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{{short description|1964 book by John Lennon}}
{{About|the 1964 book by John Lennon|the phrase "in his own right"|suo jure}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{good article}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name           = In His Own Write
| image          = In His Own Write.jpg
| image_size     =
| caption        = First edition
| alt            = The cover of the book, featuring a picture of John Lennon
| author         = [[John Lennon]]
| country        = United Kingdom
| genre          = {{flatlist}}
* [[Literary nonsense]]
* [[Surrealism|surreal poetry]]
{{endflatlist}}
| published      = 23 March 1964 by [[Jonathan Cape]]
| pages          = 80
| isbn           = 0-684-86807-5
| followed_by    = [[A Spaniard in the Works]]
}}

'''''In His Own Write''''' is a 1964 [[Literary nonsense|nonsense]] book by the English musician [[John Lennon]]. Lennon's first book, it consists of poems and short stories ranging from eight lines to three pages, as well as illustrations.

After Lennon showed journalist Michael Braun some of his writings and drawings, Braun in turn showed them to [[Tom Maschler]] of publisher [[Jonathan Cape]], who signed Lennon in January 1964. He wrote most of the content expressly for the book, though some stories and poems had been published years earlier in the [[Liverpool]] music publication ''[[Mersey Beat]]''. Lennon's writing style is informed by his interest in English writer [[Lewis Carroll]], while humorists [[Spike Milligan]] and [[Stanley Unwin (comedian)|"Professor" Stanley Unwin]] inspired his sense of humour. His illustrations imitate the style of cartoonist [[James Thurber]]. Many of the book's pieces consist of private meanings and [[in-joke]]s, while also referencing Lennon's interest in physical abnormalities and expressing his anti-authority sentiments.

The book was both a critical and commercial success, selling around 300,000 copies in Britain. Reviewers praised it for its imaginative use of [[word play|wordplay]] and favourably compared it to the later works of [[James Joyce]], though Lennon was unfamiliar with him. Later commentators have discussed the book's prose in relation to Lennon's songwriting, both in how it differed from his contemporary writing and in how it anticipates his later work, heard in songs like "[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]" and "[[I Am the Walrus]]". Released amidst [[Beatlemania]], its publication reinforced perceptions of Lennon as "the smart one" of the Beatles, and helped to further legitimise the place of [[pop music]]ians in society.

Since its release, the book has been translated into several languages. In 1965, Lennon released another book of nonsense literature, ''[[A Spaniard in the Works]]''. He abandoned plans for a third collection and did not publish any other books in his lifetime. [[Victor Spinetti]] and [[Adrienne Kennedy]] adapted his two books into a one-act play, ''The Lennon Play: In His Own Write'', produced by the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre Company]] and first performed in June 1968 to mixed reviews.

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== Background ==

=== Earliest influences ===

{{multiple image
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 |image1 = Lewis Carroll 1863.jpg
 |image2 = James Thurber NYWTS.jpg
 |alt1 = Lewis Caroll
 |alt2 = James Thurber
 |footer = Left: The English writer [[Lewis Carroll]], whose [[Word play|wordplay]] influenced John Lennon's writing style<br />Right: The American cartoonist [[James Thurber]], whose cartoons Lennon began imitating when he was a teenager
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}}

[[John Lennon]] was artistic as a child, though unfocused on his schooling.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=68}} He was mostly raised by his aunt [[Mimi Smith]], an avid reader who helped shape the literary inclinations of both Lennon and his step-siblings.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=40}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=43}} Answering a questionnaire in 1965 about which books made the largest impression on him before the age of eleven, he identified [[Lewis Carroll]]'s [[Literary nonsense|nonsense]] works ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' and ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'', as well as [[Kenneth Grahame]]'s children's book ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]''.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=49}} He added: "These books made a great impact and their influence will last for the rest of my life".{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=131}}{{refn|group=note|Lennon chose Carroll for inclusion on the [[List of images on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|album cover of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'']] in 1967.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=332n34}}{{sfn|Howlett|2017|pp=111, 117}}}} He reread Carroll's books at least once a year,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=8, 49}}{{sfn|Turner|2005|p=123}} being intrigued by the use of [[Word play|wordplay]] in pieces like "[[Jabberwocky]]".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=8}} His childhood friend [[Pete Shotton]] remembered Lennon reciting the poem "at least a few hundred times", and that, "from a very early age, John's ultimate ambition was to one day 'write an ''Alice''{{'}} himself".{{sfn|Shotton|Schaffner|1983|p=33}} Lennon's first ever poem, "The Land of the Lunapots", was a fourteen-line piece written in the style of "Jabberwocky",{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=49, 807n25}} using [[Wikt:Carrollian|Carrollian]] words like "wyrtle" and "graftiens".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=140}}{{refn|group=note|Lewisohn states it was Lennon's first poem but does not date it.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=807n25}} It was later included in the 68th issue of ''Mersey Beat'',{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=138}} published on 27 February 1964{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=807n25}} as "The Land of Lunapots" alongside his poem "The Tales of Hermit Fred".{{sfn|Harry|1977|p=76}}}} Where Carroll's poem opens {{"'}}Twas brillig, and the{{nbsp}}...",<ref>{{harvnb|Carroll|1871|p=[[s:Page:Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.djvu/41|21]]}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=140}}.</ref> Lennon's begins:{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=807n25}}<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">T'was custard time and as I
Snuffed at the haggie pie pie
The noodles ran about my plunk
Which rode my wrytle uncle drunk
...</poem>

From around the age of eight, Lennon spent much of his time drawing, inspired by cartoonist [[Ronald Searle]]'s work in the [[St Trinian's School]] cartoon strips.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=49}} He later enjoyed the illustrations of cartoonist [[James Thurber]] and began imitating his style around the age of fifteen.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} Uninterested in [[fine art]] and unable to create realistic likenesses, he enjoyed doodling and drawing witty cartoons,{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=606}} usually made with either a black pen or a [[fountain pen]] with black ink.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} Filling his school notebooks with vignettes, poetry and cartoons,{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=15}} he drew inspiration from British humorists such as [[Spike Milligan]] and [[Stanley Unwin (comedian)|"Professor" Stanley Unwin]],{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=68}} including Milligan's [[radio comedy]] programme ''[[The Goon Show]]''.{{sfn|Laing|2009|pp=12, 23, 256n14}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=9, 59}} He admired the programme's unique humour, characterised by attacks on [[The Establishment|establishment figures]], [[surreal humour]] and punning wordplay, later writing that it was "the only proof that the WORLD was insane".<ref>{{harvnb|Turner|2005|p=123}}: establishment figures, surreal humour; {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=59}}: admired, punning wordplay; {{harvnb|Lennon|1973|p=8}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=59}}: "the only proof{{nbsp}}..."</ref> Lennon collected his work in a school exercise book dubbed the ''Daily Howl'',{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=68–69}} later described by Lennon's bandmate [[George Harrison]] as "jokes and [[avant-garde]] poetry".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} Made in the style of a newspaper, its cartoons and ads featured wordplay and gags,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=68–69}} such as a column reporting: "Our late editor is dead, he died of death, which killed him".{{sfn|Gutterman|2014|p=15}}

Despite Lennon's love of literature, he was a chronic misspeller, saying in a 1968 interview that he "never got the idea of spelling",{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=131}} finding it less important than conveying an idea or story.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=173}} Beatles historian [[Mark Lewisohn]] raises the possibility that Lennon had [[dyslexia]] – a condition that often went undiagnosed in the 1940s and 1950s – but counters that he exhibited no other related symptoms.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|pp=131, 758n67}} Lennon's mother, [[Julia Lennon]], similarly wrote with uncertain spelling and displayed weak grammar in her writing.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=758n67}} American professor James Sauceda contends that Unwin's use of fractured English was the foremost influence on Lennon's writing style,{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=147, 155}} and in a 1980 interview with ''[[Playboy]]'', Lennon stated that the main influences on his writing "were always Lewis Carroll and ''The Goon Show'', a combination of that".<ref>{{harvnb|Sheff|1981}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=59}}.</ref>

=== Art college and Bill Harry ===

Although most teachers at [[Calderstones School|Quarry Bank High School for Boys]] were annoyed at Lennon's lack of focus, he impressed his English master, Philip Burnett, who suggested he go to art school at the [[Liverpool College of Art]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=125–126, 137}} In 2006, Burnett's wife, June Harry, recalled of Lennon's cartoons: "I was intrigued by what I saw. They weren't academic drawings but hilarious and quite disturbing cartoons."{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=126}} She continued: "Phil enjoyed John's slant on life. He told me, 'He's a bit of a one-off. He's bright enough, but not much apart from music and doing his cartoons interests him.{{'"}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=126}} Having failed his [[GCE Ordinary Level|GCE "O" levels]], Lennon was admitted into the Liverpool College of Art solely on the basis of his art portfolio.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=42}} While attending the school he befriended fellow student [[Bill Harry]] in 1957.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=143–144, 422–423}} When Harry heard that Lennon wrote poetry he asked to see some, later recalling: "He was embarrassed at first{{nbsp}}... I got the impression that he felt that writing poetry was a bit effeminate because he had this tough macho image".{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=42}} After further pressing, Lennon relented and showed Harry a poem, who remembered it as "a rustic poem, it was pure British humour and comedy, and I loved it".{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=42}} Harry retrospectively stated that Lennon's writing style, especially his use of [[malapropism]]s, reminded him of Unwin.{{sfn|Clayson|2003|p=33}} Harry described his poetry as displaying an "originality in its sheer lunacy", but found his sense of humour "absurdly cruel with its obsession with [[cripple]]s, [[Cerebral palsy|spastics]] and torture".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=22}}

After Harry started the Liverpool newspaper ''[[Mersey Beat]]'' in 1961, Lennon made occasional contributions.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=62}} His column "Beatcomber", a reference to the "Beachcomber" column of the ''[[Daily Express]]'',{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=62}}{{sfn|Laing|2009|p=17}} included poems and short stories.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=455}}{{refn|group=note|Both Harry and Lennon have each claimed responsibility for coming up with the name "Beatcomber".{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=1549n103}}}} He typed his early pieces with an [[Imperial Typewriter Company|Imperial]] Good Companion Model T [[typewriter]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=805n23}} By August 1962, his original typewriter was either broken or unavailable to him. He borrowed an acquaintance's, spurring him to write more prose and poetry.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=1272}} He enjoyed typewriters,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=1272}} but found that his slow typing left him unmotivated to write for long periods of time and so he focused on shorter pieces.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} He left [[Typographical error|keystroke errors]] uncorrected to add further wordplay.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=16}} Excited about being in print, he brought 250 pieces to Harry, telling him he could publish whatever he wanted of them.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=455}} Only two stories were published, "Small Sam" and "On Safairy with Whide Hunter", because Harry's fiancée Virginia accidentally threw out the other 248 during a move between offices.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=667}}{{refn|group=note|While acknowledging the deliberate misspellings which characterise Lennon's writings, Lewisohn suggests that the title "Small Sam" may have been a misprint on the part of ''Mersey Beat'', given that the central character's name, Small Stan, is spelled as such fourteen times in the 150 word story.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=1590n86}} A piece in the 30 July 1964 issue of ''Mersey Beat'' quotes Lennon in calling the piece "Small Stan".<ref>{{harvnb|Harry|1964b}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Harry|1977|p=87}}.</ref>}} Harry later recalled that after telling him about the accident, Lennon broke down in tears.<ref>{{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=148}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=667}}.</ref>

=== Paul McCartney ===

Lennon's friend and bandmate [[Paul McCartney]] also enjoyed ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''The Goon Show'' and the works of Thurber, and the two soon bonded through their mutual interests and similar senses of humour.<ref>{{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|pp=8–9}}: ''Alice in Wonderland'' and ''The Goon Show''; {{harvnb|Miles|1998|p=606}}: Thurber.</ref> Lennon impressed McCartney, who did not know anyone else that either owned a typewriter or wrote their own poetry. He found hilarious one of Lennon's earliest poems, "The Tale of Hermit Fred", especially its final lines:{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=16}}<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">I peel the bagpipes for my wife
And cut all negroes' hair
As breathing is my very life
And stop I do not dare.</poem>

Visiting Lennon's [[251 Menlove Avenue]] home one day in July 1958, McCartney found him writing a poem and enjoyed the wordplay of lines like "a cup of teeth" and "in the early owls of the morecombe". Lennon let him help, with the two co-writing the poem "On Safairy with Whide Hunter", its title's origin likely the adventure [[Serial (radio and television)|serial]] ''[[White Hunter (TV series)|White Hunter]]''. Lewisohn suggests the renaming of the lead character at each appearance was probably Lennon's contribution, while lines that were likely McCartney's include: "Could be the Flying Docker on a case" and "No! But mable next week it will be my turn to beat the bus now standing at platforbe nine". He also suggests the character Jumble Jim was a reference to McCartney's father Jim McCartney.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=194}} Lennon typically wrote his pieces by hand at home and would bring them when he and his band, [[the Beatles]], were travelling in a car or van to a gig. Reading the pieces aloud, McCartney and Harrison would often make contributions of their own. Upon returning home, Lennon would type up the pieces, adding what he could remember of his friend's contributions.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=1272}}

== Publication and content ==

[[File:1964-Lennon-McCartney (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|alt=Paul McCartney and John Lennon standing together.|[[Paul McCartney]] (left) and [[John Lennon]] in June 1964. McCartney contributed an introduction, the book's title and co-wrote two of its pieces with Lennon.]]

In 1963, [[Tom Maschler]], the literary director of [[Jonathan Cape]], commissioned American journalist Michael Braun to write a book about the Beatles.{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=vii}} Braun began following the band during their [[The Beatles Autumn 1963 UK Tour|Autumn 1963 UK Tour]] in preparation for his 1964 book ''[[Love Me Do (book)|Love Me Do: The Beatles' Progress]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Harris|2004|p=119}}: Began following during autumn tour; {{harvnb|Winn|2008|p=328}}: ''Love Me Do: The Beatles' Progress''.</ref> Lennon showed Braun some of his writings and drawings, and Braun in turn showed them to Maschler, who recalled: "I thought they were wonderful and asked him who wrote them. When he told me John Lennon, I was immensely excited."{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=vii}} At Braun's insistence, Maschler joined him and the band at Wimbledon Palais in [[London]] on 14 December 1963.{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=vii}} Lennon showed Maschler more of his drawings, mainly doodles made on scrap pieces of paper{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} that had mostly been done in July 1963 while the Beatles played a residency in [[Margate]].<ref>{{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=134}}: "An awful lot of the material was written while we were on tour, most of it when we were in Margate"; {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2000|p=116}}: Margate residency from 8 to 13 July 1963.</ref> Maschler encouraged him to continue with his pieces and drawings, then selected the title ''In His Own Write'' from a list of around twenty prospects,{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} the pick originally an idea of McCartney.{{sfn|Davies|1968|p=226}}{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=232}} Among the rejected titles were ''In His Own Write and Draw'',{{sfn|Davies|1968|p=226}} ''The Transistor Negro'', ''Left Hand Left Hand'' and ''Stop One and Buy Me''.{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}}{{refn|group=note|''Left Hand Left Hand'' was a reference to the book ''[[Left Hand, Right Hand!]]'' by [[Osbert Sitwell]],{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}}{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=359}} and ''Stop One and Buy Me'' was a play on ice-cream carts that advertise "Stop Me and Buy One".{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=359}}}}

Lennon signed a contract with Jonathan Cape for the book on 6 January 1964, receiving an advance of £1,000 ({{Inflation|UK|1000|1964|r=-3|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} He contributed 26 drawings and 31 pieces of writing, including 23 [[prose]] pieces and eight poems,{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=195}} bringing the book's length to 80 pages.{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} Its pieces range in length from the eight-line poems "Good Dog Nigel" and "The Moldy Moldy Man" to the three-page story "Scene three Act one".{{sfn|Lennon|2014|pp=20–21, 38–41, 61}} Lennon reported that his work on the book's illustrations was the most drawing he had done since leaving art school.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} Most of the written content was new,{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} but some had been done previously, including the stories "On Safairy with Whide Hunter" (1958), "Henry and Harry" (1959), "Liddypool" (1961 as "Around And About"), "No Flies on Frank" (1962) and "Randolf's Party" (1962), and the poem "I Remember Arnold" (1958),<ref>{{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|pp=241–242, 423, 475, 667, 788}} and {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013a|pp=465, 964, 1420, 1550n103}}: previously written, with years; {{harvnb|Lennon|2014|pp=16–19, 29–31, 54, 62–63, 66–67, 78}}: included in ''In His Own Write''.</ref> which he wrote following the death of his mother, Julia.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|pp=465, 955}} Lennon worked spontaneously and generally did not return to pieces after writing them, though he did revise "On Safairy with Whide Hunter" in mid-July 1962, adding a reference to the song "[[The Lion Sleeps Tonight]]", a hit in early 1962.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=172, 822n37}}{{refn|group=note|When originally published in the 14 September 1961 issue of ''Mersey Beat'', Lennon's piece "Around And About" recounted fictional Liverpool landmarks,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=964}} including the "Casbin" and "Jackarandy" clubs (playing on the [[Casbah Coffee Club|Casbah Club]] and the Jacaranda, respectively).{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013a|p=964}}{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=22}} When he published ''In His Own Write'', he included the piece under the new title "Liddypool", omitting the list of attractions and the following sentences:<ref>{{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013a|p=1550n103}}: included in ''In His Own Write'' as "Liddypool", coffee shops removed; {{harvnb|Doggett|2005|pp=21–22}}: included in ''In His Own Write'' as "Liddypool", "We've been engaged{{nbsp}}..." removed.</ref> {{blockquote|"We've been engaged for 43 years and he still smokes. I am an unmurdered mother of 19 years, am I pensionable? My dog bites me when I bite it."}}}} Among the book's literary references are "I Wandered", which includes several plays on the title of the poem "[[I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud]]" by English poet [[William Wordsworth]];{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=44–45}} "Treasure Ivan", which is a variation on the plot of ''[[Treasure Island]]'' by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]];{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=50}} and "At the Denis", which paraphrases a scene at a dentist's office from Carlo Barone's English-teaching book, ''A Manual of Conversation English-Italian''.{{sfn|Goldman|1988|p=45}}{{sfn|Watkins|1983|p=77}}

{{quote box|quote= It's about nothing. If you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't. That's all there is to it. There's nothing deep in it, it's just meant to be funny. I put things down on sheets of paper and stuff them in my pocket. When I have enough, I have a book.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} |source=– John Lennon on ''In His Own Write'', 1964|width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

''In His Own Write'' was published in the UK on 23 March 1964,{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} retailing for 9[[Shilling|s]] 6[[Penny|d]] ({{Inflation|GBP|{{Pounds, shillings, and pence|s=9|d=6}}|1964|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).<ref name=Harry64a>{{harvnb|Harry|1964a}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Harry|1977|p=78}}.</ref>{{sfn|Ricks|1964|p=684}} Lennon attended a launch party at Jonathan Cape's London offices the day before.{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=106}} Maschler refused a request from his superiors at Jonathan Cape that the cover depict Lennon holding a guitar, instead opting for a simple [[head shot]].{{sfn|Davies|2012|p=75}} Photographer [[Robert Freeman (photographer)|Robert Freeman]] designed the first edition of the book,{{sfn|Ingham|2009|p=220}} a black-and-white photograph he took of Lennon also adorning the cover.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=24}} The back cover includes a humorous autobiography of Lennon, "About the Awful", again written in his unorthodox style.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=24–25}} The book became an immediate best-seller,{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=221}} selling out on its first day.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=5}} Only 25,000 copies of the first edition were printed, necessitating several reprints, including two in the last week of March 1964 and five more by January 1965.{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} In its first ten months, the book sold almost 200,000 copies,{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=ix}} eventually reaching around 300,000 copies bought in Britain.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=218}} [[Simon & Schuster]] published ''In His Own Write'' in the US on 27 April 1964,{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=107}} retailing for US$2.50 ({{Inflation|US|2.50|1964|fmt=eq|cursign=US$}}).{{sfn|Anon.(b)|1964|p=E7}}{{sfn|Anon.(c)|1964|p=cxxx}} The American edition was identical to the British, except that publishers added the caption "''The Writing Beatle!''" to the cover.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=24}} The book was a best-seller in the US,{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=27}} where its publication took place around two months after the Beatles' first visit to the country and amid [[Beatlemania]], the hysteria that surrounded the group.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=40}}

=== Contributions by the other Beatles ===

McCartney contributed an introduction to ''In His Own Write'',{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} writing that its content was nonsensical yet funny.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=262}}{{refn|group=note|Submitting the introduction to the publisher, McCartney wrote: "Dear Mr Cape, there are only 234 words but I don't care." A publisher employee attempted to rewrite it, but McCartney's original was the version published.{{sfn|Aspden|2014}}}} In 1964 interviews, Lennon said that two pieces were co-authored with McCartney.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=822n37}} Due to a publishing error only "On Safairy with Whide Hunter" was marked as such – being "[w]ritten in conjugal with Paul"<ref>{{harvnb|Lennon|2014|p=9}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=822n37}}.</ref> – the other piece remaining unidentified.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=822n37}}

Beatles drummer [[Ringo Starr]], prone to incorrect wordings and [[malapropism]]s – dubbed "Ringoisms" by his bandmates{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=129}} – may have contributed a line to the book.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=155}} Finishing up after a long day, perhaps 19 March 1964,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=155}}{{sfn|Miles|2007|pp=116–117}} he commented "it's been a hard day", and, on noticing it was dark, added {{"'}}s night" ("it's been a hard day's night").{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|pp=154–155}} While both Lennon and Starr later identified the phrase as Starr's,<ref>{{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=129}}: Starr; {{harvnb|Sheff|1981}}, quoted in {{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=129}}: Lennon.</ref> Lewisohn raises doubts that the phrase originated with him.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=155}} He writes that if the 19 March dating is correct, that places it after Lennon had already included it in the story "Sad Michael",{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=155}} with the line "He'd had a hard days night that day".{{sfn|Lennon|2014|p=35}} By 19 March, copies of ''In His Own Write'' had already been printed.{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=164}} Lewisohn suggests that Starr may have previously read or heard it in Lennon's story,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=155}} while journalist [[Nicholas Schaffner]] simply writes the phrase originated with Lennon's poem.{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=39}} Beatles biographer [[Alan Clayson]] suggests the phrase's inspiration was [[Eartha Kitt]]'s 1963 song "I Had a Hard Day Last Night", the [[B-side]] of her single "Lola Lola".<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2003a|p=380}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Womack|2016|p=185}}.</ref>  After director [[Richard Lester|Dick Lester]] suggested ''A Hard Day's Night'' as the title of [[A Hard Day's Night (film)|the Beatles' 1964 film]],<ref name=SqB>{{harvnb|Sheff|1981}}, quoted in {{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=129}}.</ref> Lennon used it again in the [[A Hard Day's Night (song)|song of the same name]].{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=235}}

== Reception ==

[[File:James Joyce - Sep 1922 Shadowland.jpg|thumb|alt=James Joyce|Irish writer [[James Joyce]] in 1922. Though Lennon was unfamiliar with his work, critics compared the book to Joyce's later writings.]]

''In His Own Write'' received critical acclaim,{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=221}} with favourable reviews in London's ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' and ''[[The Observer]]''.{{sfn|Savage|2010|p=viii}} Among the most popular poems in the collection are "No Flies on Frank", "Good Dog Nigel", "The Wrestling Dog", "I Sat Belonely" and "Deaf Ted, Danoota, (and me)".{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=218}} ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]''{{'s}} reviewer wrote that the book "is worth the attention of anyone who fears for the impoverishment of the English language and British imagination".<ref>{{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=3}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Riley|2011|p=261}}.</ref> In ''[[The New York Times]]'', Harry Gilroy admired the writing style, describing it as "like a Beatle possessed",{{sfn|Gilroy|1964|p=31}} while [[George Melly]] for ''The Sunday Times'' wrote: "It is fascinating of course to climb inside a Beatle's head to see what's going on there, but what really counts is that what's going on there really is fascinating."<ref>{{harvnb|Melly|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Savage|2010|p=xn2}}.</ref> The ''[[Virginia Quarterly Review]]'' called the book "a true delight" that finally gave "those intellectuals who have become stuck with Beatlemania{{nbsp}}... a serious literary excuse for their visceral pleasures".<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(c)|1964|p=cxxx}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=5}}.</ref> [[Gloria Steinem]] opined in a December 1964 profile of Lennon for ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' that the book showed him to be the only one of the band who had "signs of a talent outside the hothouse world of musical fadism and teenage worship".<ref>{{harvnb|Steinem|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Steinem|2006|p=61}}.</ref>

Though Lennon had never read him, comparisons to Irish writer [[James Joyce]] were common.{{sfn|Harris|2004|p=119}} In his review of the book, author [[Tom Wolfe]] mentions Spike Milligan as an influence, but writes that the "imitations of Joyce" were what "most intrigued the [[Intellectual|literati]]" in America and England: "the mimicry of prayers, [[liturgy|liturgies]], manuals and grammars, the mad [[homonym]]s, especially biting ones such as 'Loud' for 'Lord', which both [Joyce and Lennon] use".<ref>{{harvnb|Wolfe|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Harris|2004|p=119}}.</ref> In a favourable review for ''[[The Nation]]'', [[Peter Schickele]] drew comparison to [[Edward Lear]], Carroll, Thurber and Joyce, adding that even those "with a predisposition toward the Beatles" will be "pleasantly shocked" when reading it.<ref>{{harvnb|Schickele|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=4}}.</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' cited the same influences before admiring the book's [[typography]], written "as if pages had been set by a drunken [[Linotype machine|linotypist]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(b)|1964|p=E7}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=4}}.</ref> ''[[Newsweek]]'' called Lennon "an heir to the Anglo-American tradition of nonsense", but found that the constant Carroll and Joyce comparisons were faulty, emphasising instead Lennon's uniqueness and "{{em|original}} spontaneity".<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(a)|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|pp=4–5}}.</ref> Bill Harry published a review in the 26 March 1964 issue of ''Mersey Beat'', written as a [[parody]] of Lennon's style.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=5–7}}{{refn|group=note|In ''Literary Lennon'', Sauceda presents excerpts of Harry's review, along with his interpretation of its content.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=5–7}}}} In an accompanying "translation" of his review, he predicted that while it would "[a]lmost certaintly{{nbsp}}... be a best seller", it could lend itself to controversy, with newer Beatles fans likely to be "puzzled by its way-out, off beat and sometimes sick humour".<ref name=Harry64a />

One of the few negative responses to the book came from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] [[Charles Curran (politician)|Charles Curran]].{{sfn|MacDonald|2007|p=23}} On 19 June 1964, during a [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] debate on [[automation]],{{sfn|Thomson|Gutman|2004|p=47}} he quoted the poem "Deaf Ted, Danoota, (and me)", then spoke derisively about the book, arguing that Lennon's verse was a symptom of a poor education system.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=233}} He suggested that Lennon was "in a pathetic state of near-literacy", adding that "[h]e seems to have picked up bits of [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Tennyson]], [[Robert Browning|Browning]], and [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] while listening with one ear to the [[Association football|football]] results on the [[wireless]]."{{sfn|Harris|2004|p=119}}{{refn|group=note|During the debate, Curran's fellow Conservative MP [[Norman Miscampbell]] responded to the complaints. Disputing that Lennon was poorly educated, he described the Beatles on the whole as "highly intelligent, highly articulate and highly engaging", and added that it would be wrong to assume their success "came from anything other than great skill".{{sfn|Thomson|Gutman|2004|p=49}}}} The most unfavourable review of the book came from critic [[Christopher Ricks]],{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=7}} who wrote in ''[[New Statesman]]'' that anyone unaware of the Beatles would be unlikely to draw pleasure from the book.<ref>{{harvnb|Ricks|1964|p=685}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|pp=7–8}}.</ref>

=== Reactions of Lennon and the Beatles ===

{{quote box|quote= I really didn't think the book would even get reviewed by the book reviewers{{nbsp}}... I didn't think people would accept the book like they did. To tell you the truth they took the book more seriously than I did myself. It just began as a laugh for me.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=23}} |source=– John Lennon, 1964 |width=25%|align=left|style=padding:8px;}}

While the success of ''In His Own Write'' pleased Lennon,{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} he was surprised by both the attention it received and its positive reception.{{sfn|Ingham|2009|p=221}} In a 1965 interview, he admitted to purchasing all the books that critics compared to his, including one by Lear, one by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] and ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'' by Joyce. He further stated that he did not see the similarities, except "[perhaps] a little bit of ''Finnegans Wake''{{nbsp}}... but anybody who changes words is going to be compared".{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=44}} In a 1968 interview, he said that reading ''Finnegans Wake'' "was great, and I dug it and felt as though [Joyce] was an old friend", though he found the book difficult to read in its entirety.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=176}}{{refn|group=note|In an undated quotation, Lennon stated that reading Joyce for the first time was "like finding Daddy".<ref>{{harvnb|Ingham|2009|p=221}}; {{harvnb|Harris|2004|p=119}}; {{harvnb|Riley|2011|p=262}}.</ref>}}

Among Lennon's bandmates, Starr did not read the book, but Harrison and McCartney enjoyed it.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=176}} Harrison stated in February 1964 that the book included "some great [gags]",{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=16}} and Lennon recalled McCartney was especially fond of the book, being "dead keen" about it.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=176}} In Beatles manager [[Brian Epstein]]'s 1964 autobiography ''[[A Cellarful of Noise]]'', he commented: "I was deeply gratified that a Beatle could detach himself {{em|completely}} from Beatleism and create such impact as an author".<ref>{{harvnb|Epstein|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=xix}}.</ref>{{refn|group=note|[[Derek Taylor]], the Beatles' press officer, [[Ghostwriter|ghostwrote]] ''A Cellarful of Noise'' after extensively interviewing Epstein.{{sfn|Weber|2016|p=32}}}} Beatles [[Record producer|producer]] [[George Martin]] – a fan of ''The Goon Show''{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=259}} – and his wife Judy Lockhart-Smith similarly enjoyed Lennon's writings, with Martin calling them "terribly funny".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=245}}{{refn|group=note|Martin produced albums for ''The Goon Show''{{'s}} individual members, including one for Milligan in late 1961.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=259, 509}} While some sources state that Martin produced albums for the group,{{sfn|Laing|2009|p=256n14}} Lewisohn clarifies that this is a popular misconception, since Martin only recorded the three Goons individually or during a collaboration.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=259n}}}} In an August 1964 interview, Lennon identified "Scene three Act one" as his favourite piece in the book.{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=227}}

=== Foyle's Literary Luncheon ===

Following the book's publication, [[Christina Foyle]], the founder of [[Foyles]] bookshop,{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=43}} honoured Lennon at one of Foyle's Literary Luncheons.{{sfn|Perrick|2004|pp=42–43}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2009|p=33}} [[Osbert Lancaster]] chaired the event on 23 April 1964 at the [[The Dorchester|Dorchester]] hotel in London.{{sfn|Miles|2007|p=122}}{{refn|group=note|At the same time, the other Beatles filmed the closing sequence of "[[Can't Buy Me Love]]" for ''A Hard Day's Night'', leaving Lennon absent from the scene in the completed film.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=158}}}} Among around six hundred attendees were several eminent guests, including [[Helen Shapiro]], [[Yehudi Menuhin]] and [[Wilfrid Brambell]].{{sfn|Perrick|2004|p=43}}{{refn|group=note|Other guests included [[Mary Quant]], [[Millicent Martin]], [[Harry Secombe]], [[Marty Wilde]], [[Arthur Askey]], [[Joan Littlewood]], [[Victor Silvester]], [[Carl Giles]],{{sfn|Miles|2007|p=122}} [[Alma Cogan]], [[Dora Bryan]], [[Lionel Bart]], [[Cicely Courtneidge]] and [[Colin Wilson]].{{sfn|Perrick|2004|p=43}}}} Hungover from a night spent at the [[Ad Lib Club]],{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=173}} Lennon admitted to a journalist at the event that he was "scared stiff".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} He was reluctant to perform the expected speech, getting Epstein to advise luncheon organisers Foyle and Ben Perrick the day before the event that he would not be speaking. The two were taken aback, but assumed that Lennon meant he would only provide a short speech.{{sfn|Perrick|2004|p=43}}

At the event, after Lancaster introduced him,{{sfn|Perrick|2004|p=43}} Lennon stood and only said: "Uh, thank you very much, and God bless you. You've got a lucky face."{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=173}} Foyle was irritated,{{sfn|Miles|2007|p=122}} while Perrick recalls there was "some slight feeling of bewilderment" among attendees.{{sfn|Perrick|2004|pp=43–44}} Epstein gave a speech to avoid further disappointing any diners that had hoped to hear from Lennon.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=43}} In ''A Cellarful of Noise'', Epstein expressed of Lennon's lack of a speech: "He was not prepared to do something which was not only unnatural to him, but also something he might have done badly. He was not going to fail."<ref>{{harvnb|Epstein|1964}}, quoted in {{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=134}}.</ref> Perrick reflects that Lennon retained the affection of his audience due to his "charm and charisma", with attendees still happily queuing afterwards for signed copies.{{sfn|Perrick|2004|p=44}}

== Analysis ==

=== Against Lennon's songwriting ===

{{quote box|quote= You just stick a few images together, thread them together, and you call it poetry. But I was just using the mind that wrote ''In His Own Write'' to write that song.<ref>{{harvnb|Sheff|1981|p=194}}, quoted in {{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=273}}.</ref> |source=– John Lennon reflecting on writing "[[I Am the Walrus]]", 1980|width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

Later commentators have discussed the book's prose in relation to Lennon's songwriting, both in how it differed from his contemporary writing and in how it anticipates his later work.<ref>{{harvnb|Ingham|2009|p=25}}: difference from contemporary writing; {{harvnb|Marshall|2006|p=17}}: anticipation of later songwriting.</ref> Writer Chris Ingham describes the book as "[[Surrealism|surreal]] poetry",{{sfn|Ingham|2009|p=25}} displaying "a darkness and bite{{nbsp}}... that was light years away from '[[I Want to Hold Your Hand]]{{'"}}.{{sfn|Ingham|2009|p=221}} Professor of English Ian Marshall describes Lennon's prose as "mad wordplay", noting the Lewis Carroll influence and suggesting it anticipates the lyrics of later songs like "[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]" and "[[I Am the Walrus]]".{{sfn|Marshall|2006|p=17}} Critic [[Tim Riley (music critic)|Tim Riley]] compares the short story "Unhappy Frank" to "I Am the Walrus", though he calls the former "a good deal more oblique and less cunning".{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=262}}

[[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]] describes the book as including "[[Joycean]] dialect substitutions, Carrollian [[portmanteau]] words, and rich-sounding [[stream-of-consciousness]] [[Double entendre|double-entendre]]".{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=218}} Unlike Carroll, Lennon generally did not create new words in his writing, but instead used [[homonym]]s (such as ''grate'' for ''great'') and other [[Phonology|phonological]] and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] distortions (such as ''peoble'' for ''people'').{{sfn|Dewees|1969|pp=291, 293}} Both Everett and Beatles researcher Kevin Howlett discuss the influence of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' on both of Lennon's books and on the lyrics for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".<ref>{{harvnb|Everett|1999|pp=104, 332n34}}; {{harvnb|Howlett|2017|p=55}}.</ref> Everett singles out the poems "Deaf Ted, Danoota, (and me)" and "I Wandered" as examples of this influence,{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=104, 332n34}} quoting an excerpt from "I Wandered" to illustrate this:<ref>{{harvnb|Lennon|2014|p=36}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Everett|1999|p=332n34}}.</ref><poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Past grisby trees and hulky builds
Past ratters and bradder sheep
...
Down hovey lanes and stoney claves
Down ricketts and stickly myth
In a fatty hebrew gurth
I wandered humply as a sock
To meet bad Bernie Smith</poem> In his book ''[[Can't Buy Me Love (book)|Can't Buy Me Love]]'', Jonathan Gould compares the poem "No Flies on Frank" to Lennon's 1967 song "[[Good Morning Good Morning]]", seeing both as illustrating the "dispirited domestic milieu" of "protagonists [who] drag themselves through the day 'crestfalled and defective{{'"}}.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=410}} Everett suggests that while the character Bungalow Bill in Lennon's 1968 song "[[The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill]]" is generally understood to be a [[portmanteau]] of [[Jungle Jim]] and [[Buffalo Bill]], the name also could have its origins in the character Jumble Jim from Lennon and McCartney's short story "On Safairy with Whide Hunter".{{sfn|Everett|2001|pp=168, 344n75}}

On 23 March 1964 – the same day the book was published in the UK – Lennon went to [[Lime Grove Studios]], [[West London]], to film a segment promoting it. The [[BBC]] programme ''[[Tonight (1957 TV programme)|Tonight]]'' broadcast the segment live, with presenters [[Cliff Michelmore]], [[Derek Hart]] and [[Kenneth Allsop]] reading excerpts.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=152}} A four-minute interview between Allsop and Lennon followed,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=152}} with Allsop challenging him to try using similar wordplay and imagination in his songwriting.{{sfn|Winn|2008|p=327}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2007|p=169}} Similar questions about the banality of his song lyrics – including from musician [[Bob Dylan]]{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=173}}{{sfn|Frontani|2007|pp=82, 113–114}} – became common following the publication of his book,{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=254}} pushing him to write deeper, more introspective songs in the years that followed.{{sfn|Winn|2008|pp=327–328}}{{sfn|Turner|2005|p=60}} In a December 1970 interview with [[Jann Wenner]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', Lennon explained that early in his career he made a conscious split between writing [[pop music]] for public consumption and the expressive writing found in ''In His Own Write'', with the latter representing "the personal stories{{nbsp}}... expressive of my personal emotions".<ref>{{harvnb|Wenner|1971|pp=124–126}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Everett|1999|p=306}}.</ref> In his 1980 ''Playboy'' interview, he recalled the Allsop interview as being the impetus for his writing "[[In My Life]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Sheff|1981|pp=163–164}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Everett|2001|p=319}}.</ref> Writer John C. Winn mentions songs like "[[I'm a Loser]]", "[[You've Got to Hide Your Love Away]]" and "[[Help! (song)|Help!]]" as exemplifying Lennon's move to deeper writing in the year after the book.{{sfn|Winn|2008|pp=327–328}} Music scholar Terence O'Grady describes the "surprising twists" of Lennon's 1965 song "[[Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)]]" as more similar to ''In His Own Write'' than his earlier songs,{{sfn|O'Grady|2008|p=24}} and Sauceda mentions several of Lennon's later Beatles songs – including "I Am the Walrus", "[[What's the New Mary Jane]]", "[[Come Together]]", "[[Dig a Pony]]" – as demonstrating his ability for "sound-sense writing", where words are assembled not for their meaning but instead for their rhythm and for "the joy of sound".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=44–45, 139}}

=== James Sauceda and ''Finnegans Wake'' ===

Sauceda produced the only comprehensive study of Lennon's writings in his 1983 book ''Literary Lennon: A Comedy of Letters'',{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} providing a [[postmodern]] dissection of both ''In His Own Write'' and  Lennon's next book of nonsense literature, ''[[A Spaniard in the Works]]''.{{sfn|Everett|2001|pp=396n26, 429}} Everett describes the book as "a thorough but sometimes wrongheaded postmodern ''Finnegans Wake''-inspired parsing".{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=396n26}} Sauceda, for example, casts doubt on Lennon's claim that he had never read Joyce before writing ''In His Own Write''.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=18}} He suggests that the lines "he was debb and duff and could not speeg"<ref>{{harvnb|Lennon|2014|p=35}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=44}}.</ref> and "Practice daily but not if you are Mutt and Jeff"<ref>{{harvnb|Lennon|2014|p=45}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=44}}.</ref> from the pieces "Sad Michael" and "All Abord Speeching", respectively, were influenced by a passage from ''Finnegans Wake'' discussing whether someone is [[Hearing loss|deaf]] or [[deaf-mute]], reading:<ref>{{harvnb|Joyce|1939|pp=16.12–16}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=44}}.</ref>{{blockquote|Jute. – Are you jeff?<br />Mutt. – Somehards.<br />Jute. – But are you not jeffmute?<br />Mutt. – Noho. Only an utterer.<br />Jute. – Whoa? Whoat is the mutter with you?}} Author [[Peter Doggett]] is even more dismissive of Sauceda than Everett, criticising Sauceda for missing references to British popular culture.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} In particular, he mentions the analysis of the story "The Famous Five Through Woenow Abbey", wherein Sauceda concludes that the Famous Five of the story refers to Epstein and the Beatles,<ref>{{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=41}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Doggett|2005|p=49}}.</ref> but does not mention the popular British children's novels  ''[[The Famous Five (novel series)|The Famous Five]]'', written by [[Enid Blyton]]{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} – referred to as "Enig Blyter" in Lennon's story.<ref>{{harvnb|Lennon|2014|p=32}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Doggett|2005|p=49}}.</ref> Riley calls Sauceda's insights "keen", but suggests more can be understood by analysing the works with reference to Lennon's biography.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=263}} Gould comments that ''The Goon Show'' was Lennon's closest experience to the style of ''Finnegans Wake'', and describes Milligan's 1959 book ''[[Silly Verse for Kids]]'' as "the direct antecedent to ''In His Own Write''."{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=233}}

=== Against Lennon's biography ===

{{quote box|quote= I used to hide my real emotions in [[Gibberish|gobbledegook]], like ''In His Own Write''. When I wrote teenage poems, I wrote in gobbledegook because I was always hiding my real emotions from [my aunt] [[Mimi Smith|Mimi [Smith]]].{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} |source=– John Lennon, 1971 |width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

Before he signed with Jonathan Cape, Lennon wrote prose and poetry to keep for himself and share with his friends, leaving his pieces filled with private meanings and [[in-joke]]s.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=16, 23}} Quoted in a February 1964 piece in ''Mersey Beat'', Harrison said with regard to the book that "[t]he 'with-it' people will get the gags and there are some great ones".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=16}} Lewisohn states that Lennon based the story "Henry and Harry" on an experience of Harrison, whose father gifted him electrician's tools for [[Christmas Day|Christmas]] 1959, implying he expected his son to become an electrician despite Harrison's disagreement.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=241}} In the story, Lennon writes that such jobs were "brummer striving", explaining in a 1968 television interview that the term referred to "all those jobs that people have that they don't want. And there's probably about 90 percent brummer strivers watching in at the moment."{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=242}} The 1962 story "Randolf's Party" was never discussed by Lennon, but Lewisohn suggests he most likely wrote it about former Beatles drummer [[Pete Best]]. Lewisohn mentions similarities between Best and the lead character, including an absent father figure and Best's first name being Randolph.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=788}} Best biographer Mallory Curley describes the lines "We never liked you all the years we've known you. You were never raelly {{sic}} one of us you know, soft head" as, "the crux of Pete's Beatles career, in one paragraph."<ref>{{harvnb|Curley|2005|p=22}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=788}}.</ref>

Riley opines that the short story "Unhappy Frank" can be read as Lennon's "screed against 'mother{{'"}}, aimed at both his aunt Mimi and late-mother Julia for their over-protectiveness and absence, respectively.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=263}} The poem "Good Dog Nigel" tells the story of a happy dog that is [[Animal euthanasia|put down]]. Riley suggests it was inspired by Mimi putting down Lennon's dog, Sally, and that the dog in the poem shares its name with Lennon's childhood friend [[Nigel Walley]], a witness to Julia's death.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=263}} Prone to hitting his girlfriends as a teenager,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=208–209}} Lennon also included several [[domestic violence]] allusions in the book, such as "No Flies on Frank", where a man beats his wife to death and then tries to deliver the corpse to his mother-in-law.{{sfn|Ingham|2009|p=221}}{{refn|group=note|In ''The Beatles: The Authorised Biography'', Lennon stated: "I was in a blind rage for two years. I was either drunk or fighting. There was something the matter with me".<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|1968|p=59}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|pp=208–209}}.</ref> In his 1980 interview with ''Playboy'', he said that "hitting females is something I'm always ashamed of and still can't talk about – I'll have to be a lot older before I can face that in public, about how I treated women as a youngster".<ref>{{harvnb|Sheff|1981}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Lewisohn|2013|p=208}}.</ref>}} In his book ''[[The Lives of John Lennon]]'', author [[Albert Goldman]] interprets the story as relating to Lennon's feelings about his wife [[Cynthia Lennon|Cynthia]] and Mimi.{{sfn|Goldman|1988|pp=192–193}}

Sauceda and Ingham comment that the book includes several references to "cripples", Lennon having had developed phobias of physical and mental disabilities as a child.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=22}}{{sfn|Ingham|2009|p=221}} Thelma Pickles, Lennon's girlfriend in the autumn of 1958,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=190}} later recalled he would joke with disabled people he encountered in public, including "[accosting] men in wheelchairs and [jeering], 'How did you lose your legs? Chasing the wife?{{'"}}{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1995|pp=18–19}} In an interview with [[Hunter Davies]] for ''[[The Beatles: The Authorised Biography]]'', Lennon admitted that he "did have a cruel humor", suggesting it was a way of hiding his emotions. He concluded: "I would never hurt a cripple. It was just part of our jokes, our way of life."{{sfn|Davies|1968|p=56}} During the Beatles' tours, people with physical handicaps were often brought to meet the band, with some parents hoping that their child being touched by a Beatle would heal them.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=22}}{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1995|pp=93–94}} In his 1970 interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Lennon remembered, "[w]e were just surrounded by cripples and blind people all the time and when we would go through corridors they would be all touching us. It got like that, it was horrifying".<ref>{{harvnb|Wenner|1971}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=22}}.</ref> Sauceda suggests that these strange recent experiences led to Lennon to incorporating them into his stories.{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=22}} For Doggett, the essential qualities of Lennon's writing are "cruelty, [a] matter-of-fact attitude to death and destruction, and [a] quick descent from bathos into gibberish".{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=21}}

=== Anti-authority and the Beat movement ===

{{quote box|quote= One of the reviews of ''In His Own Write'' tried to put me in this satire boom with [[Peter Cook]] and those people that came out of [the [[University of Cambridge|University of] Cambridge]], saying, "Well, he's just satirising the normal things, like the Church and the State," which is what I did. Those {{em|are}} the things that keep you satirising, because they're the {{em|only}} things.<ref>{{harvnb|Wenner|1971}}, quoted in {{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=176}}.</ref> |source=– John Lennon, 1970 |width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

''In His Own Write'' includes elements of anti-authority sentiment,{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=173}} disparaging both politics and [[Christianity]], with Lennon recalling that the book was "pretty heavy on the church" with "many knocks at religion" and includes a scene depicting a dispute between a worker and a [[Capitalism|capitalist]].{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=22}} Riley suggests that contemporary reviewers were overtaken by the book's "loopy, scabrous energy", overlooking the "subversion [which] lay embedded in its cryptic asides".{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=261}} The story "A letter", for example, references [[Christine Keeler]] and the [[Profumo affair]], featuring a drawing of her and the closing line,{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=198}} "We hope this fires you as you keeler."{{sfn|Lennon|2014|p=37}}

Lennon and his best friend in art college, [[Stu Sutcliffe]],{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=144, 190}} often discussed writers like [[Henry Miller]], [[Jack Kerouac]] and other [[Beat Generation|Beat poets]], such as [[Gregory Corso]] and [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]].{{sfn|Frith|Horne|1987|p=84}} Lennon, Sutcliffe and Harry sometimes interacted with the local British beat scene,<ref>{{harvnb|Bowen|1999}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Laing|2009|p=17}}.</ref> and, in June 1960, the Beatles – then known as the Silver Beetles{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=27}} – provided musical backing for the beat poet [[Royston Ellis]] during a poetry reading at [[the Jacaranda]] coffee bar in Liverpool.{{sfn|Laing|2009|p=17}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=328–329}} While Lennon suggested in a 1965 interview that if he had not been a Beatle he "might have been a Beat Poet",{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=134}} author Greg Herriges declares that ''In His Own Write''{{'s}} irreverent attacks on the mainstream ranked Lennon among the best of his predecessors in the [[Beat Generation]].{{sfn|Herriges|2010|p=152}} Journalist Simon Warner disagrees, positing that Lennon's writing style owed little to the Beat movement, being instead largely derived from the nonsense tradition of the late nineteenth century.{{sfn|Warner|2013|p=159}}

=== Illustrations ===

[[File:John Lennon - Randolf's Party.jpg|alt=Seventeen distorted figures stand together, including a dog and several faces on balloons.|thumb|left|The illustration accompanying the piece "Randolf's Party", extending onto another page.]]

The illustrations of ''In His Own Write'' have received comparatively little attention.{{sfn|Gutterman|2014|pp=10–11}} Doggett writes that the book's drawings are similar to the "shapeless figures" of Thurber, but with Lennon's unique touch.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} He interprets much of the art as displaying the same fascination with cripples apparent in the text, joining faces to "unwieldy, joke-animal bodies" alongside figures "distorted almost beyond humanity".{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} Journalist Scott Gutterman describes the characters as "strange, protoplasmic creatures",{{sfn|Gutterman|2014|p=10}} and "lumpen everyman and everywoman figures" joined by animals, "[gamboling] around an empty landscape, engaged in obscure pursuits".{{sfn|Gutterman|2014|p=115}}

Analysing the illustration accompanying the piece "Randolf's Party", Gutterman describes the group as "gossiping, frowning, and bunching together", but while some figures adhere to regular social conventions, some fly away out of the image.{{sfn|Gutterman|2014|p=115}} Doggett interprets the same drawing as including "[[Neanderthal]] men", some merely faces attached to balloons, while others "[boast] [[Cubism|Cubist]] profiles with one eye hovering just outside their faces".{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} Sauceda suggests the figures of the drawing reappear in the Beatles' 1968 [[animated film]], ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]'', and describes the "balloon heads" as a metaphor for people's "empty-headedness".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=38}} Doggett and Sauceda each identify [[self-portrait]]s among Lennon's drawings, including one of a Lennon-like figure flying through the air, which Doggett determines to be one of the book's best illustrations.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}}{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|pp=25, 55}} Doggett interprets it as evoking Lennon's "wish-fulfillment dreams",{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=49}} while Sauceda and Gutterman each see the drawing as representing the freedom Lennon felt in making his art.{{sfn|Gutterman|2014|p=115}}{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=55}}

{{clear}}

== Legacy ==

{{See also|Cultural impact of the Beatles#Cultural legitimisation of pop music}}

Cultural commentators of the 1960s often focused on Lennon as the leading artistic and literary figure in the Beatles.{{sfn|Simonelli|2012|p=30}} In her study of Beatles [[historiography]], historian Erin Torkelson Weber suggests that the publication of ''In His Own Write'' reinforced these perceptions, with many viewing Lennon as "the smart one" of the group, and that the band's first film, ''A Hard Day's Night'', further emphasised that view.{{sfn|Weber|2016|p=31}} Everett arrives at similar conclusions, writing that, however unfairly, Lennon was often described as more artistically adventurous than McCartney in part because of the publication of his two books.{{sfn|Everett|2001|pp=15–16}} Communications professor Michael R. Frontani states that the book served to further distinguish Lennon's image within the Beatles,{{sfn|Frontani|2007|p=106}} while ''[[The Independent|Independent]]'' writer [[Andy Gill (writer)|Andy Gill]] felt that it and ''A Spaniard in the Works'' revealed Lennon to be "the sharpest Beatle, a man of acid wit".{{sfn|Gill|2004|p=203}}

[[File:Joan Baez Bob Dylan crop.jpg|thumb|alt=Bob Dylan|American musician [[Bob Dylan]] in 1963. Inspired by ''In His Own Write'', he began writing his first collection of poetry in 1965, published in 1971 as ''[[Tarantula (poetry collection)|Tarantula]]''.]]

Beatles writer [[Kenneth Womack]] suggests that, paired with the Beatles' debut film, the book challenged the band's "non-believers", made up of those outside their then largely teenage fanbase,{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=91}} a contention with which philosophy professor Bernard Gendron agrees, writing that the two pieces of media initiated "a major reversal of the public assessment of the Beatles' aesthetic worth."{{sfn|Gendron|2002|pp=167–168}} Doggett groups the book with the Beatles' more general move from the "classic working-class pop milieu" towards "an arty middle-class environment". He argues that the band's invitation into the British establishment – such as their interactions with photographer Robert Freeman, director Dick Lester and publisher Tom Maschler, among others – was unique for pop musicians of the time and threatened to erode elements of the British class system.{{sfn|Doggett|2016|p=327}} [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] of the [[British royal family]] read the book and said he enjoyed it thoroughly,{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=27}} while [[Prime Minister of Canada|Canadian Prime Minister]] [[Pierre Trudeau]] described Lennon in 1969 as "a pretty good poet".<ref>{{harvnb|Reuters|1969|p=5}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Marquis|2020|p=47}}.</ref> The book resulted in numerous businesses and charities requesting that Lennon produce illustrations.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=57}}{{refn|group=note|The only offer Lennon accepted was to design a [[Christmas card]] for the charity [[Oxfam]].{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=57}} The illustration depicts a spherical [[European robin|robin]],{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=57}} and is the same drawing that accompanies the piece "The Fat Budgie" in ''A Spaniard in the Works''.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=30–31}} Doggett writes that roughly half a million cards were first issued on 19 September 1964,{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=57}} though author [[Steve Turner (writer)|Steve Turner]] writes the card was printed for Christmas 1965.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=30–31}} Some at Oxfam felt the card to be in poor taste. [[The Reverend]] Frederick Nickalls of [[Barnehurst|Barnehurst, Kent]], complained that it "has nothing to do with Christmas.{{nbsp}}... Those old world pictures of stage coaches, snow and candles are more Christian than The Fat Budgie."{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=30}}}} In 2014, the broker [[Sotheby's]] auctioned over one hundred of Lennon's manuscripts for ''In His Own Write'' and ''A Spaniard in the Works'' from Maschler's collection. The short stories, poems and line drawings sold for US$2.9 million (US${{Inflation|US|2.9|2014|fmt=c|r=1}} million adjusted for inflation), more than double their pre-sale estimate.{{sfn|Pogrebin|2014}}

Lennon issuing a book of poetry before Bob Dylan subverted expectations in Britain, where Lennon was still seen as a simple pop star and Dylan was lauded as a poet.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=261}} Inspired by ''In His Own Write'', Dylan began his first book of poetry in 1965, later published in 1971 as ''[[Tarantula (poetry collection)|Tarantula]]''.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=307}}{{refn|group=note|Dylan stated in 2001 that his manager [[Albert Grossman]] signed him up to write the book without consulting him.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=304}} Journalist [[Colin Irwin (journalist)|Colin Irwin]] also suggests that Dylan was commissioned to write the work,{{sfn|Irwin|2008|p=207}} but Heylin disputes this, stating that Grossman's role only extended to discussions with publishing companies and that Dylan was enthusiastic about the project.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|pp=302–305}}}} Using similar wordplay, though with fewer puns, Dylan described it contemporaneously as "a John Lennon-type book".{{sfn|Heylin|2021|pp=303–305}} Dylan biographer [[Clinton Heylin]] suggests that Lennon's piece "A Letter" is the most overt example of ''In His Own Write''{{'s}} influence on ''Tarantula'', with several similar satirical letters appearing in Dylan's collection.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=307}} Three volumes of Dylan's personal writings were later [[wikt:booklegging|booklegged]] under the title ''In His Own Write: Personal Sketches'', released in 1980, 1990 and 1992.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=464}} Beyond influencing Dylan, the book also inspired [[Michael Maslin]], a cartoonist for ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine. A fellow Thurber enthusiast, he identified it, particularly the piece "The Fat Growth of Eric Hearble", as his introduction to "crazy wacky humor".{{sfn|Anon.(d)|2008}}

== Other versions ==

=== {{Anchor|The Penguin John Lennon}} ''The Penguin John Lennon'' ===

[[File:The Penguin John Lennon.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''The Penguin John Lennon'' (1966), designed by [[Alan Aldridge]] and photographed by [[Brian Duffy (photographer)|Brian Duffy]].]]

In 1965, Lennon published a second book of nonsense literature, ''A Spaniard in the Works'', expanding on the wordplay and parody of ''In His Own Write''.{{sfn|Riley|2011|pp=276–277}}{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=41}} While it was a best-seller,{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=221}} reviewers were generally unenthusiastic, considering it similar to his first book yet without the benefit of being unexpected.{{sfn|Ingham|2009|pp=221–222}} He began a third book, planned for release in February 1966, but abandoned it soon after,{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=406n48}} leaving the two books the only ones published in his lifetime.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=46}}{{refn|group=note|In 1986, [[Harper & Row]] published ''[[Skywriting by Word of Mouth]]'', a posthumous collection of his unreleased writings,{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=278n7}} most of which were made during his "house-husband" period in the late 1970s.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=50}} Doggett comments that the book's writing style differs greatly from ''In His Own Write'' and ''A Spaniard in the Works'', relying much more on sardonic humour.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=284}}}}

In what Doggett terms "an admission that his literary career was at an end", Lennon consented to both of his books being joined into a single paperback.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=93}} On 27 October 1966, [[Penguin Books]] published ''The Penguin John Lennon''.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=93}}{{sfn|Miles|2007|p=225}} The first edition to join both of his books into one volume,{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=355}} the publishers altered the proportions of several illustrations in the process.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=93}} The art director of Penguin Books, [[Alan Aldridge]], initially conceived that the cover would consist of a painting depicting Lennon as a penguin, but the publishing director rejected the idea as disrespectful to the company.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=355}} Aldridge commissioned British photographer [[Brian Duffy (photographer)|Brian Duffy]] to take a cover photo with Lennon posing next to a birdcage.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=355–356}} On the day of photoshoot, Aldridge changed his mind and instead had Lennon dress as the comic book character [[Superman]], with the imagery meant to suggest he had now conquered music, film and literature. [[DC Comics]], the owners of the Superman franchise, claimed the image [[Copyright infringement|infringed on their copyright]], so Aldridge retouched the photo, replacing the ''S'' on the [[Superman logo|costume's shield]] with Lennon's initials.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=356}} At least two more covers were used in the next four years; one shows Lennon wearing several pairs of glasses, while the 1969 edition shows a portrait of Lennon with long hair and a beard.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=93}}

=== Translations ===

''In His Own Write'' has been translated into several different languages.{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=27}} Authors [[Christiane Rochefort]] and Rachel Mizraki translated the book into [[French language|French]],{{sfn|Marwick|1993|pp=568, 590n11}} published in 1965 as {{lang|fr|italic=yes|En flagrant délire}}{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=215}} with a new humorous preface titled "{{lang|fr|italic=no|Intraduction}} {{sic}} {{lang|fr|italic=no|des traditrices}}".{{sfn|Marwick|1993|p=568}} Scholar Margaret-Anne Hutton suggests that the book's irreverence, [[black comedy|black humour]] and anti-establishment stance pairs well with Rochefort's style and that its wordplay anticipates that of her 1966 book, {{lang|fr|italic=yes|Une Rose pour Morrison}}.{{sfn|Hutton|1998|pp=2–3}} The book was translated into [[Finnish language|Finnish]] by the translator responsible for adapting the works of Joyce.{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=27}}

Author [[Robert Gernhardt]] attempted to convince [[Arno Schmidt]] – who later worked on Joyce translations – to translate ''In His Own Write'' into [[German language|German]], but Schmidt rejected the offer.{{sfn|Rathjen|2012}} Instead, publisher {{ill|Helmut Kossodo|de}} and Wolf Dieter Rogosky each translated some parts of the work,{{sfn|Rathjen|2012}} publishing a bilingual German/English version, {{lang|de|In seiner eigenen Schreibe}}, in 1965.{{sfn|Lennon|1965}} Author {{ill|Karl Bruckmaier|de}} published a new edition in 2010,{{sfn|Lennon|2010}} updating several cultural references in the process.{{sfn|Rathjen|2012}}{{refn|group=note|For example, he attempted to "pimp up"{{sfn|Scholl|2010}} the text by replacing a reference to German football manager "Sepp Berserker" ([[Sepp Herberger]]) with "Maharishi Mahesh Löwi" ([[Jogi Löw]]).{{sfn|Rathjen|2012}}{{pb}}Both German translations have received praise,{{sfn|Scholl|2010}}{{sfn|Holzmann|2010}} but also criticism. Literary scholar and translator {{ill|Friedhelm Rathjen|de}} describes them as "one-dimensional" and criticises that the title's wordplay on "[[Suo jure|in his own right]]" is not reflected in the translation.{{sfn|Rathjen|2012}}}} [[Argentines|Argentine]] author [[Jaime Rest]] translated the book into [[Spanish language|Spanish]] in the 1960s as {{lang|es|En su tinta}},{{sfn|Anon.(e)|2013}} using a [[Buenos Aires]] urban-[[dialect]].{{sfn|Fernández|2013}} Andy Ehrenhaus published a bilingual Spanish/English edition of both ''In His Own Write'' and ''A Spaniard in the Works'' in 2009,{{sfn|Lennon|2009}} with his strategy of imagining Lennon as writing in Spanish described by one commentator as "lunatically effective".{{sfn|Bogado|2013}}
<!-- Translated into seventeen languages.{{sfn|Anon.(e)|2013}} -->

{{clear}}

== Adaptations ==
=== {{Anchor|The Lennon Play: In His Own Write}} ''The Lennon Play: In His Own Write'' ===
==== Writing (1966–1968) ====

When Lennon began writing ''A Spaniard in the Works'', he considered making a spoken-word LP with extracts from ''In His Own Write'' but ultimately decided against it.{{sfn|Robertson|2004|p=162}}{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=66}} In 1966, [[Theodore Mann]], the artistic director of New York City's [[Circle in the Square Theatre|Circle in the Square]], commissioned American playwright [[Adrienne Kennedy]] to write a new play. Kennedy came up with the idea of adapting Lennon's two books for the stage, flying to London to discuss the idea with Jonathan Cape.{{sfn|Isherwood|2008}} Around the end of 1967, actor [[Victor Spinetti]] began working with Kennedy to adapt the two books into a one-act play.<ref>{{harvnb|Winn|2009|p=173}}: late 1967, Kennedy and Spinetti; {{harvnb|Everett|1999|p=160}}: one-act play.</ref> Spinetti had acted in the Beatles' films ''A Hard Day's Night'', ''[[Help! (film)|Help!]]'' and ''[[Magical Mystery Tour (film)|Magical Mystery Tour]]'',{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=266}} and became good friends with Lennon.{{sfn|Davies|2012|p=79}} Originally titled ''Scene Three, Act One'' after one of ''In His Own Write''{{'s}} stories and staged under that name in late-1967, the play's title was changed to ''The Lennon Play: In His Own Write''.<ref>{{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=189}}: changed names; {{harvnb|Doggett|2005|pp=115–116, 132–133}}: late-1967 staging before changing names; {{harvnb|Lennon|2014|pp=38–40}}: "Scene three, Act one" a piece in ''In His Own Write''.</ref> The play joins elements of the books together to tell the story of an imaginative boy growing up,{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=160}} escaping from the mundane world through his daydreaming.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=173}} Lennon sent notes and additions for the play to Spinetti,{{sfn|Davies|2012|pp=137–138}} and held final approval on Spinetti and Kennedy's script.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=173}} Kennedy was let go from the project before it was finished.{{sfn|Soloski|2008}}{{refn|group=note|Kennedy detailed a real and fictional account of her experience writing the play in her 1990 book ''Deadly Triplets''.{{sfn|King|2001|p=243}} She later dramatised her involvement in the adaption with her 2008 [[Off-Broadway]] play, ''Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?''{{sfn|Isherwood|2008}}}}

[[File:Opdracht Telegraaf. Victor Spinnetti aankomst Schiphol, Bestanddeelnr 920-9416.jpg|thumb|alt=Victor Spinetti|left|Actor [[Victor Spinetti]] in December 1967. He adapted Lennon's books into a one-act play with [[Adrienne Kennedy]], then directed a production of it in June 1968.]]

On 3 October 1967, the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre Company]] in London announced that they would be staging an adaption of Lennon's two books.{{sfn|Doggett|2005|p=115}} The next month, on 24 November, Lennon compiled effects tapes at [[Abbey Road Studios|EMI Recording Studios]] for use in the production. Returning on 28 November for a Beatles recording session, he recorded speech and sound effects, working past midnight from 2:45 am to 4:30 am.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=131}} Spinetti attended the session to assist Lennon in preparing the tapes.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=139}}{{refn|group=note|Spinetti has a cameo on "[[Christmas Time (Is Here Again)]]",{{sfn|MacDonald|2007|p=273}} recorded during the same session for the Beatles' [[The Beatles' Christmas records#1967: Christmas Time Is Here Again!|1967 Christmas record]].{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=139}}}} Sir [[Laurence Olivier]] produced the show, while Spinetti directed.<ref>{{harvnb|Riley|2011|p=399}}: Olivier produced; {{harvnb|Winn|2009|p=139}}: Spinetti directed.</ref> Riley writes [[Adrian Mitchell]] collaborated on the production but does not specify in what capacity.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=733n6}} In the spring of 1968, Spinetti and Lennon discussed ways the show could be performed, and in the summer Lennon attended several rehearsals of the show between sessions for the Beatles' [[The Beatles (album)|eponymous album]],{{sfn|Riley|2011|pp=399, 404}} also known as "the White album".{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=113}} In a June 1968 interview, he stated that "[w]hen I saw the rehearsal, I felt quite emotional{{nbsp}}... I was too involved with it when it was written{{nbsp}}... it took something like this to make me see what I was about then".{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=48}} A little over a week before its opening, Lennon recorded twelve more tape loops and sound effects for use in the play, copying them and taking the tape at the end of the session.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=285}}

==== Premiere (June 1968) ====

The play opened at [[The Old Vic]] theatre in London on 18 June 1968,{{sfn|Miles|2007|p=266}} and Simon & Schuster published it the same year.{{sfn|Schaffner|1977|p=216}}{{sfn|Lennon|Kennedy|Spinetti|1968}} It was heavily censored due to lines perceived as blasphemous and disrespectful to world leaders,<ref>{{harvnb|Norman|1981|p=331}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Everett|1999||p=160}}.</ref> including a speech from the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Queen]] titled "my housebound and eyeball".{{sfn|Davies|2012|p=138}}{{refn|group=note|Some of the world leaders referenced include [[Harold Macmillan]], [[Selwyn Lloyd]], [[James Callaghan]], [[Edward Heath]], [[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]] and [[George Woodcock]]. Lennon's poem "The Farts of Mousey Dung" is likely a play on "The Thoughts of [[Mao Zedong|Mao-Tse-tung]]".{{sfn|Davies|2012|p=138}}}} Lennon was enthusiastic about it;{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=404}} Spinetti later recalled Lennon excitedly running up to him after the first night's performance, expressing that the play reminded him of his early enthusiasm for writing.{{sfn|Howlett|Lewisohn|1990|p=48}}{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=404, 736n6}} Reception to the play however was mixed.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=479}} Reviewing it for ''The New York Times'', critic [[Martin Esslin]] described it as "ingenious and skillful, but ultimately less than satisfying" due to the lack of any underlying meaning.{{sfn|Esslin|1968|p=4D}} Sauceda retrospectively dismisses the play as a weak adaption that struggles to generate "thematic momentum".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=190}} He criticises "{{em|many}} awkward and pointless attempts to ape Lennon's style" by Spinetti and Kennedy that "[infringe] on the integrity of John Lennon's work".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=189}} For example, he writes that they changed Lennon's pun "Prevelant ze Gaute"<ref>{{harvnb|Lennon|2014|p=55}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=189}}.</ref> – a play on French leader [[Charles de Gaulle]] – to "Pregnant De Gaulle".{{sfn|Sauceda|1983|p=189}}{{refn|group=note|He also disparages Beatles writers [[Philip Norman (author)|Philip Norman]] and [[Anthony Fawcett]], who incorrectly cite "Pregnant De Gaulle" as Lennon's original pun.<ref>{{harvnb|Norman|1981}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=189}}; {{harvnb|Fawcett|1976}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Sauceda|1983|p=189}}.</ref>}}

Though they were both still married to other people, [[Yoko Ono]] joined Lennon at the opening performance in one of their first appearances in public together.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=162}}{{refn|group=note|Author [[Barry Miles]] writes it was the couple's second public appearance and that the first happened three days earlier, planting an acorn during an event at [[Coventry Cathedral]].{{sfn|Miles|2007|p=266}} Lewisohn states it was the couple's third public appearance.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2009|p=156}}}} Some journalists challenged the couple, shouting "Where's your wife?" at Lennon, in reference to Cynthia.{{sfn|Harris|2004a|p=330}}{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=41}} Cynthia, then holidaying in [[Italy]] with her family and her and Lennon's son, [[Julian Lennon|Julian]], saw photos of the couple attending the premiere in an Italian newspaper.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=41}}{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=395}} In an interview with [[Ray Coleman]], she recalled, "I knew when I saw the picture that that was {{em|it}}", concluding that Lennon would only have brought Ono out in public if he was prepared for a divorce.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=773}}{{refn|group=note|A few days later, [[Magic Alex]], a close associate of Lennon and the Beatles, travelled to Italy and notified Cynthia that Lennon planned to divorce her.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=41}}{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=773}}}} The ensuing controversy over Lennon and Ono's appearance drew press attention away from the play.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=404}} Everett writes the couple were "lambasted in very hurtful ways by the press, often from an openly racist perspective".{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=162}} Ono biographer [[Jerry Hopkins (author)|Jerry Hopkins]] suggests the couple's first experiment with [[heroin]] in July 1968 was in part due to the pain they experienced from their treatment by the press,<ref>{{harvnb|Hopkins|1987|p=81}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Everett|1999|p=162}}.</ref> an opinion Beatles writer Joe Goodden shares, though he writes that they first used the drug together in May 1968.{{sfn|Goodden|2017|pp=211, 213}}
{{clear}}

=== Other adaptations ===

Lennon briefly considered adapting his two books into a film,{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=768}} announcing at a 14 May 1968 press conference that [[Apple Corps]] would be producing it within the year.{{sfn|Badman|2009|p=431}} Besides ''The Lennon Play'', playwright Jonathan Glew directed the book's only other adaption in 2015 after acquiring permission from Lennon's widow, Ono.{{sfn|McVeigh|2015}} Staged at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]],{{sfn|McVeigh|2015}} the production consisted of a dramatic reading of all of the book's pieces.{{sfn|Awde|2015}}

{{clear}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist|group=note|30em}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===

{{reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
==== Books ====
{{refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Badman |first1=Keith |title=The Beatles: Off the Record |date=2009 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84772-101-3}}
* {{cite book |author1=Beatles, the |author1-link=The Beatles |title=The Beatles Anthology |title-link=The Beatles Anthology (book) |year=2000 |publisher=[[Chronicle Books]] |location=San Francisco |isbn=0-8118-2684-8 |ref={{sfnref|The Beatles|2000}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bowen |first1=Phil |title=A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets |date=1999 |publisher=Stride |location=London |isbn=1-900152-63-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Carroll |first1=Lewis |author1-link=Lewis Carroll |title=Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There |title-link=Through the Looking-Glass |date=1871 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan & Co.]] |location=London |oclc=976600170}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clayson |first1=Alan |author1-link=Alan Clayson |title=John Lennon |date=2003 |publisher=Sanctuary |location=London |isbn=1-86074-487-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clayson |first1=Alan |title=Ringo Starr |date=2003a |publisher=Sanctuary |location=London |isbn=1-86074-488-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Curley |first1=Mallory |title=Beatle Pete, Time Traveller |date=2005 |publisher=Randy Press |oclc=62154854}}
* {{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Hunter |author1-link=Hunter Davies |title=The Beatles: The Authorized Biography |title-link=The Beatles: The Authorised Biography |date=1968 |publisher=[[Dell Publishing]] |location=New York |oclc=949339}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=Hunter |title=The John Lennon Letters |date=2012 |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-316-20080-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Doggett |first1=Peter |author1-link=Peter Doggett |title=The Art and Music of John Lennon |date=2005 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-84449-954-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Doggett |first1=Peter |title=You Never Give Me Your Money |title-link=You Never Give Me Your Money (book) |date=2011 |publisher=[[HarperCollins|It Books]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-177418-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Doggett |first1=Peter |title=Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone – 125 Years of Pop Music |date=2016 |publisher=[[Vintage Books|Vintage]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-09-957519-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Epstein |first1=Brian |author1-link=Brian Epstein |title=A Cellarful of Noise |title-link=A Cellarful of Noise |date=1964 |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |location=New York |oclc=617534}}
* {{cite book |last1=Everett |first1=Walter |author1-link=Walter Everett (musicologist) |title=The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology |date=1999 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-512941-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Everett |first1=Walter |title=The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-514105-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fawcett |first1=Anthony |author1-link=Anthony Fawcett |title=John Lennon: One Day at a Time: A Personal Biography of the Seventies |date=1976 |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |location=New York |isbn=0-394-17920-X}}
* {{cite book |last1=Frith |first1=Simon |last2=Horne |first2=Howard |author1-link=Simon Frith |title=Art into Pop |title-link=Art into Pop |date=1987 |publisher=[[Methuen Publishing|Methuen & Co.]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-04042-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Frontani |first1=Michael R. |title=The Beatles: Image and the Media |date=2007 |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |location=Jackson |isbn=978-1-57806-966-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gendron |first1=Bernard |title=Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club: Popular Music and the Avant-Garde |date=2002 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |isbn=0-226-28737-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Goldman |first1=Albert |author1-link=Albert Goldman |title=The Lives of John Lennon |title-link=The Lives of John Lennon |date=1988 |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]] |location=New York |isbn=0-688-04721-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Goodden |first1=Joe |title=Riding So High: The Beatles and Drugs |date=2017 |publisher=Pepper & Pearl |location=London |isbn=978-1-9998033-0-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gould |first1=Jonathan |title=Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America |title-link=Can't Buy Me Love (book) |date=2007 |publisher=[[Harmony Books]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-35337-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gutterman |first1=Scott |title=John Lennon: The Collected Artwork |date=2014 |publisher=Insight Editions |location=San Rafael |isbn=978-1-60887-029-5}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Harry |editor1-first=Bill |editor1-link=Bill Harry |title=Mersey Beat: The Beginnings of the Beatles |date=1977 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |isbn=0-86001-415-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hertsgaard |first1=Mark |author1-link=Mark Hertsgaard |title=A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles |date=1995 |publisher=[[Dell Publishing|Delacorte Press]] |location=New York |isbn=0-385-31377-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Heylin |first1=Clinton |author1-link=Clinton Heylin |title=The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry Feeling, 1941–1966 |date=2021 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=New York |isbn=978-0-316-53521-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=Jerry |author1-link=Jerry Hopkins (author) |title=Yoko Ono |date=1987 |publisher=[[Sidgwick & Jackson]] |location=London |isbn=0-283-99521-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Howlett |first1=Kevin |last2=Lewisohn |first2=Mark |author2-link=Mark Lewisohn |title=In My Life: John Lennon Remembered |date=1990 |publisher=[[BBC Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-563-36105-0}}
* {{Cite AV media notes|last=Howlett|first=Kevin|year=2017|title=Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition (Super Deluxe ed.)|title-link=Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition|type=booklet|publisher=[[Apple Records]]|id=060255745530}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hutton |first1=Margaret-Anne |title=Countering the Culture: The Novels of Christiane Rochefort |date=1998 |publisher=[[University of Exeter Press]] |location=Exeter |isbn=0-85989-585-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ingham |first1=Chris |title=The Rough Guide to the Beatles |date=2009 |publisher=[[Rough Guides]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84836-525-4 |edition=3rd}}
* {{cite book |last1=Irwin |first1=Colin |author1-link=Colin Irwin (journalist) |title=Legendary Sessions: Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited |date=2008 |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group|Billboard Books]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8230-8398-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Joyce |first1=James |author1-link=James Joyce |title=Finnegans Wake |title-link=Finnegans Wake |date=1939 |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |oclc=1193507470}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lennon |first=John |author1-link=John Lennon  |title=In seiner eigenen Schreibe|translator1-last=Kossodo |translator1-first=Helmut |translator2-last=Rogosky |translator2-first=Wolf Dieter |date=1965 |language=de, en |oclc=164709025|publisher=Kossodo|place=Geneva}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lennon |first1=John |last2=Kennedy |first2=Adrienne |last3=Spinetti |first3=Victor |author2-link=Adrienne Kennedy |author3-link=Victor Spinetti |title=The Lennon Play: In His Own Write |date=1968 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=0-671-20286-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lennon |first=John |title=Por su propio cuento; Un españolito en obras |translator-last=Ehrenhaus |translator-first=Andy  |date=2009 |publisher=Papel de Liar/Global Rhythm Press |isbn=978-84-936679-7-9 |location=Barcelona |language=es, en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lennon |first=John |title=In seiner eigenen Schreibe|translator1-last=Kossodo |translator1-first=Helmut |translator2-last=Rogosky|translator2-first=Wolf Dieter|translator3-last=Bruckmaier|translator3-first=Karl|date=2010 |isbn=978-3-936738-76-6 |language=de, en|publisher=Blumenbar Verlag|place=Berlin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lennon |first1=John |title=In His Own Write |date=2014 |orig-year=1964 |publisher=[[Canongate Books]] |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-1-78211-540-3 |edition=50th Anniversary}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |author1-link=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions |title-link=The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions |date=1988 |publisher=[[Hamlyn (publisher)|Hamlyn]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-600-63561-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |title=The Complete Beatles Chronicle: The Only Definitive Guide to the Beatles' Entire Career |date=2000 |publisher=Hamlyn |location=London |isbn=0-600-60033-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |title=The Beatles' London: A Guide to 467 Beatles Sites In and Around London |date=2009 |publisher=[[Interlink Publishing]] |location=Northampton |isbn=978-1-56656-747-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |title=The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In |title-link=The Beatles: All These Years |date=2013 |publisher=[[Three Rivers Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-101-90329-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |title=The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In |date=2013a |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=London |isbn=978-1-4087-0478-3 |edition=Extended Special}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=Ian |author1-link=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |title-link=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |date=2007 |publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]] |location=Chicago |isbn=978-1-55652-733-3 |edition=Third}}
* {{cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Greg |title=John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Year Canada Was Cool |date=2020 |publisher=James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4594-1541-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Barry |author1-link=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now |title-link=Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now |date=1998 |publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]] |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-5249-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Miles |first=Barry |year=2007 |title=The Beatles: A Diary – An Intimate Day by Day History |location=London |publisher=Omnibus |isbn=978-1-84772-082-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Norman |first1=Philip |author1-link=Philip Norman (author) |title=Shout!: The True Story of the Beatles |title-link=Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation |date=1981 |publisher=Elm Tree |location=London |isbn=0-241-10300-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Norman |first1=Philip |title=John Lennon: The Life |date=2008 |publisher=[[Ecco Press|Ecco]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-075401-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Riley |first1=Tim |author1-link=Tim Riley (music critic) |title=Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music—The Definitive Life |date=2011 |publisher=[[Hyperion Press|Hyperion]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4013-2452-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Sauceda |first1=James |title=The Literary Lennon: A Comedy of Letters: The First Study of All the Major and Minor Writings of John Lennon |date=1983 |publisher=Pierian Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=0-87650-161-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schaffner |first1=Nicholas |author1-link=Nicholas Schaffner |title=The Beatles Forever |date=1977 |publisher=[[Stackpole Books|Cameron House]] |location=Harrisburg |isbn=0-8117-0225-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Sheff |first1=David |author1-link=David Sheff |editor1-last=Golson |editor1-first=G. Barry |editor1-link=Barry Golson |title=The Playboy Interviews with John Lennon & Yoko Ono |date=1981 |publisher=[[Berkley Books|Berkley]] |location=New York |isbn=0-425-05989-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shotton |first1=Pete |last2=Schaffner |first2=Nicholas |author1-link=Pete Shotton |title=John Lennon in My Life |date=1983 |publisher=[[Stein and Day]] |location=Briarcliff Manor |isbn=0-8128-2916-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Simonelli |first1=David |title=Working Class Heroes: Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s |date=2012 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield|Lexington Books]] |location=Lanham |isbn=978-0-7391-7053-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Spitz |first1=Bob |author1-link=Bob Spitz |title=The Beatles: The Biography |title-link=The Beatles: The Biography |date=2005 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=New York |isbn=0-316-80352-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Weber |first1=Erin Torkelson |title=The Beatles and the Historians: An Analysis of Writings About the Fab Four |date=2016 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |location=Jefferson |isbn=978-1-4766-2470-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Steve |author1-link=Steve Turner (writer) |title=A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song |date=2005 |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company|Dey St.]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-084409-7 |edition=New and Updated}}
* {{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Steve |title=Beatles '66: The Revolutionary Year |date=2016 |publisher=Ecco |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-247558-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Warner |first1=Simon |title=Text and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll: the Beats and Rock Culture. |date=2013 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-4411-7112-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Watkins |first1=Gwen |title=Portrait of a Friend |date=1983 |publisher=Gomer Press |location=Llandysul |isbn=0-85088-847-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wenner |first1=Jann |author1-link=Jann Wenner |title=Lennon Remembers: The Rolling Stone Interviews |title-link=Lennon Remembers |date=1971 |publisher=[[Straight Arrow Press|Straight Arrow]] |location=San Francisco |isbn=0-87932-009-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Winn |first1=John C. |title=Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1957–1965 |date=2008 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-45157-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Winn |first1=John C. |title=That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966–1970 |date=2009 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-45239-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Womack |first1=Kenneth |author1-link=Kenneth Womack |title=Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-62892-515-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Womack |first1=Kenneth |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four |date=2016 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location=Santa Barbara |isbn=978-1-4408-4426-3 |edition=Abridged}}
* {{cite book |last1=Womack |first1=Kenneth |title=Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966 |date=2017 |publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]] |location=Chicago |isbn=978-1-61373-191-8}}
{{refend}}

==== Book chapters ====
{{refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Burns |first1=Gary |editor1-last=Womack |editor1-first=Kenneth |editor1-link=Kenneth Womack |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-68976-2 |pages=217–229 |chapter=Beatles news: product line extensions and the rock canon}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gill|first1=Andy |author1-link=Andy Gill (writer)|editor1-last=Trynka |editor1-first=Paul |editor1-link=Paul Trynka |title=The Beatles: Ten Years that Shook the World |title-link=Mojo (magazine)#Special editions |date=2004 |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |location=London |isbn=0-7566-0670-5 |pages=202–203 |chapter=Car Sick Blues}}
* {{cite book |last1=Harris|first1=John |author1-link=John Harris (critic)|editor1-last=Trynka |editor1-first=Paul |title=The Beatles: Ten Years that Shook the World |date=2004 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London |isbn=0-7566-0670-5 |pages=118–119 |chapter=Syntax Man}}
* {{cite book |last1=Harris|first1=John |editor1-last=Trynka |editor1-first=Paul |title=The Beatles: Ten Years that Shook the World |date=2004a |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London |isbn=0-7566-0670-5 |pages=326–331 |chapter=Cruel Britannia}}
* {{cite book |last1=Herriges |first1=Greg |editor1-last=Hemmer |editor1-first=Kurt |title=Encyclopedia of Beat Literature |date=2010 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4381-0908-4 |pages=151–152 |chapter=''In His Own Write'', John Lennon (1964)}}
* {{cite book |last1=King |first1=Lovalerie |editor1-last=Andrews |editor1-first=William L. |editor2-last=Foster |editor2-first=Frances Smith |editor3-last=Harris |editor3-first=Trudier |editor2-link=Frances Smith Foster |editor3-link=Trudier Harris |title=The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-803175-8 |pages=242–244 |chapter=Kennedy, Adrienne}}
* {{cite book |last1=Laing |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Laing |editor1-last=Womack |editor1-first=Kenneth |editor1-link=Kenneth Womack |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-68976-2 |pages=9–32 |chapter=Six boys, six Beatles: the formative years, 1950–1962}}
* {{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Ian |editor1-last=Womack |editor1-first=Kenneth |editor1-link=Kenneth Womack |editor2-last=Davis |editor2-first=Todd F. |editor2-link=Todd F. Davis |title=Reading the Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four |date=2006 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |location=Albany |isbn=0-7914-6716-3 |pages=9–35 |chapter='I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together': Bakhtin and the Beatles}}
* {{cite book |last1=O'Grady |first1=Terence |title=''Sgt. Pepper'' and the Beatles: It was Forty Years Ago Today |date=2008 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |location=Farnham |isbn=978-0-7546-6708-7 |chapter=''Sgt. Pepper'' and the diverging aesthetics of Lennon and McCartney}}
* {{cite book |last1=Perrick |first1=Ben |editor1-last=Thomson |editor1-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Gutman |editor2-first=David |title=The Lennon Companion: Twenty-five Years of Comment |date=2004 |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-585-49984-5 |pages=42–44 |edition=Updated and Expanded |chapter=Lennon's literary lunch}}
* {{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=John |editor1-last=Trynka |editor1-first=Paul |title=The Beatles: Ten Years that Shook the World |date=2004 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London |isbn=0-7566-0670-5 |pages=160–167 |chapter=Help! The End of the Beginning}}
* {{cite book |contributor-last=Savage |contributor-first=Jon |contribution=Foreword |contributor-link=Jon Savage |last1=Lennon |first1=John |title=In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works |date=2010 |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-09-953042-8 |pages=vii–x}}
* {{cite book |last1=Steinem |first1=Gloria |author1-link=Gloria Steinem |editor1-last=Sawyers |editor1-first=June Skinner |title=Read the Beatles: Classic and New Writings on the Beatles, Their Legacy, and Why They Still Matter |date=2006 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-303732-3 |pages=60–68 |chapter=Beatle with a Future}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Thomson |editor1-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Gutman |editor2-first=David |title=The Lennon Companion: Twenty-five Years of Comment |date=2004 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-585-49984-5 |pages=47–50 |edition=Updated and Expanded |chapter=Lennon's near-literacy}}
{{refend}}

==== Journal, newspaper and magazine articles ====
{{refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{cite magazine |author=Anon.[a] |date=27 April 1964 |title=Amerry Timble |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |pages=108–109 |issn=0028-9604 |ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(a)|1964}}}}
* {{cite magazine |author=Anon.[b] |date=1 May 1964 |title=Books: All My Own Work |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |issn=0040-781X |page=E7 |url=https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871005,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521181429/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871005,00.html |archive-date=21 May 2011 |url-status=dead |ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(b)|1964}}}}
* {{cite magazine |author=Anon.[c] |date=Summer 1964 |title=Notes on Current Books |magazine=[[Virginia Quarterly Review]] |pages=xcvi–cxxxii |volume=40 |number=3 |jstor=26444952 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26444952 |issn=0042-675X |url-access=subscription |ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(c)|1964}}}}
* {{cite magazine |author=Anon.[d] |title=Graphic Language: Michael Maslin |date=28 October 2008 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |issn=0028-792X |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/graphic-language-michael-maslin |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305112047/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/graphic-language-michael-maslin |archive-date=5 March 2021 |url-status=live |ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(d)|2008}}}}
*{{Cite news |author=Anon.[e] |work=[[Clarín (Argentine newspaper)|Clarín]] |date=29 September 2013 |title=John Lennon, ese escritor influido por James Joyce y Mark Twain |language=es |url=https://www.clarin.com/sociedad/lennon-james-joyce-mark-twain_0_SJ37Z27oPQg.html |oclc=28916675 |ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(e)|2013}}}} 
* {{cite news |last1=Aspden |first1=Peter |title=John Lennon as writer and artist |url=https://www.ft.com/content/70227724-a934-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=14 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112014554/https://www.ft.com/content/70227724-a934-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de |archive-date=12 November 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |last1=Awde |first1=Nick |title=John Lennon: ''In His Own Write'' |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2015/john-lennon-write/ |work=[[The Stage]] |date=26 August 2015 |issn=0038-9099 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626073013/https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2015/john-lennon-write/ |archive-date=26 June 2016 |url-status=dead}}
*{{Cite news |last=Bogado|first=Fernando|title=Lennon en su tinta |language=es|work=[[Página/12]] |url=https://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/libros/10-4950-2013-02-17.html|date=17 February 2013}} 
* {{cite journal |last1=Dewees |first1=John |title=Ill-Formed Sentences |journal=[[College English]] |date=1969 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=290–299 |doi=10.2307/374526 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/374526 |publisher=National Council of Teachers of English |location=Urbana |jstor=374526 |issn=0010-0994 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite news |last1=Esslin |first1=Martin |author1-link=Martin Esslin |title=Two Trifles and a Failure |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/07/14/89333617.html?zoom=15.290000000000001 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 July 1968 |page=4D |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}
*{{Cite news |last=Fernández|first=Felipe|title=Lennon en su tinta |language=es-AR |work=[[La Nación]] |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/cultura/lennon-en-su-tinta-nid1558564/ |date=1 March 2013 |issn=0325-0946}} 
* {{cite news |last1=Gilroy |first1=Harry |title=End Papers |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/04/24/118657342.html?zoom=15.24 |work=The New York Times |date=24 April 1964 |page=31 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Harry |first=Bill |title=John Lennon – ''In His Own Write'' |date=26 March 1964a |magazine=[[Mersey Beat]] |oclc=751115603}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Harry |first=Bill |title=No Book for John This Year |date=30 July 1964b |magazine=Mersey Beat |oclc=751115603}}
*{{Cite web |last=Holzmann |first=Hubert |date=8 December 2010 |title="Surrealism to me is reality" |url=https://titel-kulturmagazin.net/2010/12/08/surrealism-to-me-is-reality/ |website={{ill|Titel-Kulturmagazin|de}} |language=de-DE |issn=2568-7077 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718220036/https://titel-kulturmagazin.net/2010/12/08/surrealism-to-me-is-reality/ |archive-date=18 July 2021 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news |last1=Isherwood |first1=Charles |author1-link=Charles Isherwood |title=Reliving an Encounter With Rock 'n' Roll Royalty, in Her Own Write |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/theater/reviews/13beat.html |work=The New York Times |date=13 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112043346/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/theater/reviews/13beat.html |archive-date=12 January 2018 |issn=1553-8095 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}
* {{cite news |last1=Lennon |first1=John |title=The Goon Show Scripts |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1973/09/30/90987057.html?zoom=14.22 |work=[[The New York Times Book Review]] |date=30 September 1973 |page=8 |issn=0028-7806 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Marwick |first1=Arthur |author1-link=Arthur Marwick |title=Six Novels of the Sixties – Three French, Three Italian |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |date=October 1993 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=563–591 |doi=10.1177/002200949302800401 |jstor=260855 |s2cid=159546239 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/260855 |issn=0022-0094|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite news |last1=McVeigh |first1=Tracy |title=John Lennon's book ''In His Own Write'' to be performed at Edinburgh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jun/28/john-lennon-in-his-own-write-performance-edinburgh-festival |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 June 2015 |language=en |issn=1756-3224 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101020914/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jun/28/john-lennon-in-his-own-write-performance-edinburgh-festival |archive-date=1 November 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |last1=Melly |first1=George |author1-link=George Melly |title=Inside a Beatle |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=22 March 1964 |issn=0956-1382}}
* {{cite news |last1=Pogrebin |first1=Robin |author1-link=Robin Pogrebin |title=Lennon Manuscripts Go for Nearly $3 Million in Auction |url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/lennon-manuscripts-go-for-nearly-3-million-in-auction/ |work=The New York Times |date=5 June 2014 |issn=0028-7806 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605172600/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/lennon-manuscripts-go-for-nearly-3-million-in-auction/ |archive-date=5 June 2014 |url-status=live}}
*{{Cite web |last=Rathjen |first=Friedhelm |date=20 April 2012 |title="The Writing Beatle!" – John Lennons Erstling "In seiner eigenen Schreibe", unzureichend runderneuert in einer Überarbeitung der deutschen Fassung durch Karl Bruckmaier |url=https://literaturkritik.de/id/16576 |website={{ill|literaturkritik.de|de}} |language=de-DE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718161524/https://literaturkritik.de/id/16576 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |agency=Reuters |title=Lennon invitation |work=[[The Times]] |date=28 May 1969 |page=5 |issn=0140-0460 |ref={{SfnRef|Reuters|1969}}}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Ricks |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Ricks |title=Spotting Syllabics |date=1 May 1964 |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |pages=684–685 |volume=67 |issn=0028-6842}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Schickele |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Schickele |date=8 June 1964 |title=About the Awful |magazine=[[The Nation]] |pages=588–589 |issn=0027-8378}}
*{{Cite web |last=Scholl |first=Joachim  |date=8 December 2010 |title=- "Das hat mich geflasht" |url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/das-hat-mich-geflasht.954.de.html?dram:article_id=145844 |website=[[Deutschlandfunk Kultur]] |language=de-DE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720122842/https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/das-hat-mich-geflasht.954.de.html?dram%3Aarticle_id=145844 |archive-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Soloski |first=Alexis |date=29 January 2008 |title=Adrienne Kennedy Talks About Her Life |magazine=[[The Village Voice]] |issn=0042-6180 |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/01/29/adrienne-kennedy-talks-about-her-life/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110215603/https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/01/29/adrienne-kennedy-talks-about-her-life/ |archive-date=10 January 2018 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Steinem|first=Gloria |title=Beatle with a Future |date=December 1964 |editor-last=Atherton |editor-first=Robert C. |editor-link=Robert C. Atherton |magazine=[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]] |issn=0010-9541}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Wolfe |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Wolfe |date=3 May 1964 |title=A Highbrow Under All That Hair? |magazine=[[Book Week]] |pages=4–10 |issn=0524-059X}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{WorldCat|oclc=44516650|name=''In His Own Write''}}
* [{{Google Books URL|id=yvCNuIWXiM8C}} ''In His Own Write''] at [[Google Books]] {{link note|note="preview"}}
* {{YouTube|jVZYg-2S-UA|John Lennon attends Foyle's lunch in his honour}}
* {{YouTube|NYlNDR5KVZ0|Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn and playwright Jonathan Glew discussing ''In His Own Write'', November 2016}}
* [https://www.lambiek.net/artists/l/lennon_john.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia biography about John Lennon's graphic career, also discussing ''In His Own Write''.]

{{John Lennon}}

[[Category:1964 short story collections]]
[[Category:Books adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Books by John Lennon]]
[[Category:British short story collections]]
[[Category:English poetry collections]]
[[Category:Jonathan Cape books]]
[[Category:Nonsense poetry]]
[[Category:British humorous poems]]
[[Category:Simon & Schuster books]]
[[Category:Surreal comedy]]