Boys in the Trees by Carly Simon – Audio
Book Blurb:
Simon’s memoir reveals her remarkable life, beginning with her storied childhood as the third daughter of Richard L. Simon, the co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster, her musical debut as half of The Simon Sisters performing folk songs with her sister Lucy in Greenwich Village, to a meteoric solo career that would result in 13 top 40 hits, including the #1 song “You’re So Vain.” She was the first artist in history to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, for her song “Let the River Run” from the movie Working Girl.
The memoir recalls a childhood enriched by music and culture, but also one shrouded in secrets that would eventually tear her family apart. Simon brilliantly captures moments of creative inspiration, the sparks of songs, and the stories behind writing “Anticipation” and “We Have No Secrets” among many others. Romantic entanglements with some of the most famous men of the day fueled her confessional lyrics, as well as the unraveling of her storybook marriage to James Taylor.
My Review: 3 stars
Boys in Trees, Carly Simon’s memoir, was a book I’ve been waiting years for. I’ve been a huge fan of Carly’s music since I was a young girl and can sing along with any song on any album. With my huge TBR pile staring at me, I knew I wouldn’t get to it any time soon, so I opted for the audio version as it’s narrated by the one and only Carly herself.
Although I learned a lot about Carly, there were so many stories and facts that I found superfluous. I understand she wanted the readers to learn about her childhood, but it was done with a ridiculous amount of detail. The parts that made us understand the woman she became, were vital to the book, and held significance to the reader, but they were shrouded by minutia. Bits about her mom’s affair, her father’s drop from Simon & Schuster prominence, her over friendly uncle, her much older boyfriend that was in love with her sister, her continual battle with stuttering and dive into depression, were paramount to how she developed into adulthood.
After she began her solo career, the book sped up and I soaked up every detail. The stories she shared about the men that inspired some her songs were amazing. From Mick Jagger, Cat Stephens, Kris Kristofferson, Warren Beatty and her own “Orpheus” James Taylor – the reader gets all the juicy tidbits. These sections are what made the book for me. I wish there were more of it, rather than the overwhelming and insignificant details.
As a life-long Carly Simon fan, I can ignore the first half and just savor the last fifty percent of the memoir. One last note however, as much as I loved hearing Carly’s voice for the narration, I found the music overlays very disruptive.
Quotes I liked:
There’s always that peculiar thing that rescues you, the thing that’s so hard to name. If I were to locate and then identify all the hellish things we all have to go through in life in order to uncover one minute of happiness, it would take up a lot of space.”
“We were enough with ourselves and our enormous little lives.”
“Besides, as Mark Twain once said, “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
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