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More Room in a Broken Heart: The True Adventures of Carly Simon
A love song to an American icon: the first full-length biography of Carly Simon, from an acclaimed music journalist who has known her for decades
She's won two Grammys and an Academy Award, and her albums have sold more than forty million copies. Her music has touched countless lives since her debut in the 1970s, yet her own life story has remained unpublished-until now.
...moreHardcover, 432 pages
Published
January 10th 2012
by Gotham
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“Unauthorized biography”—two words that conjure both good and bad with readers. For some it means a juicy biography with incidents that the subject would prefer suppressed. For others it likely leads to a poorly written “clip job” by a writer with little or no access to the subject, so he has to rely on public sources. This “unauthorized biography” of Carly Simon tends towards the latter, unfortunately. Simon’s life has been a veritable open book with years of candid interviews and revealing son...more
DO NOT buy this book thinking that it is a true biography or has Carly's approval in any way or form.
Please be aware that this is NOT a authorized biography of Carly Simon. Carly had NO input to this book and is furious and upset with the untrue picture Davis paints of her within.
The book is a collection of uncredited quotes from other sources. The author did little original research of his own - what is the author's own actual contributions are fabrications. He additionally "borrowed" freely fr...more
Please be aware that this is NOT a authorized biography of Carly Simon. Carly had NO input to this book and is furious and upset with the untrue picture Davis paints of her within.
The book is a collection of uncredited quotes from other sources. The author did little original research of his own - what is the author's own actual contributions are fabrications. He additionally "borrowed" freely fr...more
I read this over the weekend, and although I am not a fan of this type of music (Lite Rock/Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary), the story of Carly Simon's life made for an entertaining and gossipy read. She is no doubt a child of wealth and privilege, and has led a remarkable 'storybook life'. Her father was the co-founder of Simon and Schuster, she is the friend and lover to numerous super famous men, the ex-wife of James Taylor, and she has written and sung songs that are undeniably part of America'...more
Apr 23, 2012
Sheryl
added it
This book held my attention and the discussions about her music were interesting enough, but overall not a very indepth biography. The author portrays Carly as always carrying a torch for James Taylor, yet Taylor refusses to even speak to her. I really didn't get a strong sense of why he cut off communciation with her. There is also mention that her daughter Sally didn't speak to Carly for awhile over a dispute with Sally's husband about land. Huh? It seems there are many casual mentions of Carl...more
I found this book at salvation army, I found the cover and photos to be beautiful!I quickly realized it was not Carly writing ,it was some guy,and how can he get away with this kind of book? Yes there was a lot of information about the albums and the songs and a lot to much imformation about stuff that is none of his business.The book had a lot of James Taylor in it and I did read it all,but in some way it feels wrong to go on about someone elses life and feelings......I think Carly Simon is a b...more
This was a rather long, but interesting book on tape. I must say that I really like Carly Simon's
'Mockingbird" song, but I didn't know much about her other than her father was the Simon is Simon and Schuster Publishers. The book told in detail (a bit too much for me) of how every record was written and recorded, including all the musicians on each song. What was amazing was her many, many love affairs. I thought they might be as extensive as Wilt Chamberlain's for awhile. She comes from a very m...more
'Mockingbird" song, but I didn't know much about her other than her father was the Simon is Simon and Schuster Publishers. The book told in detail (a bit too much for me) of how every record was written and recorded, including all the musicians on each song. What was amazing was her many, many love affairs. I thought they might be as extensive as Wilt Chamberlain's for awhile. She comes from a very m...more
First of all, I didn't expect great writing, just a readable "popular" biography. However, I did expect someone to fact-check the manuscript. George Gershwin died of a heart attack? Duke Snider was black? Record executive Mo "Austin?" Hall & Oates's big hit "Every Time She Goes Away?" Mia Farrow is Woody Allen's ex-wife? These are inexcusable errors. And who knows how many I missed?? Pathetic.
This is the first Goodreads review I have written...because I'm just so disgusted by the state of pu...more
This is the first Goodreads review I have written...because I'm just so disgusted by the state of pu...more
I have loved Carly's music since the beginning of her solo career, and hoped this might provide more than gossipy info. It doesn't, really. Some things I'd read elsewhere, and that, along with sloppy errors (dates mostly) make this a less than compelling read. But I DID read it all and in one weekend, so obviously it was enough to keep me turning the pages.
I wish Carly would offer her own story, but based on the knowledge I do have of her, her background and history would seem to preclude that p...more
I wish Carly would offer her own story, but based on the knowledge I do have of her, her background and history would seem to preclude that p...more
Even though this was an unauthorized biography, Carly Simon stated that the author was a friend of the family and she had known him very well during her lifetime. Much of it is music oriented, i.e. when she wrote, what she wrote and what she sang, and is easily depicted in chronological form. The parts that were really interesting to me was her shyness, the fact that she stuttered and suffered from stage fright her entire adult life and, of course, the story of her relationship and marriage to J...more
I prefer memoirs to biographies, and this book reminded me why. I picked it up mistakenly thinking it was the autobiography of Carly Simon, but it makes a very big point of stating that it is an unauthorized biography. I read it anyway. The biographer had apparently met his subject numerous times because he was friends with her brother. He inserts a few too many biased statements making it clear that he is a huge fan, and therefore felt that her story should be told even though he admits that Ms...more
There is a huge gap between what this is and what a biography of this amazing singer songwriter should be. On the positive side, author Steven Davis has created a chronology of Simon's life. The merely reportorial parts of the book are good, but an attitude, like that expressed in the title continues to surface.
Carly Simon is singular in her work, style and achievements. She made full voiced melodic (almost operatic) recordings and was successful in competition with hard rock, the Beatles, folk...more
Carly Simon is singular in her work, style and achievements. She made full voiced melodic (almost operatic) recordings and was successful in competition with hard rock, the Beatles, folk...more
Maybe since I'm such a Carly Simon fan, I really enjoyed this book. It was enlightening regarding the many drug abuse problems of James Taylor too. The author's background history of her family proved to be interesting to me also. Never connected the Simon and Schuster to her family! It was an easy read since I checked it out on a Thursday from MY public library and finished it Sunday night.
DO NOT buy this book thinking that it is a true biography or has Carly's approval in any way or form.
Please be aware that this is NOT a authorized biography of Carly Simon. Carly had NO input to this book and is furious and upset with the untrue picture Davis paints of her within.
The book is a collection of uncredited quotes from other sources. The author did little original research of his own - what is the author's own actual contributions are fabrications. He additionally "borrowed" freely fr...more
Please be aware that this is NOT a authorized biography of Carly Simon. Carly had NO input to this book and is furious and upset with the untrue picture Davis paints of her within.
The book is a collection of uncredited quotes from other sources. The author did little original research of his own - what is the author's own actual contributions are fabrications. He additionally "borrowed" freely fr...more
I'm not sure how factual all of the information in this book is, based on other reviews from others whom have read it. But since the subject matter dealt with two of my favorite musicians, Carly Simon and James Taylor, I thought I'd give it a read. It wasn't bad but some of the information provided didn't seem to add up.
Other reviews of the book were not positive, but I thought the book was pretty good. Even though it was an unauthorized bio, I think the author knew the Simon family and tried to be fair. If Carly Simon ever writes her autobiography I will read it, but since that has not happened, this book satisfies my curiosity about a singer/songwriter who I have listened to for many years.
Decent bio but nothing spectacular here. Fans of Carly Simon will like it, especially music fans of her generation. Who can forget her album cover poses back when browsing LPs was very cool? Her marriage to James Taylor is given a long look, but avoids the trashy details for the most part.
I began reading this biography and gave up and skimmed most of it. My problem is that the author is a very poor stylist. He writes of Carly Simon's birth, "World War II began for America in late 1941, and a third daughter, Carly Elizabeth Simon, was born toward its conclusion." What type of biographer leaves the birth date of his subject vague? That sentence made me think Carly Simon was born in December 1941, when she was born in June of 1945. Much of the book is written as then this happened,...more
An interesting and revealing portrait of a '70s musical icon. I'm still trippin' over the fact that Carly is close to, or may already be seventy! This book provides her birth year as late 1941 but more often listed as June 1945.
As a long time Carly Simon fan, I really did not know much about her personal background, just loved her sound and music. This was a very interesting and fun read and I felt like an insider with her stories. Well done and direct in dealing with faults, flaws and successes of this amazing and talented woman.
The reviews are all over the map and I'm unsure how much of what the author relates is the truth (he states he is a "friend" of the family but others say he's not and had no business writing this biography) but I found some of it quite interesting. I've been a fan since Carly burst on the scene with "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" and liked learning more about the inspiration behind her songs. And yes, I freely admit it, the gossip about her various marriages and mental health we...more
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Carly Simon writes this book as if she is writing a song. It's beautiful, heartbreaking, funny and much more depth than anyone would expect from a Rocker Bio.
Hard to believe the bad reviews. This is actually good. Maybe the author has stepped on some toes.
loved this bio on Carly simon, didn't know she was of the Simon and Schuster clan!!
Balanced, interesting story of her struggles in life. Success and challenges
Carly Simon...great musician...totally checked re: her life.
Had to read this - even though it isn't her authorized biography...
Very interesting; didn't know she was such a sleep-around.
Excellent! This is a must read for all Carly Simon fans.
interesting look at her life!
Too much name dropping for me, but a good read if you need an escape.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full of fabrications; not authorized or approved by Carly | 1 | 17 | Jan 09, 2012 12:20pm |
American music journalist and historian
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Mar 12, 2012 10:40am