The John Lennon Series and “Factional” Narrative Biography

Abstract

A literary genre, once it has slipped from popularity, is difficult to reintroduce into the mainstream. We have all but abandoned epic poetry, and the sonnet hangs by a thread. Similarly, the once admired narrative history has lost its foothold in scholarly writing, and reinstituting it into the mainstream has been a difficult proposition. In 1986, Kessler began the arduous task of compiling a nine-volume narrative history of John Lennon, using the traditional Greek method (see Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War) of transmitting history via researched, documented narrative. After seven years spent collecting/utilizing an extensive Lennon library for secondary research and traveling to Liverpool to interview primary sources for the work, Kessler translated this data into a biography which tells John’s life events in factual “story” form. In so doing, Kessler has created a “living history” of Lennon’s life and work.