Book Review: Girls Like Us
You’ve got a friend with this new biography of three of America’s top female songwriters and musicians.
Review by Valerie Kramer Davis
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—and the Journey of a Generation
By Sheila Weller
Atria Books, May 2008
This provocative biography depicts the intertwining lives of three of the most influential women in American music—Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. All three women rose to fame in the 1960s, a time in which the country was shifting toward, and embracing, feminism. "This new idea that was taking hold in the media and being argued in the courts—that young women had integrity—was having its echo in music," writes author Sheila Weller. Girls Like Us shows how the music of King, Mitchell, and Simon reflects their personal lives in a turbulent era.
Written like a novel with an alternating focus on each artist, the book describes the experiences of King, Mitchell, and Simon in turn, with each section showing similarities and differences among them (sometimes creating confusion for the reader). All three women struggle with overcoming their backgrounds and dealing with relationships: King and Mitchell were both raised in small, lower- to middle-class households; Simon grew up in a large upper-class family with successful Manhattan parents, surrounded by female prodigies. All three defy tradition to become the artists they are meant to be.
While King, Mitchell, and Simon consented to the book, each turned down interviews. Weller uses what she calls the "chorus-of -voices style," incorporating stories from many close friends and relatives to share each woman's world and reveal her secrets. Along the way, readers learn how the songs written by these artists give glimpses into their lives: Mitchell's "I Came to the City" is about her failed marriage, and "Michael from Mountains" reveals an affair.
Carefully detailed, Girls Like Us is a mirror of stormy times. "America was changing, with astonishing speed and intensity, and the change was being led by its youth," writes Weller. This book gives readers the chance to re-live the '60s through the songs and stories of these beloved artists.
Rating: 
–Reviewed by Valerie Kramer Davis
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