What To Read

Tertulia's First Dibs Editors Salon series is an exclusive look at a few of the most exciting books coming out each season. Join us on March 26 at 7:00pm ET on Zoom for what promises to be a great conversation about books by the editors who helped to shape and publish them.

➳ March 26 at 7:00 pm ET on Zoom Purchase tickets to the First Dibs Editors Salon Note: Are you an active Tertulia member? If so, you'll get free tickets AND have the opportunity to request an advance copy of one of the featured books. Make sure to use this special promo code in your email to RSVP or contact us at hello@tertulia.com to register.

One of our selections for this salon is Yoko: A Biography by David Sheff, author of the celebrated memoir about this son's struggles with addiction, Beautiful Boy. His new release is the definitive biography of Yoko Ono, one of history's most famous and most poorly understood cultural figures.

We are honored to have the book's acquiring editor, Eamon Dolan (Vice President and Executive Editor, Simon & Schuster) join us at the salon on March 26 to talk about the book. He has shared with us a very personal note about his experience editing the book while simultaneously writing his own forthcoming book which will be released one week later.

My longest professional relationship with any author is with David Sheff, and over our two decades together, that bond has become one of my closest friendships as well. David’s first book with me was the bestselling account of his son’s addiction, Beautiful Boy. His latest book, Yoko, a biography of Yoko Ono, might seem profoundly different from Beautiful Boy, and in obvious ways they are. But they also have much in common. Perhaps most notably, they both show David’s astonishing ability to write with critical discernment and unflinching candor about people he loves deeply. 

David’s connection with Yoko dates back to 1980, when, at 24, he landed what would be the last major interview of John Lennon’s life. David spent many days and nights with the couple, and the result was a classic of the celebrity interview genre – as well as a budding friendship with both artists. David flew out to New York the day after John’s murder to be with Yoko, and, in the decades since, she and her son Sean have traveled extensively with David, and David has often stayed with them in New York.

When David suggested the idea of a biography of Yoko, I was instantly hooked. Though the proposal necessarily lacked much of the engrossing detail that the book would include, it already contained a radical – and, to me, thrilling – reappraisal of Yoko’s life and her significance. Not only did he show how wicked and false was the notion that she’d broken up the Beatles, he proved that she is, in her own right, one of the most influential artists and activists of the last century. 

As it happened, I signed up Yoko at almost the same moment that I started working on my own book, The Power of Parting: Finding Peace and Freedom Through Family Estrangement. The two projects nourished each other in a way I’m extremely grateful for. At the outset, I established a strict church-and-state policy vis a vis my own book and the authors I edited; I didn’t want to seek any help from folks who had signed on with me so that I could help them with their books. But David refused to accept my policy. For one thing, knowing my story of severing ties with my abusive mother and the joy I found in the wake of that move, David was one of the first and most persistent supporters of the book that would arise from my experience. He was also one of the first interviews I did for The Power of Parting: I drew extensively on his expertise in addiction. And whenever I was sick of my own words, editing his words (and those of my other authors) felt like a delightful respite. 

The paths of David’s book and mine remain closely entwined. By luck or fate or whatever, they will both be published this spring, exactly one week apart. I can only hope my book comes close to the standard set by my brilliant author and dear friend, David Sheff.

— Eamon Dolan (Vice President and Executive Editor, Simon & Schuster). Dolan's book, The Power of Parting: Finding Peace and Freedom Through Family Estrangement comes out on April 1.