Joni Mitchell [Paperback]

Brian Hinton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

Updated from the well-received edition, this new edition brings the Joni Mitchell story up to date.

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Sanctuary Publishing; 2 edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860743110
• ISBN-13: 978-1860743115
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,425,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps Hinton should play Mitchell's 'Help Me'., January 28, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joni Mitchell -- Both Sides Now (Paperback)

It's ironic (and perhaps moronic) that Hinton should choose none other than Joni Mitchell as a subject for a biography. Not only is Mitchell one of the most gifted and literate songwriters of the 20th Century, she is also one of the most iconoclastic, as well...shunning publicity that most 'rock stars' consume with a spoon. And its these circumstances which point out the failings in this dismal read: Hinton can't write and what he has written are quotes of Mitchell herself when she has deigned to submit to personal interviews. It's appalling that the publisher went ahead with such a shoddy and thoroughly uninformative book about one of the great pop icons of our century.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save Your Money, November 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Joni Mitchell -- Both Sides Now (Paperback)

Brian Hinton's Both Sides Now is a complete disaster. What could have been a promising biography of Mitchell is instead a garbled mess. Indeed, Hinton's text is relatively void of biographical information. Rather, Hinton relies on a handfull of interviews published of Mitchell's, and he quotes from them in such large chunks that the reader would be the wiser to check out the interviews from their sources. Following a brief, and flawed, biographical section, Hinton uses the rest of the text as a forum for his interpretations of Mitchell's work. Album by album, song by song, Hinton gives his own personal commentary on Mitchell's music so that the text ends up reading like a diary of Hinton's own personal reflections. Moreover, Hinton's analysis of Mitchell's songs are sometimes so off-base and confusing that the reader is left wondering how he comes to these conclusions. Finally, his constant personal comments in the text make it seen like nothing more than a high school writing assignment.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Both sides together!, August 13, 2000

By 

MR R J KNOTT (Hemel Hempstead, Herts United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joni Mitchell -- Both Sides Now (Paperback)

Being a long-time fan of Joni, I approached this book with interest but quickly realised I should adopt caution. Not only was it constantly repetitive... (yes, you just told us the opening song of the tour gigs two pages ago!)... but it was full of contradictions: so who WAS Carly Simon's "You're so vain" written about? Most embarrassing of all was the author's misunderstanding of the American term "suspenders" (the British equivalent is "braces" - i.e. elastic supports for men's trousers (pants)).. and thus wrongly accused James Taylor of being a cross-dresser! And as for the 1996 report that Joni gave birth at the age of 52 in 1996.... really?