Dancing With the Devil

In terms of traffic and readership, January Magazine is one of the top book-related sites on the Internet. As a result, an almost unimaginable number of books find their way to our doors, a healthy percentage of them uninvited. We try to review as many of them as we can, but there are no guarantees. Here is one guarantee, however: I’m about to tell you about a book we will not be reviewing. But the book is just so bizarre, I couldn’t let it slither away without mention.

From the press release for The Lennon Prophecy (New Chapter Press):

Did John Lennon sell his soul to the devil in exchange for his worldly musical success with The Beatles and beyond? That’s the theory set forth by Joseph Niezgoda in his soon-to-be released book The Lennon Prophecy, A New Examination of the Death Clues of the Beatles.

Now, obviously, right away there are some problems with this theory. For instance -- and just for starters -- the book presupposes a heaven and hell and, of course, a devil with whom to make a deal. But wait, it gets worse:

The Lennon Prophecy puts forth the theory that a 20-year-old Lennon, so disillusioned with a life of sadness and disappointment where he was abandoned by his father and stricken with the death of his mother, entered into a deal with the devil to achieve fame and fortune. Niezgoda alleges that a 20-year pact began in December of 1960, shortly before a night when Beatlemania first struck audiences on December 27, 1960, when the Fab Four played at Town Hall Ballroom in Litherland, England. During that performance, as Niezgoda writes, "The Beatles evoked a response noticeably different from anything in their past." From there, The Beatles inexplicably and immediately shot to global fame at a level never seen before or since. The 20-year pact came to its tragic conclusion on December 8, 1980, when Mark David Chapman, who testified he was possessed by demons, fulfilled the end of the contract by murdering Lennon outside of his apartment at The Dakota in New York City.

Now, let’s be clear: I have not read The Lennon Prophecy and I don’t intend to, nor will I ask anyone on my team to do so. Life is short and there are a lot of books at there waiting to be read, some of them pretty great. From where I’m sitting, this one is... not. This is fruitcake-worthy stuff. And I’m not suggesting you read the book, either. But it did seem like a book to know about, if you follow my thinking.

Imagine a world where people actually believe this stuff.