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

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $13.85
You Save: $14.10 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.35 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Sheila Weller
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-08
ISBN: 0743491475
Number of pages: 592
Publisher: Atria

Book Reviews of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation

Book Review: Written with a Word Processor or a Food Processor?
Summary: 2 Stars

The author never met a parenthesis or em-dash she didn't like. The great potential of this book is marred by the flagrant use of asides, digressions, afterthoughts, and pointless trivial addendums. Who needs to know who the photographer was for an album cover shot, as that person is never heard from again?

And, of course, the third-hand quoting of Carole King and Joni Mitchell made it feel like the sections about them were cobbled from old issues of Rolling Stone. I kept contrasting this tome with Bob Spitz' "The Beatles," a far-superior book. Spitz never makes it feel as if he was denied access to his subjects.

Maybe Ms. Weller is a terrific magazine writer who's been done in by an utter lack of copy editing. You'd never know from the Cuisinart style of writing she delivers, however.

But the letdown of "Girls Like Us" makes me yearn for a solo biography of Carly Simon, free of the distractions of the two other subjects who never showed up for this book.

Summary of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation

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 clich?. 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.

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Sisters
Going Gray, Looking Great!: The Modern Woman's Guide to Unfading Glory ImageGoing Gray, Looking Great!: The Modern Woman's Guide to Unfading Glory
by Diana Lewis Jewell
Fireside; Published: 2004-04-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $59.99
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women ImageThe Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
by Naomi Wolf
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $14.99
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation ImageGirls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
by Sheila Weller
Atria; Published: 2008-04-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.97
Price in other shops: $27.95
Barbie: The Icon, the Image, the Ideal: An Analytical Interpretation of the Barbie Doll in Popular Culture ImageBarbie: The Icon, the Image, the Ideal: An Analytical Interpretation of the Barbie Doll in Popular Culture
by Kristin Noelle Weissman
Universal Publishers; Published: 1999-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.95
Price in other shops: $19.95
Deadly Persuasion: Why Women And Girls Must Fight The Addictive Power Of Advertising ImageDeadly Persuasion: Why Women And Girls Must Fight The Addictive Power Of Advertising
by Jean Kilbourne
Free Press; Published: 1999-11-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $26.00
Rosie the Riveter (Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series) ImageRosie the Riveter (Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series)
by Christine Petersen
Children's Press(CT); Published: 2008-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.22
Price in other shops: $5.95
Sisters (TV series) ImageSisters (TV series)
DVD
Deluxe Rabbit Pearl Pink ImageDeluxe Rabbit Pearl Pink
Pipedreams; Health Care
Best price: $19.95
He's Just Not That Into You: Your Daily Wake-Up Call ImageHe's Just Not That Into You: Your Daily Wake-Up Call
by Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo
Simon Spotlight Entertainment; Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.27
Price in other shops: $10.00
Are Men Necessary?: When Sexes Collide ImageAre Men Necessary?: When Sexes Collide
by Maureen Dowd
Berkley Trade; Published: 2006-10-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.80
Price in other shops: $15.00
Similar Books and other products
Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits ImageCarly Simon - Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits
Release date: 2004-05-04; Music CD
Best price: $7.96
Price in other shops: $16.97
Unaccustomed Earth: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries) ImageUnaccustomed Earth: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries)
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Vintage; Published: 2009-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.56
Price in other shops: $15.00
Covers ImageJames Taylor - Covers
Release date: 2008-09-30; Music CD
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops: $18.98
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years ImageHome: A Memoir of My Early Years
by Julie Andrews
Hyperion; Published: 2009-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops: $15.99
Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) ImageHeaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001)
by Don Felder
Wiley; Published: 2009-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.32
Price in other shops: $15.95
Tapestry-Legacy Edition (2-CD) ImageCarole King - Tapestry-Legacy Edition (2-CD)
Release date: 2008-04-22; Music CD
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops: $24.98
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties ImageA Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
by Suze Rotolo
Broadway; Published: 2009-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.93
Price in other shops: $14.95
Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me ImageWonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me
by Pattie Boyd, Penny Junor
Harmony; Published: 2007-08-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops: $25.95
Audition (Vintage) ImageAudition (Vintage)
by Barbara Walters
Vintage; Published: 2009-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.03
Price in other shops: $15.95
This Kind of Love ImageCarly Simon - This Kind of Love
Release date: 2008-04-29; Music CD
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops: $18.98
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories