Life John Lennon in Manhattan is fully imagined in new novel, ‘The Dakota Winters’ December 28, 2018 Matt Damsker, Special to USA TODAY Comments Off on John Lennon in Manhattan is fully imagined in new novel, ‘The Dakota Winters’ Tom Barbash's new novel 'The Dakota Winters' is set in the Dakota in 1980, and John Lennon is a key character. A book review.