Best-selling Beatles biographer and author Philip Norman paid a glowing tribute to the birthplace of the Fab Four after arriving for the Liverpool Literacy Festival.
Mr Norman, author of Shout! The Beatles In Their Generation, the 1981 biography described as the definitive work on The Beatles, read extracts from his latest book, John Lennon – The Life, at the Bluecoat.
The writer also answered criticism about his claims that John struggled to face homosexual tendencies saying he was 'emphatically heterosexual.'
He said: "I've always had a great time in Liverpool, ever since first coming up at the end of the 1970s to research Shout! The city has been fantastically revived since then and is now a much more exuberant place."
Mr Norman has written biographies of the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Buddy Holly, but added: "Lennon was the biggest challenge."
Millions of words have been written about Lennon since his tragic death in 1980, not least about his sexuality, and Mr Norman said: "He was a complex character but he was emphatically heterosexual.
"John liked the idea of seeing how different people and different worlds operated, in a way, he was a frustrated journalist. He dabbled in campness later on, being secure enough in his heterosexuality to do so."
Lennon fans around the world have been keen to read the acclaimed author's take on the much-missed Beatle.
He explained: "The book is on the New York Times best-seller list at the moment and is also a best-seller in Canada and Germany."
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