Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
Book Review: overwritten
Summary: 3 Stars
Despite the fascinating subject matter, the author has has succumbed to self indulgence. It is a combination of her personal cliched analysis of women's sexual liberation and a wikipedia type entry of a litany of names. In doing this the narrative, the basic story telling suffers. Book Review: Could not put this down
Summary: 5 Stars
I love these three women but I never expected to find a book that told stories about them that I never heard before. There was such compassion and energy in this book, every time I finished one chapter and moved on to the next one it was like finishing an episode of a (good) tv show and wanting it to be next week already so you could learn what happened next. I always vaguely assumed that these women had to contend with the restrictions of the times but I never knew the details and how each of them took such risks. By the end of the book I felt I knew them and, of course, I took out my old CDs and records, of Anticipation and Blue and Tapestry, and listened to them with new meaning. I'm going to read this book again and then give it to a friend I love.Book Review: Where was the Editor?
Summary: 1 Stars
I was so excited to hear about this book, however, after slogging through 91 pages, I am giving up. I am sure there are gems of information somewhere in here but I am unwilling to look any further. It's as if someone published the first draft with no editing . . . ever. I find myself laughing outloud at the sentence structure and the length of those sentences; having to backtrack and re-read a passage to get the meaning. It is hard to know sometimes when Ms. Weller is talking about which singer, although having a different typeset for each individual is helpful, if a bit of an affectation. Save your money and wait until it comes out in video form; at least then there will be lots of pictures and music to go with the information.Book Review: "It's (Not) Too Late, Baby..."
Summary: 4 Stars
A marvelous blending of the life stories of three women who came of age at the beginning of the feminist movement, but who came from very different places. Carole, a young bride and mother from Brooklyn, Joni from distant Canada, and Carly from upper-middle class New York.
They each have a major issue to come to terms with: for Carole, it was life after the smashing success of Tapestry; for Joni, it was the struggle to stay true to her art while remaining relevant in the record universe (as well as coping with putting her baby up for adoption); and for Carly, it was being taken seriously given her privileged upbringing and living with James Taylor's addiction. The resolution of these issues, and their quest to find a comfortable place for their work in the middle-aged world, make for an excellent read.
The paths they took and the times they lived through are fascinating for those of us who came after and should be read by young women today who really don't have a sense of how far women have come since the 1960s.
Packed with detail, the book is at times awkward to read (too many dashes, parentheses and footnotes!), but when you overlook the poor editing, it is hard to put down.
Book Review: Filled with love, couldn't put down
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is intelligent, cogent, and suffused with affection and empathy for these remarkable women and the era they lived through. Every page brought a new revelation. Sometimes you laughed, sometimes you wanted to cry. They lived grand lives to match their music, and the author got it, year by year by year. By the time it ended, I felt I'd re-lived those years and understood what hardy, hearty souls these talented women were and are. Bravo.