In His Own Write

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In His Own Write is a book from 1964 by John Lennon. The book consists of short stories and line drawings, often surreal and always nonsensical. It is notable in that it was the first solo Beatle project in any form. It was followed in 1965 by A Spaniard in the Works.

Lennon was adept at free association and improvisation in his linguistic explorations, which can be seen in both his prose writing and a portion of his lyrics. Use of puns, near-homonyms, bizarre imagery, disconnected narrative threads and references, creative misspellings, and abrupt, unresolved conclusions challenge the reader to either find meaning, or bring their own meaning to the text. It can be inferred that Lennon intended no deep meaning, but rather wanted to demonstrate his free-form creative abilities as well as his sense of humor.

Songs from the Beatles catalog that most resemble his unique prose writing style:

• I Am The Walrus
• The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
• Revolution 9
• Hey Bulldog

Also, one can hear random improv lines by Lennon in studio recordings (especially on Let It Be) such as "Sweet Loretta fart, she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan", which was a play on the lyrics of Get Back.

The book was also transformed into a play, co-authored and with Victor Spinetti, who directed, at the National Theatre, premièring on 18th June 1968, at the Old Vic. Spinetti and Lennon appeared together in June 1968 on BBC2's Release. During the interview, Spinetti said of the play, "it’s not really John’s childhood, it’s all of ours really, isn’t it John?" John Lennon, assuming a camp voice answered "It is, we’re all one Victor, we’re all one aren‘t we. I mean ‘what’s going on?'." Spinetti said the play "is about the growing up of any of us; the things that helped us to be more aware."