The Beatles and John Lennon biographer Philip Norman has received a pale green light from Sir Paul McCartney on being his next biographical subject. While McCartney will not personally cooperate with Norman -- he's distrusted him since the days of Norman's well-received book Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation, which included suggestions that John Lennon was the band's real talent and that manager Brian Epstein was the victim of a murder plot -- these days McCartney is “not objecting to my interviewing close friends, colleagues." Norman's book of Paul will be published in 2015, when it is likely to be as celebrated as his previous tomes on The Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Buddy Holly. [via The New York Times]

Today's world, filled with love of facts, was one foreseen and shaped by the king of trivia, Robert Ripley. The creator of the Ripley's Believe It or Not empire is now also the subject of A Curious Man, written by Neal Thompson and due out next month by Random House. Thompson's tale will follow Ripley as he travels the world, obsessively collecting curiosities like shrunken heads, long-ago torture implements, and odd snippets of knowledge, then using them to fill his "Believe It or Not" newspaper columns, his radio and TV programs, and his twenty-eight room mansion. [via The Bookseller]

Johnny Marr, founding guitarist of 80's music-redefiners The Smiths, recently confided to Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan that he will write a memoir. Marr says he will fill his autobiography with his pick of innumerable musical moments alongside rock's greatest names (like Modest Mouse, The Cribs, The Pretenders, The Talking Heads), including some in the most unlikely of places -- like sitting on David Crosby's bed. No date has yet been announced: Marr plans to keep his music at the forefront and put out another album or two first. [via Antimusic]

Beach Boy Brian Wilson is reaping well-deserved tributes these days. A forthcoming biopic, "Love & Mercy," will feature John Cusack as the adult Wilson -- portraying his achievements along with his struggle with mental health issues -- while Paul Dano will take on WIlson in his younger days. The real Wilson stands behind the picture, which will take a new look at what he's called the most creative and fulfilling time of his musical career. "It just makes me feel so humble. I can't wait to see it with a full tub of buttered popcorn," he says. [via Irish Central]