesting; but even that is gleaned from a tour guide printed at the turn of the century. A decidedly unmagical non-mystery tour.

Pub Date: April 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION