6.21.2013

Review: Girls Like Us: Carloe King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon by Shelia Weller

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon-and the Journey of a Generation
By Shelia Weller
Published: 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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