In their 2007 overview of Beatles literature, authors Stuart Shea and Robert Rodriguez said that the book succeeds through the narrative's combination of first-hand experience and the writer's ability to relate this to a wider cultural context.
Shea and Rodriguez also wrote: "This book, along with Carr and Tyler's Illustrated Record filled a serious void at the time in Beatles history.
"[5] While discussing the most recent generation of Beatles biographies in December 2013, Chicago Tribune critic Mark Caro recalled the book's publication and described it as "the superior critical-minded history" on the band.
[6] Ian Inglis, author of a 2010 biography on George Harrison, wrote of Schaffner's contribution: "Among the very best of the hundreds of books that examine the history of the Beatles.
Schaffner died on August 28, 1991, in New York City of an AIDS-related illness shortly after the release of Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey.