By Shelia WellerPublished: April 14, 2009
Format: Purchased copy
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary via Goodreads
A groundbreaking and irresistible biography of
three of America's most important musical artists -- Carole King, Joni
Mitchell, and Carly Simon -- charts their lives as women at a magical moment in
time.
Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon
remain among the most enduring and important women in popular music. Each woman
is distinct. Carole King is the product of outer-borough, middle-class New York
City; Joni Mitchell is a granddaughter of Canadian farmers; and Carly Simon is
a child of the Manhattan intellectual upper crust. They collectively represent,
in their lives and their songs, a great swath of American girls who came of age
in the late 1960s. Their stories trace the arc of the now mythic sixties
generation -- female version -- but in a bracingly specific and deeply recalled
way, far from cliché. The history of the women of that generation has never
been written -- until now, through their resonant lives and emblematic songs.
Girls Like Us is an epic treatment of midcentury
women who dared to break tradition and become what none had been before them --
confessors in song, rock superstars, and adventurers of heart and soul.
My Thoughts
I've had my eye on this book for a long time. Being a huge
music fan I love reading music bios, and my favorites are the ones about
classic rock/folk singers from the 60’s and 70’s. I don’t know why but I just
really love that era of music. I guess mainly because in my eyes that’s when
music was at its finest. There was so much going on in the world at that time
that its affects definitely made a huge impact on the world of music.
So when I saw this book focusing on my three favorite
singers how could I resist? I went into it mainly wanting to read up on Joni
and Carole but it’s the story of Carly that really took me by surprised. What I
really loved about this book that it dug in deep into each of these ladies
lives. It had a great balance of their background, how they made their way to
do what they loved, and yes all the men in their lives. It wasn't too gossipy
which bios can be.
If there was one thing that truly took away from this
great book it would have to be the ever ending footnotes! I mean I’m one of
those nerdy chicks who loves looking at footnotes and discovering more facts
but serious there is a thing called “overdoing it.” I mean at over 600 pages I’m
really thinking a quarter of this book is footnotes. Ok maybe not but it feels
like it. Some pages are literally half in footnotes. As much as I had a
problem with that it couldn’t take away for the love I have for this
wonderfully written book.
This is for anyone who loves music or is interested in
learning how women played a huge part in the 60’s rock era.
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