[In His Own Write] not only has a style of its own, but at its best it has a very sure and delightful style. Moreover, it is not about the author or the group which made him famous; it is a collection of brief whimsies and simple drawings—pure fancy and nonsense concocted by someone who loves jumbling words and images.

In reviews of the book, all sorts of literary wheels have been mentioned as influences—Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, James Thurber (I keep thinking of Kenneth Patchen, too—and it's easy to see why …)…. Even James Joyce has been mentioned, and certainly [some] passages … have a wild and heavy quality which goes beyond word play…. (p. 588)

But Lennon is Lennon; he has his own brand of jumble-word, particularly in the prose pieces (it often sounds like someone with a cold speaking cockney-rhyming slang), and his own satiric...