Simon & Garfunkel: The Biography [Hardcover]

Victoria Kingston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

Kingston follows Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel from their Queens childhood and early days as "Tom and Jerry" to their role in the evolving folk rock scene, through their phenomenal successes in the '60s and '70s, their ultimate break-up, subsequent solo careers, and international reunion tour. of photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like a smartly written fanzine that has been expanded to book length, Kingston's biography of Simon and Garfunkel seems interested mostly in how the stars have related to each other, even in the years since the duo broke up in the wake of the release of Bridge over Troubled Water, their creative and commercial apex. Kingston's irresistible thesis is that Simon and Garfunkel, the phenomenally successful and achingly short-lived pop sensation, is merely one aspect of the lifelong friendship shared between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, kids from Queens who grew up as neighbors and remain close to this day. Not surprisingly (because Kingston is British), the most intriguing passages deal with Simon's lean and hungry solo days in England, after the duo first incarnated as Tom and Jerry and before "The Sound of Silence" shot them to stardom. Kingston spoke to people Simon stayed with and performed for in England on his "tour of one-night stands" that he immortalized in "Homeward Bound," and these folk reveal the aspiring American singer-songwriter as a serious businessman, convinced of his eventual success. Garfunkel wrote a letter to Kingston describing his early days with Simon; passages taken from this letter provide compelling insights, as well. As the story progresses, Kingston relies more heavily on less-privileged sources of information, like Rolling Stone, for her analysis, but this distancing doesn't really matter, for it's the very public music of the duo that drives her book. Kingston's bio is like one of Simon and Garfunkel's great singles?deceptively simple, devoid of pretense, extremely charming. 8 pages of b&w photos.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Somewhat misleadingly titled, this revision of Kingston's Simon & Garfunkel: The Definitive Biography (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1996) is more a narrative about a musical group than a biography of individuals. Although the author interviewed Art Garfunkel, she came away with little personal insightAa disappointment considering the status of Simon and Garfunkel in modern pop music and the small number of books about them (the last full biography was Joe Morella and Patricia Barey's Old Friends: A Dual Biography, Birch Lane, 1991). The saving grace here is the book's discography, something that previous books have lacked. It is difficult to give a hearty recommendation to this book, but public libraries lacking a profile of this important group should consider purchase.ARegina L. Beach, Mississippi State Univ. Lib., Starkville
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Fromm Intl (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880641932
• ISBN-13: 978-0880641937
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, where to begin..., January 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Simon & Garfunkel: The Biography (Paperback)

I really had high hopes for this book. So little substantive is available on the career of Simon & Garfunkle. Unfortunately, this childish, fawning tome is almost a waste of time.

It's so hard to determine what the author had in mind. Certainly not the music of this duo. She spends more time on a plot synopsis of an Art Garfunkle movie than she does IN TOTAL on the creative process of the duo's groundbreaking albums. How they made their records, how the songs were created, life on the road - very little on their art is discussed. That seems not to be important to this amateur author.

Since she had such access to Garfunkle, that must be why the focus is on Artie-minutia (and then she should have called it that!). But if one wants insight into the actual career of this duo, to learn about their music, their muse and their legend...look elsewhere. Lord knows where that is...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read, but Kingston needs an editor, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Simon & Garfunkel: The Biography (Hardcover)

I'm a huge fan of S&G, and this book is very respectful and lots of fun to read. But . . . Kingston (the author) goes through every song on every album and explains what it's about--that uses up about 25 pages in the book. Us fans already know the songs, when she rehashes them it comes off as trite. Also, there are a good many typos and mistakes. She lists Madison Square Garden as being in Pennsylvania (it's in New York) and cites newspaper "The Detroit Times," a paper that went out of business in the 1950's I think. There's a missing word here and there. Also, she's English, and there one or two things she said in the book and I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. Also, she rehashes interviews published in Rolling Stone and other magazines. Why not just give us the gist of the article. Instead, she gives us verbatim quotes. That uses up about another 25 pages.

It's a fast read, and a fun one, but the book isn't perfect. A good editor could have straightened this book out.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dropped the ball, October 19, 2001

By 

R. Riis "rriis" (NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simon & Garfunkel: The Biography (Hardcover)

There are too many factual errors and fan-mag platitudes here to make this an authoritative biography or analysis. Too bad, since the subjects are such interesting people with such interesting careers. Look elsewhere.