Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon---and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila WellerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon---why not Judy Collins, or even Laura Nyro? I am sure selecting any such triumvirate is open to criticism and I applaud Weller's courageous choice and the elegant way the trinity's career-life biographies are stitched together, switching back and forth, in an engaging and enlightening way without being confusing or off putting. Collins and Nyro make frequent cameos, as do Jackson Browne and James Taylor. Each woman had serious obstacles to overcome, not limited to Mitchell's early pregnancy, Simon's crippling insecurities and King's encounters with sexism from career limitations to abuse. Each woman built success and stability in spite of this during turbulent decades. The book I felt was especially interesting on Mitchell for her reunion with her daughter and tracking the varied artistic directions of her key albums. For King, it was fascinating to see the arc of her work from early pop success to determined environmental activism. At first, I felt Simon was the odd duck, but she was definitely part of that scene and being formerly married to singer-songwriter James Taylor tied together the biographies. Also, Simon's mastectomy, chemotherapy and reconstructive dovetailed with the theme of tribulation and triumph and her long, largely critically acclaimed recording career marks her as an equal, too.
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