Who doesn't love the Beatles? I'd have loved to have been around and old enough to enjoy the Beatles in their prime. Footage I have watched looked amazing which is why I was drawn to this book. It was great fun. I liked Patti Gallo. I loved her enthusiasm, her sheer delight at all things Beatles. Her friends too were obsessed. It gave an insight into what the Beatles fans did in an attempt to meet their idols. It was fun. It was entertaining and gave me a nice glimpse into the past.

While I'm a Beatlemaniac of her generation, I thought this author's viewpoint was a little too self-centered. But I guess if I had read the description of the book, I would have known that. My bad. I think the Larry Kane intro was the best part of the book.

Thank you to Cyren Press for a copy of Diary of a Beatlemaniac for review. All opinions are my own.

Diary of a Beatlemaniac is the journal entries of a teenage girl in Phildelphia at the height of Beatlemania. I found the style hard to keep interest in as it was her real journal and also contained mundane details of her day or her friends. It was an interesting look into the life of a Beatles fan at the height of the mania.

Also included were reproductions of newspaper articles of the time and some interviews done by the author as well.

Diary of a Beatlemaniac: A Fab Insider’s Look at the Beatle’s Era

This was a cute book that’s like taking a peek into the diary of a 13-year-old Beatlemaniac from 1963 named Patricia and reading her private thoughts. Hearing about her days at her private Catholic girl’s school and her friends, and how she first hears about this new group of 4 guys from Britain. Then she and her friends start hearing their music and liking it, going nuts for it and buying all kinds of music and fan items with their allowance. Each girl has their favorite Beatle to crush on, some like Paul, others think John is the cutest, and some believe George or Ringo is the cat’s meow.


The book follows Patti through 4 years of her crush on Paul, or Jamie as she thinks of him, as she matures and goes through adolescence. She learns that being a Beatlemaniac does have its benefits, as it brings her out of her shell, gets her brave enough to begin her writing career when she and a friend get the nerve to contact a local weekly and begin writing a column for teens. This brings her in contact with lots of people she never would have met otherwise, and opens up her life in many exciting ways. Very readable if you enjoy memoirs and are a Beatles fan. An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley, author Patricia Gallo-Stenman, and the publisher for my fair review.


About the Author--
Patricia went on to work as a staff writer for the Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin. A graduate of Temple University and the University of Stockholm (Sweden) International Graduate School, and an award-winning copywriter, Patricia practiced journalism in northern Europe for nearly twenty-five years. She has also written about the Beatles for Discover, The Sunday Bulletin Magazine. 


Cynren Press    173 pages
Pub: Oct. 9th, 2018

My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog200.wordpress.com/923

Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong generation. Being the history nerd that I am, I enjoy many different eras, and wonder if I would've participated in certain historical happenings had I been alive in that time. One era in particular always draws me in: the Swinging Sixtie's. Growing up in a rock 'n roll household I heard my fair share of all the classics but one band captured my heart at an early age and never let go: The Beatles.

When I see the video clips of the girls screaming and fainting at Beatles concerts I can't help but wonder if that would've been me had I been a teenager during that time. Every girl who has ever loved the Fab 4 has their favorite Beatle. Mine was, and forever will be, George. Sure I have a fondness for George but would that have ever been an obsession? What went on in these girls minds to make them so incredibly passionate and obsessive about this band? That is the question that Patricia Gallo-Stenman dares to answer in her Diary of a Beatlemaniac.

Patty was only fifteen when she first saw the long-haired foursome on The Ed Sullivan Show, which kicked off Beatlemania here in the US, and she too wondered what would make these girls go so crazy over a band. She soon found out as she documents, in great detail, her quick infatuation and then utter passion for the iconic band.

Diary of a Beatlemaniac is Patricia's actual diary entries from her sophomore year to her senior year of high school. She shares in incredibly descriptive detail the goings on of her Beatle Buddies club, articles from the local newspaper where she wrote about the Beatles, as well as other up and coming bands, details about the Beatles themselves: album releases, concert information, and the like; and her relationship with actor Victor Spinetti, who starred in three Beatles movies, and Philly disk jockey Hy Lit.

It was so groovy to go back in time with Patty and relive this unique time in history with her. My only complaint is that as you read it you quickly realize that you are quite literally reading a teenagers diary verbatim. I wish Patricia would've thrown some of her own commentary in, telling the reader her thoughts and memories about this time all these years later. There were parts that got a little wordy for me and I admit that I skimmed quite a bit but there were parts that were so intriguing, that pulled me into that moment in time, and made up for the slower parts.

Patty's obsession during Beatlemania is palpable on every page and does give you a glimpse into the mind of a teenage girl during this time in history. What I loved the most were the pictures sprinkled throughout the book of various newspaper clippings and pictures of her during different times which adds to the charm.

I loved getting a glimpse into the fascinating life of a Beatlemaniac!

As those of you who have read my reviews before may know, I am always drawn to books about The Beatles. Call it a bit o home town glory but being from Liverpool it is hard to escape what The Beatles did for Liverpool and what their legacy still does. So bank holiday weekend in August – also known as The Beatles Festival in Liverpool – I sat and read Diary of a Beatlemaniac by Patricia Gallo Stenman.

Now, I have read a lot about The Beatle but I can honestly say that I have never read anything from an actual fan of the band. This was really refreshing. Patricia Gallo Stenman has kept memorabilia from her days as a fan of the Fab Four. More than that, she kept her teenage diaries where in her naivety she expressed her love for the band.

Naive and innocent. That is the best way to describe this book. It is the teenage dreams of a young girl who is desperate to meet and marry her favourite Beatle. We have all been there. Whilst Gallo Stenman’s story takes place in the 60s, my mum went through the same thing in the 70s, my older sister in the 90s and myself in the early 00s. And thank god we do. It is a rite of passage that all teenagers must go through at some point and I wish I had diaries reminding me of those feelings that I felt.

With a sense of nostalgia, I finished reading Diary of a Beatlemaniac and it made me thankful that the world has given us such great music.

Diary of a Beatlemaniac – A Fab Insider’s Look at the Beatles Era by Patricia Gallo Stenman is available now.

For more information regarding Patricia Gallo Stenman (@PTGalloStenman) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Cynren Press (@CynrenPress) please visit www.cynren.com.

When I first started this book, I was concerned from the preview that it would be a very dry read with little to do about the Beatles- that's because in the preview, the Beatles haven't arrived yet! However, when one reads the actual book, it gets into the Beatles, and how! The exploits of the author and her friends to get to the Beatles was amusing, and their friendship with Beatles costar Victor Spinetti was very interesting (and heartwarming). Like any real-life diary, one wonders how much is exactly as written as it was in the 1960s and how much was edited decades after the fact. Nevertheless, it's a treat for any huge Beatles fan who may recognize themselves!

I wasn't born when the Beatles first had their first song out.....So Diary of a Beatlemaniac by Patricia Gallo-Stenman with a foreword by Larry Kane was a lovely find. My parents always played their albums so I grew up listening and singing along to their songs. This book is set in a diary format and I found it very interesting. The photo's throughout are really good and tells a story just by looking at them.
I showed my Sister who is only 32 as she is a fan and she fell in love with this book.........Easy birthday pressie for her Birthday ;)

I received an early copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a longtime Beatles fan and can relate to some of this book - but not all. I still remember the first time I heard The Beatle's on my car radio; I literally pulled off to the side of the road because it was so different and exciting I didn't want to miss a bit of it. Beatles' music provided the soundtrack of my life in the mid to late 60's and I still love their music. But because I was older than Patricia when The Beatles came on the scene - I had just started college - my experience was different than hers. Yes I was a fan and yes I had a crush on Paul (didn't everyone?) but that's as far as my 'mania' went. Still, it was fun reading this book and reviving my own memories of the music and the fresh feeling The Beatles brought to music. And I'm still a fan.

I can't really rate this book on writing since it's mostly in the 'writing' of a 13-year-old in a diary; but it's an interesting way of producing a feel-good book for Beatles fans.

Sorry but I found this to be just too 'Beatlemaniac' for my own tastes. I do appreciate the effort put in and as a personal document it is undoubtedly of importance to the writer.

Does the world need another Beatles book? Probably not. This tale of growing up through obsession with the Fab Four accurately depicts the triviality of fandom, but offers nothing new apart from a very odd relationship with Victor Spinetti which lifts it above the banal. I found myself, like the parents desperately waiting for the writer to grow out of it, which she does around 1967.

Fandom ... of any sort, really ... looks pretty much the same, no matter what the generation or what the object of a fan's interest might be.

Patricia Gallo-Stenman, now an adult, spent her teenage years keeping a diary which chronicled her fanaticism for all things Beatles, as well as the typical teen-girl musings on subjects such as boys, school, and parents. Ms. Gallo-Stenman would go on to become a staff writer for a Philadelphia newspaper and, despite a teenager's anxiety that it wouldn't happen, a responsible adult and parent.

Gallo-Stenman (then simply Gallo) was a teen attending a Catholic high school where the strict nuns did not want to see anything Beatles in the school - even inside the lockers - and so the girls got pretty good at hiding their memorabilia. Reading through the teenager's complaints about nun strictness and enthusiasm for the lads from Liverpool, one can't help but see the plight of teen girls everywhere - those who came before the Fab Four, and those fighting through adolescence today.

Where Gallo deviates, perhaps, from the 'norm' is her drive and push to find ways to get close to the Beatles, beyond becoming part of a mob of screaming girls outside a hotel or concert hall. Though she and a friend or two are clever enough to hide out at the back entrance to said hotels and concert halls, it's to no avail. But when she learns that Victor Spinetti (an actor who appeared with The Beatles in <em>A Hard Day's Night</em>) is performing in a stage production in town, she meets with him after the show and a life-long friendship with the personable performer develops (and she becomes the head of his own fan club). He provides her with insight and autographs of the lads when he works with them (on <em>Help!</em> and <em>Magical Mystery Tour</em>).

In addition to her diary writing, Gallo pens a column for teens for the local paper, going beyond just news about The Beatles but sharing tips about a lot of pop culture that teens could find interesting.

There were a few moments when I was almost embarrassed reading this personal reflection and I thought how brave Gallo is to put her younger self on display this way. But again, although this book is billed and sold as an insider's look at being a 'Beatlemaniac' it really does address the adolescent's desire to find ones path - to see a world bigger and beyond the home. It is interesting to read her slow discovery that maybe she and Paul McCartney never really will meet, date, and marry. The young teen sees it as a hope, a dream, but the older teen begins to see that it was a dream that never would be.

As a book with a connection to the Beatles, it was definitely interesting. As a book that examines teenage social interest and anxiety, it is tremendous. Together it is a really fun read with some nostalgia.

Looking for a good book? Diary of a Beatlemaniac by Patricia Gallo-Stenman is a wonderful read on a variety of levels: Beatles, sociology, history, memoir.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I get in my moods sometimes and read a book “just cos” and this was one of them. I mean, what more can be said about “The Beatles”? This memoir says plenty more. The author has done a massive compilation from her own diary and scrapbooks and gives us her take on “Beatlemania” as seen through the eyes of a Philadelphia schoolgirl along with her crew of “Beatle Buddies”.

This is a cute lil read and, if nothing else, will tap into your own bank of memories and the rock ‘n roll phenomenon that defines the 60’s.

Thank you Cynren Press and NetGalley for the advance digital copy!

An excellent book for those who want an inside look at the Beatles fandom. It’s hard not to be engrossed in this personal account of what some might say is the first fandom movement.

In Diary of a Beatlemaniac, Patricia Gallo-Stenman reprints her diary from the mid-60s along with a few photos and newspaper articles related to her love for the Beatles and, really, all things British. While Gallo's diary could probably sound like thousands of young women from that era, her willingness to go beyond the usual fandom to make connections with the band and their friends, lead her to writing a column called Teen to Teen for her local newspaper. She shares several of the columns that include information about the Beatles and other rock groups from appearances in the United States, to concert reviews, to plain old gossip. In addition, she and her friends start the Victor Spinetti fan club. Spinetti was an actor who appeared in the three Beatles' movies.

This was a light read: a few jabs at the conservatism of her parents but mostly filled with the joy that comes from being young and in love with Paul McCartney. There are edges of darkness in the later pages as the Vietnam War heats up. And a little bit of bittersweet pang when Gallo's mother suggests that she is getting too old to be a groupy and Gallo realizes that her mother might be right.

The book includes two interviews that Gallo conducted later in life with Spinetti and a local Philadelphia DJ who helped bring the Beatles to Philadelphia.

When Patricia Gallo was thirteen, the Beatles hit the shores of America, and they arrived with a flash and a bang. Legendary Philly DJ, Hy Lit, was instrumental in getting the Fab Four overseas and into the local music hall. Patty and her “Beatle Buddies” quickly become immersed in the cult around the band, writing letters on the boys’ behalf to less-than-favorable reviewers, founding a fan club, sneaking off to movies and gigs, and even befriending actor Victor Spinetti, who appeared alongside the Liverpudlians in all three of their live action films.

When I was thirteen, the Beatles were well beyond broken up, and John Lennon had been shot and killed outside his home in New York City. Instead of the Beatles, I had Depeche Mode. But thanks to my Beatles-loving father, an enthusiasm, nay, almost an obsession for their music had been instilled in me when I was a nipper. For me, it was very exciting to be able to follow Patty’s Beatles experience via the diary excerpts, newspaper articles, and interviews presented in this book. In fact, I was hooked from the get-go, to the detriment of a couple of books which had been in the reading queue much longer. I recognized the thrill, the love, the disappointment of being a devoted fan, marveled at the ingenious gimmick used to announce the arrival of the band in Philadelphia, smiled at the generous spirit of Vic Spinetti towards these young girls. Of course all things, good or not, must eventually come to an end, and when Patty graduates from high school and meets her first boyfriend, the Beatles end up taking a backseat to real life. All too soon, the story and the book were over.

If you are a longtime Beatles fan who can recite not only all lyrics, but also chords to their songs, someone who owns rarities and knows more about the band than they did themselves, this is not a must-read for you. But if you love the music of these boys who were unlike anyone else before them, or if you simply enjoy an engaging yarn, this is definitely for you.

“Diary of a Beatlemaniac” is published by Cynren Press. I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Very interesting! Love the Beatles! Pictures of the collection were really neat to look at. Would totally recommend this book just for the pictures and other memorabilia! I did like the Diary format.

I thought this was a fun book to read. It was just interesting to imagine what it was like following around the Beatles and everything.

I had high hopes for this book, but honestly, the title should have alerted me that this wasn't what I was looking for - this book is literally the diary of a young woman who was obsessed with the Beatles in the 1960's.

There were some things I enjoyed about this book. For one, it gave me a much more complete look at living in the 1960's than most historical accounts could. This was the diary of a young woman growing up in 1960's America and that part of things was really fascinating.

However, at the same time, teenagers have kind of been the same for decades. It was painful to read a lot of the poetry that she wrote about Paul and the endless obsessing she and her friends did for YEARS. It was like looking back on my teenage years, though not necessarily in a good way. I picked this book up hoping to learn more about the Beatles and, while I did learn a little, I mostly learned that this woman loved Paul when she was in high school. This didn't contribute to my knowledge about their music or their lives or what it was like to interact with the Beatles. It was all teenage drama and lots of moping about not marrying Paul.

I would have liked to see more commentary from the author. It could have been interesting to hear her talk more about how her love of the Beatles changed over the years or how she feels about her past obsession now that she's an adult. Or even how she feels about modern portrayals of Beatlemania. But nope. It was literally just her diary with a couple interviews thrown in at the end. This is an easy money-grab for sure and did nothing to further my own enthusiasm for the Fab Four.

Recommended for die-hard lovers of the Beatles or 1960's buffs or aliens trying to learn about the American teenager, but I doubt anyone else will find this that interesting.

I was all of twelve when I discovered the Beatles, almost by accident. I knew the name, but hadn't heard any of the music, and had been put off by my 7th grade teacher's insistence that the music was silly and pointless. But the cover of Meet the Beatles grabbed hold of my imagination and wouldn't let go, so I listened, and I fell.  I think a lot of us who grew up in that era have similar stories about discovering the band, and stories similar to Gallo's about what the discovery meant to us, how it changed our lives.

Her diary entries took me back in time, reminding me of the events that surrounded my Beatlemania, the sounds, the sights, and mostly of how silly a teenage girl can be over stuff like this.  I did a lot of eye-rolling as I read, but it wasn't a judgement. Rather it was me being amused and embarrassed by having done the exact same things. The obsession, the building of the shrines papered with photos of "the lads," buying the albums and listening non-stop, picking up Brit slang, dressing like the girls they hung out with (Mod girls with long, straight hair.) the Beatles dreams, writing "Mrs George Harrison" in my notebook at school and mourning because I would never, ever be like Patti Boyd, and so could never win George's heart.

As if.

But Gallo's Beatlemania went above and beyond, and she parlayed it into a writing gig, churning out a column for a local newspaper entitled "Teen to Teen," in which she gave a rundown of what was Happening.  Yeah, it was mainly Beatles, but she covered other British invasion groups, as well as home-grown ones.  She also managed to befriend Victor Spinetti, who appeared in both A Hard Day's Night, and Help, and whose ego must've been really healthy to withstand constantly being approached to talk about the group instead of his own career. He comes across really well, a kind and thoughtful gentleman, who got a kick out of the kids who approached him.

Gallo interviewed Spinetti several times, once much later in life, as she did a local (Philadelphia) DJ known as Hyski who was instrumental to bringing the Beatles to Philly.  It's in these interviews as well as in her epilogue that the book really comes together as she reflects on that era and what it was about for her and her friends. I think I might have enjoyed the book as a whole more than I did if she'd broken up the diary entries with more of the analysis and introspection she shows at the end.

Peppered with newspaper clippings, and photos (though not as many of the latter as I would have expected) it's a light-hearted account of a young girl's coming of age in the early 60s, with a soundtrack unlike anything any of us had heard before. It's a fast read, but nothing particularly heavy, and probably fun more because I remember doing the things she did, thinking and obsessing about the same things she did. You're not going to get any deep insights or musical theory here, just a woman's memoir of an important time in her life, one which will  resonate for some more than others.