Customer Reviews

Joni Mitchell, Shadows and Light

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I understand that Joni Mitchell is widely recognized as amazing; that's why I was interested in what has made her tick throughout her impressive career as an artist. But the more this author tries to convince me of JM's genius, the less convinced I become. Despite the vaunted research and volume of this text, one comes away with almost nothing in terms of being able to understand Mitchell's true influences and personality, any sense of where the words, music and paintings come from.

When every quirk is excused, every decision sanctified and every critic dismissed, it's impossible to get past the endless stream of praise that is already part of the public discourse on Joni. Ironically, it doesn't seem like there's much here, and Karen O'Brien has made Joni Mitchell smaller by coating her whole life with a protective veneer of preordained sainthood.

This is the next best thing. This book illuminates all the myth of Joni Mitchell. Enigmiatic. Complex. Multi-faceted. And forever evolving. I know that she can't hold the guitar due to her polio, but there are tons of men and women who would kill to learn all the JM tricks! I would! She's the reason why I still play music. I don't listen to her much, because if I hear something, then I want to play it all! Especially the "jazz" stuff, with the modern stuff a very close second. Just read the book!

I really dig Joni Mitchell stuff and really think she's a complete artist.

I read this book and it is really oriented for fans, It could have been more objective.

all the development of the author around feminism sucks, and sometimes it gets to what I call "cheap psychology" with the will to explain things that can't be explain. The interpretation of the author goes to far. Sure there is a really important research work about JM's life, but it could have focused a little more on music instead of detailing her relationships.

However, it is the best I read on Joni so far.