World Famous Comics: Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
By: Sheila Weller Publisher: Atria Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Atria Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 592 Publication Date: April 08, 2008
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.
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.
Anticipation: the Greatest Strength Anticipation: I looked forward to getting and reading this book. Unfortunately that was the highlight of the experience for me. I started reading it as soon as I got it but quickly became bogged down in trying to follow and make sense of the flow. I tried, I really tried. There were some interesting historical connections to the times and songs. They were just not enough to keep me reading.
As I read there were two great content issues that bothered me. First the stories of these great singer/songwriters were told through the eyes and words of friends, former lovers and husbands, and others. In the 93 pages I read, the only quotes from Carole, Joni, and Carly came from previous interviews in other publications. Maybe they were interviewed later in the book; I'll never know. It seemed like a series of National Enquirer articles. My second issue was a lack of understanding/exploration into the songs and music of each singer/songwriter. If these girls were like us, and this is a journey of a generation, what was behind the music?
In addition to the content issues the writing style was difficult to follow. I agree with other reviewers who compared it to riding in a car with someone who doesn't know how to drive stick shift or suggested you read every third chapter to string all the chapters about each together. I plan to follow another's lead and donate my book to the local library. Obviously there is something in this book that others like. I just couldn't hang in there to find it.
really love this book "Girls Like Us" is beautifully crafted story on the histories of 3 of the most influential female icons of the 20th century. I've grown up being a huge fan of these women and enjoyed a personalized account of their lives. It it is truly an entertaining and riviting story. I bought it for my sister, it's a perfect late summer read. Sheila Weller has captured the imagination and fantasy of the era.
Love Carly, Joni, & Carole. Hate Sheila Weller! No one was more looking forward to reading this book than I was! I adore Joni Mitchell and Carole King, and having grown up in the 70's, I couldn't wait to read a biography that I could relate to. However...this book was unreadable. I felt like I was slogging through the Harvard Law Review. The author, Sheila Weller, gave the impression that she cared more about her writing than her subjects. And her writing leaves a lot to be desired. Just write the damn story!! This is a book that could've written itself. But the author's ego was all over the pages saying, "Look at me! I'm so smart! I know lots of big words!" It's too bad because I still want to find out more about some of my favorite musical artists, but unfortunately I was unable to get past page 173. Sorry, Sheila Weller. I gave it my best shot.
A Fantastic Women's Read !!!!! I absolutely loved this book. We all remember the music, have the dusty old albums, but this gave me a real insight into that time. How they were living their lives, what the songs were really about. Being a James Taylor fan also, it's interesting to see how he was intertwined in all their lives. Three amazing women with three amazing distinct voices and three amazing lives. A fantastic read !!! Really well written without being too 'factual and boring' . Recommended !!!!!
Absolutely Terrible. Needs Immediate Editing. AWFUL. I have just given up after slogging through 99 pages. This book is harder to read than a statistics text and a complete waste of time.
First of all, the writing is ponderously pretentious. Secondly, the unending and amateurish use of parentheses makes it impossible to enjoy or even read. You have to see it to believe it. It's hard to find a page that is not covered with them. After a while, the parentheses became nails dragged on a chalkboard. I wanted to throw the book in the garbage.
I believe this was edited by someone who never learned composition or possibly does not speak English. Parentheses are to be used sparingly, not as a substitute for either commas or basic sentence structure. Just look at this sample sentence, nowhere near the worst, and tell me why there are parentheses.
"Rather, he is a (handsome, blond) laparoscopic surgeon and former combat Marine, some years Carly's junior."
I cannot express how hard it is to read this monstrosity, truly one of the most poorly-written books ever printed on any subject. I cannot believe that anyone has actually read all 527 pages of this piece of junk.
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