It's exceedingly hard to communicate the importance of a historical figure like John Lennon. The founder and most cerebral member of The Beatles, who settled on their band and brand name 50 years ago this August, would have celebrated his 70th birthday Saturday if not for the metafictional madman Mark David Chapman, who assassinated Lennon 30 years ago this December. Because of that tragic collision of reality and fiction, any consideration of Lennon's sheer artistic influence should be concerned with what happened within and without his Liverpool-born frame. Because he is unfairly lost to us...