This is not quite the treasure trove of lost information that pre-release publicity would have had us believe. In fact, the first 2/3 of this biography is simply yet another rehashing of the well-trod path of Beatles history, only this time with a few (mostly pointless) annotations from Mal’s diary. Most of it goes something like this:

(Page after page of an often repeated and well-known Beatles anecdote)

Quote from Mal’s diary: “Today was a really strange day.”

Once the breakup happens, however, then everything becomes more interesting and there is much to be learned. I didn’t know, for example how involved Mal was in the early activities of Badfinger, or that he had strong ambitions to be a songwriter and/or producer, or that he was responsible for firing Miguel Ferrer from a long-forgotten rock band. 

And the tragic ending to Mal’s life is not played down, and is truly hard to read about. In the end, he was a man who was his own worst enemy, who seemed to make the worst possible decision nearly every time he was presented with a choice, and who probably deserved better than he got.