Jane, you seem to have a lot of anger towards Pattie.

Sorry, if it seemed like that. I am trying to defend George, who didn`t say a single bad word about her. No anger.

I don't think Pattie said anything really bad about George either; she even admits that by the end of her marriage to Clapton, she realized that while Eric was her fun, passionate 'playmate,' George was her soul mate.  She described things that happened in her marriage, things that she was guilty of, things that George was guilty of. It wasn't really a hatchet piece on George.  Clapton comes off looking worse than George does.

I think Pattie was a little full of herself, all that so called attention gave her a big head!

I agree with you Jane, it isn't like George to have big, angry fights and showdowns. Like the Let It Be fight, when Paul is telling George he is playing the guitar part wrong ,what was George's response? A simple, I'll play what you want me to play or I won't play at all. Hardly seems like the type of person who'd have big fights with his wife.

As far as her admitting that George was her "soul mate" is a piece of crap. George seemed far more happier married to Olivia, then married to Pattie, and I think if he had to choose one as a soul mate it would be Liv.
I think she just said that because she bowed out of their marriage, and now where is she at?

I agree with you Jane that George probably didn't say a bad word to her, or about her.
But it is possible for men to resist her or fall out of love with her, as George has proved. Maybe it was just a little too hard for her to wrap her head around, so she left because she wasn't the center of attention in their home anymroe.

Great discussion! Sorry to come in so late.

I needed some time to process this book after I read it, because I was very confused. As DSL said above, Pattie doesn't really describe anything-- not anything important. Being a reading fanatic, I've done a lot of research, and Pattie's book, as far as George is concerned, did not cover (if you can  call her shallow recitation of events "covering" something) one single event that wasn't already published. Maureen's affair? It's in that hideous "The Love You Make" book by Peter Brown. The Tahiti vacation? All covered by their skipper or cook. Etc. etc. In fact, so many of Pattie's stories so closely resemble their printed precursors, it's as if she looked over her file of press clippings and wrote her life story based on that, not her actual memories.

I could blame drugs on this total failure of memory, but I have a theory I prefer. Pattie is still friends with many of the rock people in her book. I can imagine her saying to them, "I'm not really writing a tell-all. I'm just collecting already published facts about my life and republishing them so I can get some money from it. I won't betray any secrets." So she writes a book trying to keep faith with her buddies, so she can pretend she adhered to her reputation as the Beatle wife who never "told" (although Jane Asher has that spot sewn up nicely-- and she's a class act to boot). By trying to keep faith with her "in" crowd, Pattie wrote this shallow, unsatisfying, and lopsided story that is bereft of all heart. The only parts that sound genuine are the parts of her childhood pre-George, and how she belatedly realized at age 50 that life wasn't one huge party. Neither of these are particularly gripping subjects. She attempted to write a book that revealed nothing-- no wonder we're all puzzled or bothered by it.

She also doesn't tell the full story. She says how she "knew" that George was cheating with Krissie Wood under her own roof-- ah, the betrayal! The heartbreak! She doesn't tell us why she thinks this, only that she "knows". Ronnie Wood was not so cagey in his autobiography. He wrote that he and George decided to swap wives for the evening. Everyone was doing it, so that's what they decided to do. Ronnie writes it like a dare. There they are in the hall, hands on doorknobs of the rooms containing the other man's wife. "I'll see you in court," says George, and goes in. So how Pattie "knew" that George was cheating on her was because she spent the night with Ronnie. Notice, she did not go into the other room to confront George about his behavior. She slept with Ronnie-- a tiny detail she omits in her own retelling.  

For my part, I think I'm closest to Jane in my thinking. Pattie was and is charming-- some people have posted clips of her recently at book signings and talks, and she's witty and sweet. There's a charisma there. Personally I think she used it to draw in George because he could boost her career-- something she acted shocked to discover. "I never asked for this!" Please. I think she was fond of him in her way, but she was always looking out for #1. She didn't leave him until it was obvious that Eric would take her. Why get rid of your meal ticket until you have a new one? 1974 was a mess year for George. His Bangladesh buzz had dissipated and he put out the 2 weakest albums of his career. Eric's star was riding high. It was time to switch teams to the winning horse-- someone who, although an alcoholic, was more popular at the time and would fulfill her desire to be "seen". He also knew how to "party"-- this being high on Pattie's list until her 50th year, as she stated herself. Boring old George was just trying to pull his life together. Who wants to stick around for that?

Of course I don't really know Pattie, and her ridiculously inadequate biography didn't help me to know her any better. Based on what crumbs she does throw me, and putting it together with additional articles and biographies published at the time, I think she was basically a self-centered person who was clever enough to use her looks to her material advantage. I do not believe George was her soulmate, although I can see how she might look fondly back on that period of her life. Clearly she was unhappy with grown-up non-party George. George had a knack of staying friends with most people, and I believe they did become friendly again after the pain of divorce had cooled. But Liv wins the George soulmate award hands-down in my book. I also like that George fell in love with her over the phone. They had long conversations before they ever met. Perhaps after his bitter experience with Pattie-- that a pretty girl might turn out to be someone that, for whatever reason, you can't make it work with-- he opted for a woman who understood him first. It was just his good luck that she turned out to be so pretty.  

Sorry for the long post. I never did follow up on this, and I meant to. Debate is welcome! Cheers.

Quoted from Jane

If their marriage didn`t work, it couldn`t have been only George`s fault as she writes. And she was such a poor abandoned suffering little girl! Every man wanted her, all of them. But George didn`t. He didn`t pay attention to her, he didn`t speak to her, he turned his back on her. What was wrong with him? Doesn`t it sound strange? All men were driven to her, wrote passionate letters to her, but not George. He was not attracted to her. No longer. Can`t you see that this is all lies. If she was so charming, he certainly was in love. She was doing wrong things and he withdrew within himself, found comfort in something else, being a philosophically-minded person, calm and not a cruel one, who ignored his wife. I read in a magazine that he just asked her to leave, cause he couldn`t stand it any longer. And that sounds true, just like George: no rows, no scandals or showdowns. Remember his quarrel with Paul or John at one session working at the last album. That is what George was like. His reserve was the consequence not the cause of her behaviour. Think about it.

Jane, you really do seem to be privvy to knowledge that the rest of us aren't. Just because you put George on a pedestal doesn't mean that he couldn't be the bad boy here. I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened, and frankly I don't care. But your view that it couldn't be George's fault, just because it's George, is the stuff of a 13 year old in love with their idol.

Quoted from DarkSweetLady

I agree with you Jane, it isn't like George to have big, angry fights and showdowns. Like the Let It Be fight, when Paul is telling George he is playing the guitar part wrong ,what was George's response? A simple, I'll play what you want me to play or I won't play at all. Hardly seems like the type of person who'd have big fights with his wife.

i think to assume to be able to judge a mans character or behaviour in extreme circumstances based on a segment of a movie that he has allowed you to see is a bit unwise.
This to me is like the McCartney-Mills thing. I'm not in either case saying that I automatically believe the women's stories, but neither am I prepared to call them liars just because I own a few records made by the men involved. The truth, as normal, probably lays somewhere in the middle.

You are all right in your own Write. The fact is that George was a much deeper person than Pattie. I think he understood and knew her well, and maybe saw that she was no longer pleased with her life. As harihead writes Eric`s career was high and George`s hit the bottom, why not take the chance, while it is here? Besides they turned out to be different people, nothing to share. While the career was ok, Pattie pretended to love George, when it was not she suddenly grew lonely. The climate at home depends on the woman but she didn`t try to cheer him up or to stand by him. She decided to leave him, I am sure that was a shock to George. Love at first sight NEVER dies! But being a reasonable person he accepted the truth that she NEVER loved him. So she went away to party, to celebrate, to go on a spree with Eric.   BLUEMEANIE, i am not 13 years old, but i wonder how you who is not 13 years old, as you hint, let her pull your leg! maybe you are in love with your idol? I don`t put George on a pedestal ( and why don`t I?) and now will try to imagine that George was indifferent, sullen guy who didn`t care about his wife. So he was the bad boy there. I agree with you.

I understand what you mean ,Kevin, that is a bad assumption to make of George based on one movie. What I meant to say is, I think if George was really a "fighter" like Pattie portrayed him, what better person to get under your skin and make you blow up than Paul McCartney at the end of the Beatles rope when everyone seemed agitated.

It's fine that you came in late HariHead, you brought up some very good points.

I agree with you when you said that Pattie viewed George almost as someone just to help her career. Because she did only go with Eric when she was certainly sure that George was more interested in his spiritual journey and gardening than putting out #1 hits and partying.
And she leaves things so vague, I didn't really get any more information than I already knew.

Not that I don't believe that George didn't do things that might have pushed Pattie a little bit easier to leave, but I highly doubt it was the way she portrayed. Something is a little wrong.

And like I said before I think she just released the book and portrayed herself in a decent way and as George's soulmate( after his death) was just a way to get a little money in her pocket.

George was really a decent fellow, maybe the most decent of all.

Wake up. Where two are divorcing, two have been wrong. George cheated on Patti, he was no saint.

When two are divorcing two are not always wrong. But I agree with you Bobber, in this case, George was not a saint, he did cheat on Pattie, and she cheated on him.

Quoted from DarkSweetLady

When two are divorcing two are not always wrong.

In one way or another, there are. But maybe we're getting off topic.  

Yes, . Where were we, ah, Pattie Boyd's book. There we go back on topic

Neither were saints (George nor Patti).  They married so young.  As time goes on people change (maybe one grows up and the other doesn't) and people just are not compatibile anymore.  They both seem to have not taken their marriage that seriously.  And I am sure it is so much harder to have a marriage in the spotlight in front of the world.