 | |
| Author | Carly Simon |
|---|---|
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Flatiron Books |
Publication date | November 24, 2015 |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | 978-1-250-09589-3 |
Boys in the Trees is a memoir by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon. [1]
| | |
| Author | Carly Simon |
|---|---|
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Flatiron Books |
Publication date | November 24, 2015 |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | 978-1-250-09589-3 |
Boys in the Trees is a memoir by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon. [1]
Boys in the Trees was published on November 24, 2015 by Flatiron Books. [2] [3] The book is titled after Simon's 1978 album, Boys in the Trees . A two-disc compilation album, Songs From The Trees (A Musical Memoir Collection) , was released on November 20, 2015 to accompany the memoir, and includes a previously unreleased track entitled "Showdown", which was originally recorded during the Boys in the Trees sessions. [4]
Reviewing Boys in the Trees, Fiona Sturges describes the book as "primarily about [Simon's] family, her interior life and her stormy relationships with men, and her candour is frequently startling." Simon describes her early life as the child of privileged parents (her father Richard L. Simon founded the publishing company Simon & Schuster). She documents a line of failed boyfriends and an eventual marriage to musician James Taylor. Although she was happy to be "Mrs. James Taylor" and they had two children together, the marriage ultimately dissolved. [5] Simon also revealed in the memoir that when she was seven years old, a family friend in his teens sexually assaulted her: "It was heinous", she stated, adding, "It changed my view about sex for a long time." [6]
The book concludes in the mid-1980s, shortly after the release of Simon's 11th studio album Hello Big Man (1983). [7]
The book received predominantly favorable reviews, with some exceptions. In The Guardian , Jude Rogers wrote "Complex, quick-witted and stack-full of raw talent: this isn't how people like to see Carly Simon. After all, [Simon] was also the long-legged, hyena-mouthed lover of many famous men (William Donaldson, writer of the Henry Root letters, Kris Kristofferson, Mick Jagger and Jack Nicholson, for starters), and the wayward daughter of a publishing icon Richard, the Simon of Simon & Schuster. These boys in the trees, and many more, follow her, dog her and haunt her. Her process of shaking them free forms the foundations of this brilliant memoir." [7] Similarly, in The Independent , Fiona Sturges found Boys in the Trees a "hugely affecting memoir", describing Simon's recounting "as, for the most part, heartfelt and remarkable in [its] detail...Similarly impressive is the fearlessness, frankness and wisdom with which she chronicles half a lifetime of pain." [5] However, in The New York Times , Janet Maslin found the "book's style recalls that of [Simon's] songs: a little precious, a little redundant, a little too much." [8] In 2016, Billboard ranked the book No. 50 on list of the 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time. [9]
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), "The Right Thing to Do" (No. 17), "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (No. 14), "You Belong to Me" (No. 6), "Coming Around Again" (No. 18), and her four Gold-certified singles "You're So Vain" (No. 1), "Mockingbird", "Nobody Does It Better" (No. 2) from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and "Jesse" (No. 11). She has authored two memoirs and five children's books.
Lucy Elizabeth Simon was an American singer and composer for the theatre and of popular songs. She recorded and performed as a singer and songwriter, and was known for the musicals The Secret Garden (1991) and Doctor Zhivago (2011).
The Beach Boys in Concert is the third live album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released in November 1973. It was their first live album since Live in London (1970), as well as the only live album and the final album on which Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar appeared as official members.
Walter Seff Isaacson is an American journalist who has written biographies of Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Jennifer Doudna and Elon Musk. As of 2024, Isaacson is a professor at Tulane University and, since 2018, an interviewer for the PBS and CNN news show Amanpour & Company.
Boys in the Trees is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Elektra Records in April 1978.
Maryanne Vollers is an American author, journalist and ghostwriter. Her first book, Ghosts of Mississippi, was a finalist in non-fiction for the 1995 National Book Award. Her many collaborations include the memoirs of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dr. Jerri Nielsen, Sissy Spacek, Ashley Judd, and Billie Jean King. Her second book on domestic terrorism, Lone Wolf: Eric Rudolph – Murder, Myth, and the Pursuit of an American Outlaw, was published in 2006. A former editor at Rolling Stone she has written articles for publications such as Esquire, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Time,and The New York Times Magazine.
Janet R. Maslin is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for The New York Times from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, Maslin helped found the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York. She is president of its board of directors.
The discography of Carly Simon, an American singer and songwriter, consists of 23 studio albums, two live albums, 10 compilation albums, four soundtrack albums, two audiobooks, and 41 singles, on Elektra Records, Warner Bros. Records, Epic Records, Arista Records, Rhino Entertainment, Columbia Records, Hear Music, and Iris Records, with special releases on Qwest Records, Angel Records, Walt Disney Records, and Macmillan Audio. These lists include all live and studio albums, and the motion picture soundtracks list includes albums containing more than 50% of music by Simon.
Sylvie Simmons is a London-born, California-based music journalist, named as a "principal player" in Paul Gorman's book on the history of the rock music press In Their Own Write. A widely regarded writer and rock historian since the late 1970s, she is one of the few women to be included among the predominantly male rock elite. Simmons is the author of a number of books, including biography and cult fiction. Simmons is also a singer-songwriter, ukulele player and recording artist.
Wonderful Today, subtitled The Autobiography, is the 2007 autobiography by English former fashion model and photographer Pattie Boyd, written with journalist and broadcaster Penny Junor. It was published by Headline Review in Britain, on 23 August 2007, and by Harmony Books in the United States, where it was titled Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. Beginning with her childhood in Kenya, the book covers Boyd's modelling career in London during the 1960s, her marriage to and divorce from Beatle George Harrison and later marriage and divorce of Harrison's best friend, Eric Clapton. The book's title is in reference to Clapton's 1977 song "Wonderful Tonight", which he wrote about Boyd.
Monique Pauline Roffey is a Trinidadian-born British writer and memoirist. Her novels have been much acclaimed, winning awards including the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, for Archipelago, and the Costa Book of the Year award, for The Mermaid of Black Conch in 2021.
"Legend in Your Own Time" is a song written and performed by Carly Simon, from her 1971 album Anticipation. It was issued as the second single from the album, following "Anticipation". It did not achieve the same level of popular success as its predecessor, reaching No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did however reach the top 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at No. 11.
A Little Life is a 2015 novel by American writer Hanya Yanagihara. Lengthy and tackling difficult subject matter, it garnered critical acclaim, was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Awards, and became a best seller.
Songs from the Trees (A Musical Memoir Collection) is a two-disc compilation set by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released on November 20, 2015.
Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me is a 2017 memoir by Janet Mock. Following on her 2014 memoir, Redefining Realness, which described Mock's childhood and adolescence, Surpassing Certainty deals with her early adulthood. It received favorable reviews.
A Stolen Life: A Memoir is a true crime book by American kidnapping victim Jaycee Lee Dugard about the 18 years she spent while sequestered and enslaved with her captors in Antioch, California. The memoir dissects what she did to survive and cope mentally with extreme abuse. The book reached No. 1 on Amazon's sales rankings a day before release and topped The New York Times Best Seller list hardcover nonfiction for six weeks after release.
My Thoughts Exactly is a memoir by English singer-songwriter Lily Allen. The book was published on 20 September 2018, and several extracts from the book generated considerable press coverage prior to release. The book covers a variety of topics, such as "feminism, the tabloids, money, faking orgasms, bad managers, fame, sexual abuse, mental health, narcissism, co-dependency, festivals, motherhood, stalking and parking tickets". It received positive reviews.
The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire is a 2000 biographical book written by Gwenda Blair, an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, about three generations of the Trump family, starting with Friedrich Trump (1869–1918) who immigrated to the United States in 1885 from Kingdom of Bavaria, then Fred Trump (1905–1999), and finally Donald Trump. It was first published by Simon & Schuster in 2000 and reprinted in 2015 with a new title, The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a President and a new preface.
I'm Glad My Mom Died is a 2022 memoir by American writer, director and former actress Jennette McCurdy based on her one-woman show of the same name. The book is about her career as a child actress and her difficult relationship with her abusive mother who died in 2013. This is McCurdy's first book and was published on August 9, 2022, by Simon & Schuster.