From Publishers Weekly
From the title's tasteless allusion to the Lennon song "Strawberry Fields Forever" to the excusing treatment of a psychopath, this sensationalistic biography proves repugnant. Jones, noted for being the first reporter to interview "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz, describes the personality of Mark David Chapman before and after he shot and killed former Beatle John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, in New York City. We learn of Chapman's fascination with The Catcher in the Rye protagonist Holden Caulfield; we hear the voices of the evil "child" and rational "adult" arguing within Chapman as he stalked Lennon; we read of Chapman's "possession by demons" after his imprisonment. Jones's introduction claims "Chapman asked the author to undertake the telling of his story in the hope that it might prevent future tragedy." Shamefully, however, this book serves only the ignoble purpose of promoting a criminal's narcissism. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In 1980, Chapman gunned down ex-Beatle John Lennon in New York City and pled guilty to second-degree murder; he is now an inmate at Attica prison. This account of his life and the obsessive forces that culminated in the death of his former idol is based largely on Chapman's recollections. Jones's book would have been strengthened by a critical analysis of Chapman's pathology (he is variously described as psychopathic, schizophrenic, and narcissistic) but nonetheless it is engrossing reading and far superior to Fenton Breslar's Who Killed John Lennon? ( LJ 8/89). A good addition to the literature about violence directed against celebrities, this book will appeal to students of abnormal psychology and true crime fans. Recommended where interest warrants.- Gregor Preston, Univ. of California Lib., DavisCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Mark David Chapman rose early on the morning of December 8 to make final preparations.... Chapman had neatly arranged and left behind a curious assortment of personal items on top of the hotel dresser. In an orderly semicircle, he had laid out his passport, an eight-track tape of the music of Todd Rundgren, his little Bible, open to the The Gospel According to John (Lennon). He left a letter from a former YMCA supervisor at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where five years earlier, he had worked with refugees from the Vietnam War. Beside the letter were two photographs of himself surrounded by laughing Vietnamese children. At the center of the arrangement of personal effects, he had placed the small Wizard of Oz poster of Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

From the title's tasteless allusion to the Lennon song ``Strawberry Fields Forever'' to the excusing treatment of a psychopath, this sensationalistic biography proves repugnant. Jones, noted for being the first reporter to interview ``Son of Sam'' killer David Berkowitz, describes the personality of Mark David Chapman before and after he shot and killed former Beatle John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, in New York City. We learn of Chapman's fascination with The Catcher in the Rye protagonist Holden Caulfield; we hear the voices of the evil ``child'' and rational ``adult'' arguing within Chapman as he stalked Lennon; we read of Chapman's ``possession by demons'' after his imprisonment. Jones's introduction claims ``Chapman asked the author to undertake the telling of his story in the hope that it might prevent future tragedy.'' Shamefully, however, this book serves only the ignoble purpose of promoting a criminal's narcissism. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)

Library Journal