YOKO

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

Yoko, David Sheff's biography of Yoko Ono, opens with an explanation of his relationship with his subject. He first met Ono and her husband, John Lennon, in 1980 when he was given the assignment to interview them for Playboy. The timing of Sheff's interview was important. Coinciding with the release of their album Double Fantasy, the album and interview seemed to represent a return to public life for Lennon, his first original album since Walls and Bridges was released six years earlier. Unfortunately, it also coincided with Lennon's assassination in December. Sheff had grown close to Ono and Lennon during the lengthy interview process and maintained a friendship with Ono. He explains that his closeness to her over the years allows him to present a complete picture of the artist, and he manages to do so, acknowledging the controversial views of her and even showing how her own actions may have contributed to them, although without blaming her for the way the public viewed or treated her.

The book is divided into three parts. The first section deals with Ono from her birth in 1933 through her first two marriages, the birth of her daughter Kyoko, and, most importantly, her establishment of herself as an avant-garde artist. Sheff acknowledges the perception of Ono's singing, mostly by quoting the words of critics who were not enamored by her work. At the same time, he focuses on the concepts behind Ono's music, art, and poetry. Sheff, coming from the idea that Ono's work was groundbreaking and important. He discusses individual pieces and tries to put them into the context in which Ono meant for them to be viewed and interacted with. His attention to these details lead the reader to reconsider how to perceive Ono's art, both physical, musical, and intellectual.

The second part is the part that most readers will think they know, her life with Lennon. However, Sheff makes it clear that what most people think they know is merely a surface knowledge and there is a much more complex story beneath that surface. He looks at the two as a unit and as individuals, maintaining his focus on Ono rather than Lennon. He makes sure to present her as her own person, making decisions that will impact both of them and, even when she does things for Lennon's good, they are ultimately for her own good. Lennon's "Lost Weekend," particularly, turns the standard narrative of the period on its head and it shows Ono in control of the situation.

As Sheff discusses the release of Double Fantasy and the Milk and Honey sessions, the reader knows the narrative is moving inexorably toward the events of December 8, 1980 and nothing can change what happened that night. Nevertheless, Sheff's description of the events, especially Ono's reaction, are an emotional crescendo. Ono has requested over the years that Lennon's murderer's name not be used and Sheff only uses it sparingly in the biography. Coming at the half-way point of Sheff's biography, it is a stark reminder that he is writing a biography of Yoko Ono, and her relationship with John Lennon, while a major part of her life, occupied only 14 years of the 93 years she has lived.

The final section looks at Ono's life after Lennon's murder, beginning with the sense of loss and trying to figure out life without her partner, and then focusing on her rebuilding her life with Sean and their friends. The period after Lennon's murder was one of grief and betrayal. Trusted friends and employees turned out to be untrustworthy. Always one to seek advice from psychics, Yoko was ripe for scam artists, despite her support group's efforts to keep them at bay. Even if the world didn't accept Ono's music, she viewed herself as having a sacred trust to keep Lennon's legacy alive, even while making her way in a post-Lennon world. She also continued to create her own art, be it physical, film, musical, or conceptual.

Ultimately, Sheff is not trying to write a paean to Yoko Ono, his biography of her is an attempt to humanize her. He depicts a woman who had a difficult upbringing from distant parents despite having enormous wealth. A woman whose family disowned her, whose first marriages constrained her, and whose love for a man caused her to be vilified throughout the world. Sheff shows a woman who, despite all that was able to become her own woman and find a place for herself in the art world and with a man she loved, even if he was taken too soon. While her name will always be linked to John Lennon's, it is clear that her accomplishments are her own and her influence, while it may not be as broad as Lennon's was, runs deep in the artistic community. A recurring theme in the biography is the art world reconsidering Ono's work and influence and Sheff's book is designed for the rest of the world to reconsider Ono in toto.

Return to