▁ ▁Short ly ▁before ▁its ▁release , ▁the ▁book ▁received ▁highly ▁favor able ▁reviews ▁from ▁industry ▁publications ▁such ▁as ▁Book list , ▁Library ▁Journal ▁and ▁Publish ers ▁Week ly . ▁The ▁first ▁of ▁the ▁pre - public ation ▁trade ▁reviews , ▁however , ▁from ▁Kirk us ▁Re views , ▁was ▁so ▁critical ▁of ▁G ould ' s ▁work ▁that ▁Gl us man ▁chose ▁to ▁hide ▁the ▁piece ▁from ▁him . ▁The ▁book ▁was ▁then ▁la ud ed ▁in ▁The ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁Book ▁Review . ▁As ▁a ▁first - time ▁author , ▁according ▁to ▁screen writer ▁and ▁journalist ▁N ina ▁Sh eng old , ▁G ould ▁had ▁scored ▁a ▁" hole ▁in ▁one ". ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁first ▁two ▁months ▁after ▁publication , ▁Can ' t ▁Bu y ▁Me ▁Love ▁was ▁repr int ed ▁three ▁times ▁in ▁the ▁hard back ▁format . ▁The ▁book ▁was ▁published ▁in ▁Britain ▁on ▁the ▁Port rait ▁im print . ▁For ▁the ▁trade ▁paper back ▁edition , ▁released ▁in ▁November ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁the ▁cover ▁carried ▁a ▁quote ▁from ▁The ▁Baltimore ▁Sun ▁declaring ▁it ▁to ▁be ▁" The ▁best ▁book ▁ever ▁written ▁about ▁the ▁Beat les ". ▁In ▁her ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁band ' s ▁histor i ography , ▁Er in ▁T ork el son ▁We ber ▁comments ▁that ▁G ould ' s ▁bi ography ▁proved ▁more ▁impress ive ▁to ▁" know ledge able ▁readers " ▁than ▁Sp itz ' s , ▁which ▁suffered ▁from ▁an ▁abund ance ▁of ▁fact