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Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation | 
 enlarge | Author: Sheila Weller
Publisher: Atria
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  93 reviews
Sales Rank: 1878
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 6.2 x 2
ISBN: 0743491475
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421640922
EAN: 9780743491471
ASIN: 0743491475
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
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| • | Kindle Edition - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation | | • | Paperback - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation | | • | Unknown Binding - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation: Library Edition | | • | Audio CD - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation | | • | Audio CD - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation | | • | MP3 CD - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon---And the Journey of a Generation |
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Product Description
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. Filled with the voices of many dozens of these women's intimates, who are speaking in these pages for the first time, this alternating biography reads like a novel -- except it's all true, and the heroines are famous and beloved. Sheila Weller captures the character of each woman and gives a balanced portrayal enriched by a wealth of new information. 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 88 more reviews...
 Good on Details, Short on Meaning August 29, 2008
At first glance, Sheila Weller's choice of subjects seems incongruous: Joni Mitchell is one of the transcendent talents of our time. Carole King and Carly Simon, however prolific, cannot possibly come up to that standard. But Weller is concerned with the popular zeitgeist, not comparative musicianship, and we must take her book on its own terms.
Weller writes from a feminine, not a feminist, perspective. She would probably disagree with this assessment, but her particular brand of retrospective feminism has, by now, become so mainstream as to be unexceptionable. We have all come a long way since the 60's.
Three women singer-songwriters, three different life trajectories played out against the background of the 60's. Weller's "parallel lives" succeeds as biography, but fails to extract any greater meaning. I most appreciated her obsessively detailed research; I learned a lot of factual information from this book. Later on, though, it became bogged-down in an interminable and Oprah-like recitation of who slept with whom and how they all felt about it; I would have liked more information about the corporate and sexual politics of the era, and much more about the music itself; for me at least, and I think for many of my generation, it was really all about the music, and the People-Magazine-type shenanigans of its creators and performers are really, more or less, beside the point.
That said, I again praise Weller for her incredibly detailed knowledge and accurate feel of the life and times. It's not exactly the book I had hoped for, but it is certainly worth reading.
Bogs down due to its format August 20, 2008
I was really in a state of ANTICIPATION, since, as a boomer, I grew up with these ladies and their music. However, by the book's midpoint, it becomes unwieldy due to combining the lives of these 3 women plus James Taylor as well as some minor players of that era. You really should read it in one sitting or weekend since there are just so many friends/lovers/albums/players to keep track of. Finally, I just read it from the middle on by each singer and skipped the tangential blend of the others. Much easier and far more lucid and rewarding. An ambitious work it should be noted.
 Before It's Too Late August 17, 2008
As if a Freedom of Information Act request had been fulfilled, author Sheila Weller has now revealed everything you ever wanted to know about Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, James Taylor, David Crosby and the entire neighborhood of singer-songwriters of this genre. Her book, Girls Like Us, feels like a miraculous detailed dream of full-access to the longest rock tour of your life. You are surrounded by all the talent you could ever find in the 60s and 70s. Better still, you know everything about them: their lovers, their passions, their emotions and their struggles with artistic competition. This is an amazing book.
Ms. Weller would make an exceptional private investigator. Her book is filled with meticulous and inquisitive research leaving no stone unturned. She interviewed every personality, every friend and acquaintance and every passerby. She painted her story with the detail of a Where's Waldo? portrait. Not a soul was missed! Everyone is there and the stories are addictive. This is not a casual showbiz biography or the mere tale of three women who defined the music of their age. It is snapshot of an entire era perfectly capturing how life felt before, during and after the Summer of Love.
Sheila really knows how to tell a story. Open her book and begin a 600 page real-life mystery. New revelations abound! (Her vocabulary alone is inspiring.) Curious about Carly's romantic fling in France? Joni's days as a budding fashion model? Carole's teenage days at the Brill Building? It's all here! This book is more fun than a carnival ride that never ends. Trust me! I often felt like a little kid crying "Tell me more! Tell me more!" How I wish every book was like this.
Completely involved in this masterwork, I ordered a copy of Carole King's recently released Tapestry- Legacy Edition two CD set. One disc is her classic album now with full digital clarity. The bonus disc contains the entire album (except for Way Over Yonder) recorded live at concerts in 1973 and 1976 including the Central Park happening. Listening to this live CD brought me full-circle. I had stepped back in time more aware than I could ever imagine. 37 years later, Tapestry is still fresh and delightful.
Sheila Weller leaves no hanging threads! Her coverage of the lives of Carly, Carole and Joni continues to present day. Girls Like Us is only the start. For those who want to travel further, Sheila shares her journal detailing the creation of each chapter and provides an endless bibliography for your use. This book is entertaining, a great source of reference and a keeper. Pick up a copy before it's too late!
 Too Disjointed, No Flow August 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was SO excited to get this book and took it on vacation to have a great read. WHAT a disappointment! The book is written in sections each dealing with the three women, but worse in each section there is a flood of somewhat related information that just simply gets in the way. While it is impressive that the author knew the backstory, she didn't really need to share it with the reader. I wanted the story of these women and how their lives shaped the music world and what it meant to women. The story is probably there somewhere, it was just too much work to find it.
Not a Boomer but definitely a fan... August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I couldn't put this book down. I'm a 29-year-old who has been a Joni Mitchell fan since early high school when one of my mom's friends turned me onto her. My life was never quite the same, of course, and I'm not sure I'd like to know who I might be without the influence of her music, poetry, and general lifestyle.
A good friend recommended this book. I had seen it reviewed somewhere, but honestly wasn't that interested in reading about Carly Simon or Carole King. I could understand Carole King's importance in the music industry, but Carly? She just wasn't on my radar.
I certainly got an education. Reading about the lives of these women and their journeys in music was thrilling and often painful. I feel like I understand much better the decades that were the 60s and 70s in regard to women's issues. I also learned about Carly Simon's serious contributions to pop music, Carole King's astounding body of work, and, of course, I got loads of fabulous insight into Joni Mitchell.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in an in-depth, thought-provoking look at three formidable female musicians who "plowed the road" for the likes of singer-songwriters such as Tori Amos, P.J. Harvey, and a host of other women in the music business that owe much to their elders.
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