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trayceebee's review against another edition
5.0
I got this book for free when I attended PLA 2012 in Philadelphia.
LOVED this book! I don't know if Ms. King had a ghostwriter or not, but I felt it was incredibly well written. (I'm a stickler for good grammar and spelling, etc.)
I knew Carole King had written many of the songs we hear every day, but a) I didn't realize HOW many it was, and b) I guess I hadn't realized she didn't write the lyrics to all her songs.... I also didn't realize she'd been married four times--wowza!
I am impressed, not only with all she's been through and has kept an upbeat attitude throughout, but also with what a good mother she is!
LOVED this book! I don't know if Ms. King had a ghostwriter or not, but I felt it was incredibly well written. (I'm a stickler for good grammar and spelling, etc.)
I knew Carole King had written many of the songs we hear every day, but a) I didn't realize HOW many it was, and b) I guess I hadn't realized she didn't write the lyrics to all her songs.... I also didn't realize she'd been married four times--wowza!
I am impressed, not only with all she's been through and has kept an upbeat attitude throughout, but also with what a good mother she is!
sarahbethbrown's review against another edition
4.0
I am very torn on this book! I tore through it, bc I love Carole King, but the deeper I got into the book, the less I really cared about it. She has a very loose sense of time int he book, which is pretty confusing-- while she generally stays in one era, she hops around and it's hard to tell what's happening when. And in later years, when her life gets broader, she definitely loses the storytelling thread and it reads more like a list of things that happened (and some chapters literally are a list, with bullet points and everything.)
On the other hand, she says herself that music was her forte and words her struggle, and the stories about her creating music made the read worth it to me. There are plenty of other books to cover the singer-songwriter era of the 60s-70s, and this book will definitely leave you wanting to find more. But that doesn't mean this isn't worth it! If you love Carole King there will be something good in this for you.
On the other hand, she says herself that music was her forte and words her struggle, and the stories about her creating music made the read worth it to me. There are plenty of other books to cover the singer-songwriter era of the 60s-70s, and this book will definitely leave you wanting to find more. But that doesn't mean this isn't worth it! If you love Carole King there will be something good in this for you.
amytreadwell's review against another edition
3.0
Ok I didn't really complete this. I got tired if reading it. I think I was fascinated w Carole's early career and once I read that part it wasn't written well enough to keep me reading.
roscoehuxley's review against another edition
4.0
I happened on tickets to Beautiful, the musical about Carole King's life, which led me to listen to this book to know more. Interestingly, while the book went into more details in certain spots, there are some big parts of her life that the musical dealt with that the memoir did not. Of course, I have now listened to more of King's albums in the last month than I have in years!
King is not a professional voice actor, and that's obvious. However, the audio narration is so much the better for having her read it. I cannot imagine having a memoir like this read by another person (as long as the writer is alive and well!) I've heard podcasts and other interviews with King. In those, the Brooklyn accent is more pronounced. Her narration of this book is much less accented, sadly.
The audio book includes a few snippets of King singing. It's too bad she wasn't able to use (I assume copyright law prevented her from using) snips of the albums.
King is not a professional voice actor, and that's obvious. However, the audio narration is so much the better for having her read it. I cannot imagine having a memoir like this read by another person (as long as the writer is alive and well!) I've heard podcasts and other interviews with King. In those, the Brooklyn accent is more pronounced. Her narration of this book is much less accented, sadly.
The audio book includes a few snippets of King singing. It's too bad she wasn't able to use (I assume copyright law prevented her from using) snips of the albums.
stevienlcf's review against another edition
3.0
Carole King was one of the illustrious singer-songwriters and musicians who emerged in California in the early 1970s, and she weaves tales of her extraordinary career in music with her personal experiences as a child in Brookln, a young songwriter, wife and mother, a naturalist and advocate. While the book could have used a good edit, as Ms. King notes when she compares herself with singing legends such as Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell and Barbra Streisand, it's an "honest, straight-from-the-heart interpretation."
alliepeduto's review against another edition
3.0
Skimmed through most of this, but managed to learn a lot more about Carole King! Though truthfully that wasn’t hard for me to do, because prior to seeing “Beautiful: The Musical” I knew next to nothing about the legendary songstress.
offbalance80's review against another edition
3.0
An exhaustive look back on the life and times of Carole King. A lot of great anecdotes, but she does tend to ramble a lot. I'd say she needed an editor, but I fear that this is the highly edited version, based on the style. While I appreciated her putting every year of her life into the larger historical context, it honestly dragged things down. King's writing is at its best when she's talking about the music, and close to its best when she's talking about her experiences. Things slow when she's trying to wrap it all in some kind of large, historical ribbon. Still, this was very engrossing in spots, and was a great vacation read.