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Author David Pryke has put
together a fascinating time-line, showing how events in
the life of John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman
followed a pattern that in some respects mirrored that
of his heroes, Holden Caulfield (the fictional
protagonist of Catcher in the Rye) and musician Todd
Rundgren (who in turn seems to have modelled himself on
Lennon and the Beatles.)
What emerges is a haunting account of Chapman's
schizophrenic world, in which drugs, psychiatry, the
Bible, pop music and television all played their part.
David Pryke does an excellent job of dissecting the
process whereby Chapman came to believe that signals and
messages in his environment were urging him to murder a
man who, in the Beatle's own words, had once been "more
popular than Jesus."
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He also builds a timeline showing how parallel events in
the lives of Chapman, Rundgren and Lennon began to come
together in the final months of 1980, to create a
three-way mirroring effect, which Pryke sees as the
working of "Fate."
It's interesting, as well as chilling, to note that Todd
Rundgren's musical career served as encouragement for
Chapman's tormented beliefs regarding John Lennon.
Rundgren's own creations often mirrored the Beatles, and
could turn into angry parody. This was especially
evident in his album DEFACE THE MUSIC, released a few
week's before Lennon's murder on December 8, 1980.
Lennon's own final album, DOUBLE FANTASY, released in
October 1980, also contained themes and images that
Chapman interpreted as giving him permission to go
forward with his plan to stalk and kill the man who had
once inspired him to dream of making the world a better
place.
This 55-page book is well structured, highly readable,
and filled with illustrations.
What I found fascinating was how Pryke exposes the fine
line between fandom and insanity. The world of rock
music, heavily based in drugs and narcissism, valorized
schizophrenic states of mind. In such a world, success
can be dangerous, and a star can slip from being a
beloved Idol, to a hated nemesis in the mind of a
deranged listener -- without even leaving his apartment.
Ann Diamond, January 2006
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