Yoko Ono. A brilliant artist who has been blamed for the breakup of the Beatles, arguably the most famous rock band in history. A brilliant artist who created art that changed the way people look at suffering and happiness. A woman who survived the bombing of Tokyo during World War II. A woman who came to the US as a student and stayed to change the art world completely --- “the world’s most famous unknown artist,” as her husband, John Lennon, called her. A woman who lost her beloved spouse to an assassination right outside their home just as they were gearing up for a great musical comeback, not a memorial to the father of her son.

As David Sheff lays it all out in YOKO: A Biography, Yoko Ono has had a fantastic and fascinating life, overcome massive heartaches and horrors, and continued to make art even as she entered her ninth decade. This is a picture of a courageous woman whose story needed to be told --- and, finally, it has been told the right way.

"David Sheff has crafted an easy-to-read biography filled with the details that will make any reader find new respect for and interest in the unforgettable Yoko Ono."

Sheff interviewed Yoko many times, both with and without John. Yoko was born in Tokyo to a wealthy family, and her parents weren’t particularly warm and affectionate. At the age of 12, when the bombings in Tokyo started, Yoko had a fever and was left alone in her bedroom listening to the wails of artillery dropping while her mother took her siblings into a safer hiding place. As soon as Sheff reveals this tidbit, there is no way to read this book without wanting to protect and better understand her.

Because Sheff had personal dealings with Yoko and John (Yoko was there for him in the face of his son's addiction that he so famously wrote about in BEAUTIFUL BOY), he has a very particular and impressive array of thoughts on the real behind-the-scenes existence of these two legends, as well as the long life that Yoko lived before and after John. At 92, there is a lot of history to explore with Yoko, and Sheff doesn’t leave anything out.

Yoko wanted to be an artist, yet she didn’t care about being famous. She didn’t know who John was when they met, but they became friends as the Beatles were breaking up. She is not the reason they disbanded, though many people still treat her like she was. The vitriol and anger thrown at her over the years is detailed here. Any Beatles fan who believed this to be true should be embarrassed once they hear the real story.

Yoko has always used her life experiences in her professional endeavors to make points, and the extent and cleverness of her work will astound anyone reading about it for the first time. As a member of the burgeoning art movement Fluxus (founded by herself and the grandfather of the musician Beck), the live shows and art experiences she provided to the public began garnering her attention well before her association with the Beatles. The bravery she showed as a young student, highlighting her sexual assault ordeal by making herself vulnerable to the world in her “Cut Piece” performances, is one of the most remarkable activist statements about women and abuse, as well as bodily autonomy, that the feminist movement ever saw.

The book explores what makes Yoko who she is: her short films, her musical pieces (yes, the ones where she wails like a banshee but always with purpose), her artwork and her shows. It is everything that this talented artist deserves. Did you know that the song “Imagine” was Yoko’s idea? Or that she was responsible for the bed-in? John Lennon, one of the wittiest raconteurs to have ever lived, worshiped her for so many reasons. The love they shared is indeed important but is only a small part of her story.

David Sheff has crafted an easy-to-read biography filled with the details that will make any reader find new respect for and interest in the unforgettable Yoko Ono.