Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s Hardcover – June 17, 2014

“Tom Doyle’s detailed chronicle, which includes rare interviews with McCartney and former Wings members, portrays a band that was far more contentious than eager-to-please hits like 1976’s ‘Let ’Em In’ had us believe, fronted by a legend who wanted to be both boss and buddy. The book is larded with tales of Seventies rock-star excess, Paul and Linda’s love of weed, docked paychecks, and grousing musicians.”—Rolling Stone
 
“Well-researched but still breezy and engaging, the book offers a comprehensive tour of the shaggy, bleary-eyed decade when the hardest-working ex-Beatle reached the zenith of his creative and commercial success. . . . Man on the Run makes an excellent contribution to the burgeoning literature devoted to McCartney’s post-Beatles career.”—The Boston Globe
 
“In the 1970s, a depressed, heavy-drinking Paul McCartney walked away from The Beatles and reinvented himself as the leader of another hitmaking rock ’n’ roll band. A new book by longtime Q magazine contributing editor Tom Doyle about that turbulent period in the legendary rock star’s life, Man on the Run, catches him in mid-flight.”—Billboard
 
“Man on the Run is a must for any rock fan. Doyle strips away the larger-than-life figure and examines the real McCartney: the musician, the father, the husband, fighting off a nervous breakdown, trying to navigate his way through a tumultuous decade.”—The Boston Herald
 
“Doyle has added a valuable entry into the Beatles Bookshelf.”—Houston Press
 
“Doyle digs deeply into Mr. McCartney’s life and career, doing fans a great service as he unearths details even the most obsessive among them likely did not know.”—The East Hampton Star
 
“A compelling read for both casual and well-versed fans.”—The Morton Report
 
“[An] engaging, accessible, and well-written telling of rock and roll's ultimate comeback tale.”—Library Journal
 
“Compulsively readable . . . Accomplished rock journalist Doyle presents a solid, detailed, and, above all, honest reappraisal of McCartney’s work.”—Publishers Weekly

“Tom Doyle’s Man on the Run is a riveting dispatch from the seventies. Paul McCartney’s story is told with clever pacing, unflinching honesty, and a gripping narrative drive that benefits from his intimate participation via interviews and support. This is simply one of the best rock biographies anyone has written.”—Stephen Davis, bestselling author of Hammer of the Gods and Watch You Bleed
 
“Having attended the historic Wings over America concert at the Kingdome in Seattle back in 1976, I’ve been a major Paul McCartney fan seemingly forever and a day. And by virtue of that, I figured I had pretty much learned all there was to know about Sir Paul and his colossal career. Oh, how wrong I was! Man on the Run is simply brimming with enough fascinating facts and expertly rendered anecdotes to make even the most ardent McCartney follower do an abrupt about-face. Maybe I’m amazed? You better believe it.”—Kent Hartman, music industry executive and bestselling author of The Wrecking Crew
 
“[Man On The Run] answers the question: What happens when you can do anything you like but nothing will ever be good enough? Doyle makes sense of a stoned shaggy dog story that has none of the narrative neatness of the Beatles’ rise and fall.”—The Guardian (U.K.), “Music Books of the Year”
 
“[Doyle] offers a level-headed and admirably nonjudgmental portrait of a turbulent ten years, punctuated by great music, creative misfires and frequent run-ins with the law.”—Sunday Express (U.K.)
 
“Starting with the painful disintegration of the Beatles, Doyle examines the next decade in McCartney’s unimaginably odd existence. . . . Most compelling is the book’s portrait of a man in a position that doesn’t come with a guidebook, playing it by ear.”—Q Magazine (U.K.)
 
“The go-to guy if you want to coax confessions from a superstar, Doyle writes without agenda.”—Mojo (U.K.)

Tom Doyle is an acclaimed music journalist, author, and long-standing contributing editor to Q. His work has also appeared in Mojo, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Elle, The Times, and Sound on Sound. Over the years, he has profiled Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Kate Bush, Elton John, R.E.M., and U2, among many others. He is the author of The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie, which has attained the status of a classic rock biography since its original publication. He lives in London, England.