At the height of the success of the Beatles (1962–69), for which he initially played rhythm guitar, Lennon published two self illustrated books of free form prose, In His Own Write (1965) and A Spaniard in the Works (1966), that reflect the influences of Edward Lear , Lewis Carroll , and James Joyce , but these did not sell enough copies to persuade publishers to hound the celebrated singer for more. Lennon reportedly initiated the Beatles' experiments with...