Do you ever wonder “What if?” Bryce Zabel obviously does. Once There Was A Way is the result.

As a music fan I lean more towards The Rolling Stones than The Beatles. Admittedly The Stones lost their relevance sometime in the 1970s, but I would till go see them perform if they were in my area. Septuagenarians they may be, but there is still power in the music.

There is no doubt though that The Beatles were (and indeed are) a much more potent cultural force than The Stones. Which is impressive for a band that broke up almost 40 years ago.

Once There Was A Way is an alternate history, a what might have been look at how The Beatles would have progressed as a band had they been able to resolve their personal differences. If you are a music fan it is a gripping tale. If you are a Beatles fan you fill find yourself nodding your head as you read: this book makes sense. If only it weren’t fiction.

Zabel skillfully weaves his tale, basing a lot of his material on historical fact. He looks at the solo material recorded post-breakup by the members of the group and manages to bring it into the Beatles fold. The battling personalities are all there, the tensions continue, and the band seems to always be on the verge of breaking up for good. But there is money involved, which can be a powerful motivator.

As I read, I had to keep reminding myself that this is fiction, it has the authority of fact. I may have preferred The Stones, but I know the Beatles canon as well as the next person. I’ve read about the four members of the Fab Four and their relationship troubles. I understand how unprepared they were for their fame. Yet Zabel has me convinced that it didn’t happen the way it did, that The Beatles didn’t have to break up, that if things had been handled just a little differently they could have gone on making great records for years.

We’ll never know of course. Two of the four are dead – there will be no Beatles reunion. If Paul and Ringo were to tour together now it just wouldn’t be the same (and I did see George and Ringo tour together in 1974 if my memory serves me correctly). That ship has sailed.

Once There Was A Way is a great read for any music fan. If only it were true.

As a huge Beatles fan I was intrigued by the premise, however the Woodstock version left me perplexed. I understand the book is about what if, but I really struggled with the concept, sorry.

What if the Beatles did not break up in 1970, but stayed together for five more years? That is precisely the premise that the alternative history fictional novel, Once There Was A Way, by CNN correspondent and screenwriter Bryce Zabel, is based upon. I am a big Beatles fan from back in the day, and one of the biggest disappointments of my young 11-year-old life was when my parents did not allow me to go to a Beatles concert in Houston. So, I looked forward to reading this alternative version of reality with much anticipation. Five more years of the Beatles? What’s not to love? I am sorry to say that I did not love this book. It was interesting, and the author did base some of his alternative occurrences on facts (which are outlined at the end) that he took and elaborated a fictional spin on. But, it did not cause me to emotionally invest in the characters. Instead, the narrative had a sort of intellectual news like detachment which was honestly sometimes but not always boring to read. Some of what happened seemed logical, and some was fairly far out there—like when John is kidnapped in a Patty Hearst like scenario (and the Patty Hearst kidnapping does not happen. Thank you Diversion Books and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this December 5, 2017 release and for allowing me to review it.

Speculative Fiction
Adult
Alternative histories can be interesting explorations of "what if" scenarios. It's been more than a dozen years but I still recall the fascination I felt in reading Philip Roth's The Plot Against America in which a Republican president Charles Lindbergh takes office in 1940 and signs a non-aggression pact with Hitler. So when this book came up in my list of upcoming offerings, I thought I'd give it a try. I have to confess I'm not a particular fan of The Beatles, though I certainly enjoy much of their music. However, I'm too young to remember them performing, and I honestly don't know very much about their history. Still, this sounded interesting. I soon found myself cursing at the book out of sheer irritation. Zaber has taken real events and twisted them to fit a fictional narrative. The problem was that I didn't know enough about the Beatles' history to sort out fact from fiction; as a result I spent as much time looking up the truth about the Fab Four's history as I did reading the book. The Hells Angels really did visit Apple Studios, but as far as I can tell there was no collapse of the floor when a sound engineer took out a supporting wall. Watergate makes an appearance, but the kidnapping of Patty Hearst has been replaced with a fictional one. Beyond this, my biggest hurdle is that so few of these characters, real or imagined, is worth spending time with as a reader. The book is written in third-person, journalistic style, told as an imaginary research piece. But the method fails to help the reader understand John and Yoko as a couple, George Harrison's fascination with Eastern music and philosophy, etc. I wanted to get into their heads, and this feels like dispassionate reporting of what in reality is a series of made-up "facts." Fake news, lol! Zaber includes a postscript in which he sorts out the truth from the imaginary. Perhaps a real Beatles fan would enjoy the crazy playing with album and song titles, rumours (like the making of a Lord of the Rings film with Kubrick) and real events, but it drove me nuts. I think I'll stick with real history. Thanks to Diversion Books for the advance reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36630607

The great...what if The Beatles never broke up? One There Was A Way is an alternate reality where...this is exactly what happens. Reading like a VH1 Behind The Music/Rolling Stone deep dive, we, the reader, are put into a world where John, Paul, George and Ringo keep cranking out hit after hit.

As another reviewer mentioned, there is a bit of a 'Forest Gump' effect, where The Beatles are put into high profile pop culture events, and...it works! It's a nice thought....The Beatles and Woodstock...

All of that being said, I don't know that I really even enjoyed this. It was entertaining, yes, but some of the minutiae was...too much. This book would be best enjoyed by a Beatles fan, a true, blue fanatic.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had never read a book classified as “alternative history”, but, being a Beatles fan, I thought Once There Was a Way would be a good one to try. Unfortunately, being a fan of the music apparently wasn’t enough to engage me in the story, and I have abandoned the book. It is hard to define exactly what made it difficult for me to connect with it. I found it amusing, then annoying, how many phrases used in the narrative were taken from lyrics in the later Beatles songbook. I only got about a quarter way through the book, and perhaps it got better but it felt a little too smirky for my tastes.

Having said that, my husband, who loves reading about the backstory of groups and musical artists he like, and who devours books about the Beatles, would love this book. As, I’m sure, will many others. Just not me.

I last read an alternative history book when I was in grade school and chose one on the South winning the Civil War. Since then, I stayed away from books that twisted history into something new. I reasoned that authors would have to engage in a ton of research in order to produce a viable product, and there was enough “real” history to fill my reading hours.

But “Once There Was a Way” seemed like it might be fun and the premise was too good to pass up. What if the Beatles had somehow found a way to keep it all together and continue working as a group? Would they have continued to be an incredible talent or eventually fade into obscurity and up as just another nostalgia band?

Author Bryce Zabel has produced an incredible book, weaving some of what really happened with his view of what could have occurred. Mercifully, he doesn’t imagine an earth-shattering event that causes them all to immediately reconcile and live happily ever after. Mr. Zabel fills the years immediately following the Beatles’ actual break-up with controversies, hard-fought battles, and reluctant accommodations. The events fit with the personalities of the band members, yet even they might not have envisaged some of the crucial moments depicted in the book.

I was totally wrapped up in the story until near the end. When a monumental crisis was introduced, I found it hard to entirely suspend disbelief and buy into the events. The only things that helped the plot at that time become palatable were the logical events that led up to the crisis. These steps made sense, and thus could have been the catalysts.

Anyone who lived through the Beatles and their breakup almost 50 years ago as well as those with passable knowledge about the band’s music will enjoy this mixture of fact and alternative history. Mr. Zabel has written this book like many other authentic biographies, including numerous quotes from well-known people, and it would be easy to believe this account was factual if one didn’t know better. The author’s inclusion of “The Sources of Speculation” will help those not up on all things Beatlemania, as he explains how some of his choices were based on reality as well as telling us which one were completely made up.

All in all, this is a fun, rollicking ride that keeps you wondering how it will all turn out (and Mr. Zabel wisely keeps the ending a secret until the last possible moment). Kudos to the author for creating an enjoyable alternative. Four stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Diversion Books for an advance copy of this book.

Let me preface this review: I am not a Beatles expert. I also read some (not much) Pride and Prejudice variation fiction. All that being said, however, I liked this book. I feel that the author researched the Beatles' lives extensively so that there was some truth in all the extrapolations.

I loved this book! The author incorporates detailed nuances of The Beatles actual history to inform this alternate history. Funny, absorbing and a surprisingly realistic possibility of what could have happened. Highly recommended

I am a music fan. Especially "older" music. While my fellow high schoolers were fan zoning about Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and Culture Club (I mean, I liked those too), my favourite band was The Beach Boys. The same friend that went to Beach Boys concerts with me, also sat with me in her parents basement while we listened to (and sang along with) Beatles records.  I have been a fan of the Beatles for a long time.

When I came across this book that asks the question: what if The Beatles stayed together? I had to read it.

I quickly got sucked in to this story. It was so well written. The slant is that it's written by a music magazine and it has that vibe. It's like you are reading an extended Rolling Stone article. The attention to detail is amazing and the way the author weaves in truth and fiction is remarkable. There were times when I was like, wait...did that happen or did he make it up? And then Googled it. (It was a 50/50 split on made up vs. real.) I do appreciate the end chapter where the author clarifies which big plot points are real and not, and why he chose the paths he did.

The thing that I was the most curious about was how the author was going to deal with John Lennon and George Harrison's deaths. I won't spoil it for you, but I do think he did a good job of dealing with both situations.

There was a point in the book where I got a bit emotional, which I was surprised at. I can't reveal what exactly it was, because I don't want to include spoilers. I think that part of my reaction was melancholy over what could have been.

Whether I agree with all of the alternate history points that the author chose or not is beside the point. Part of the fun in reading the book (and I am assuming writing it) is to imagine all the cause and effect and (mostly) infinite possibilities that could exist. It's like the butterfly effect - a small change in the early days, morph into these larger changes later.

If you are a Beatles fan or a music fan, I would highly recommend this book. It is engaging, interesting and thought provoking.

I rated this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.

Full disclosure: I received this eARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)

As a diehard Beatles fan, the premise of this book was intriguing: What if the Beatles did NOT break up in 1970, but stayed together??? I have an extensive Beatles literary library spanning decades, so it's well-trodden ground for me. This is definitely a new twist on the subject, so I dived into this offering.

There was a tug of war going on inside of me while reading this. There were so many alternative reality moments in this book which were kind of cute and whimsical. When you are as well-read on The Beatles as I am, the diversions from reality are easy to pick up on. A part of me was saying, "Why am I reading this?...Because, you know it didn't happen." Then another part of me was in awe of the possibilities that could have been realized had The Beatles not broken up. For instance, what if the solo hits of the individual Beatles actually were coalesced as part of a new Beatles album? What if John Lennon had remained in his limo until it entered the safety of The Dakota's courtyard on December 8, 1980? And, after George Harrison passed away of cancer in 2001, who did he designate as his replacement? These questions are all answered in this book along with many others.

The author lends authenticity to this book by drawing upon truths to spin his alternative realities. For instance, in real life The Beatles final album was "Abbey Road," but the original working title was "Everest." In this book, that album was called "Everest" (although it wasn't their final album as The Beatles stayed together). Another well-known fact is that the solitary time John Lennon and Paul McCartney appeared on The Johnny Carson Show, Johnny was off that night and it was hosted by baseball great Joe Garagiola. In this account, John Lennon insists that Johnny cancel whatever he's doing and host the show, or he and Paul won't show up. This fact twisting occurs throughout the book, providing a grain of truth to show that the author did his homework on this subject.

I think Beatles fans will enjoy this the most and get the jokes. But, if they're like me, they will grapple with the notion that "It's All Too Much."

Absolutely a brilliant work that is so much fun to read. Zabel presents an alternative history where the Beatles didn’t actually break up, although they tried to and nearly did several times. It reads like a rock documentary written about bands that have been around for decades, reporting all the minutiae of how each album was created and the tensions between the members. But it is so well-written that there are times it is hard to separate fact from fiction. For instance, the discussions about a crazy project with Stanley Kubrick directing the Lord of the Rings with John as Gollum and George as Gandalf were actually real as bizarre and fictional as it sounds. Ditto, for the double album project called Dollhouse, which actually became what we know of as the White Album.

But in this alternate universe the Beatles go on to headline at Woodstock, get robbed of their lyrics and tapes in Nigeria, they play Central Park, drop Acid and appear at a presidential debate between Ted Kennedy and Humphrey, and strangest of all, Yoko and Linda become close friends. It blends actual social history with fiction skillfully and intimately takes the reader on a magical mystery tour through a world of what could of happened.

It may just be the best and most detailed rock band biography you’ve ever read and not all of it happened in this reality. A blast to read from cover to cover. At no point was it dull. An experiment like this could have ended up all wrong. Zabel never hits a note out of key.