Goldman's is tediously written, filled with gossip that he presents as true, as in "John gave Stu Sutcliffe a heavy beating that later killed him" --- a hypothesis that Goldman picked up from an account by Stu's sister Paulene (but denied by both Paul McCartney, who was supposed to have been present during said beating, and Stu's German fiancee Astrid Kirchherr, who said that of course Stu would have told her had such a thing happened, but he didn't). Lots of prurient stuff, and everything has to be taken with a grain of salt. (Aside from the bad rumors, the bad writing is the most painful.)
Philip Norman also wrote the earlier "Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation," which I originally read in 1981 when it first came out. (It's since been updated a couple of times, through 2003. I have the latest edition but haven't read it yet.) I'm nearly finished with his 2008 Lennon book. I like it; I like Norman's writing, which I remembered from the "Shout" book---straightforward, honest, and fair. (For instance, he presents the "John causing Stu's death" story but provides, as Goldman did not, the follow-up from Paul and Astrid.)
Also interesting in Norman's bio: he's interviewed Yoko, and she's not being coy and fey, as she usually, annoyingly, is. For instance, here she is re the day that John broke up the Beatles in an accountant's office:
We went off in the car, and he turned to me and said, 'That's it with the Beatles. From now on, it's just you---OK?' I thought, 'My God, those three guys were the ones entertaining him for so long. Now, I have to be the one to take the load.'
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