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A review by tommyhousworth
Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon by Peter Ames Carlin
4.0
Like many gifted artists, Paul Simon seems driven by a mix of ego and insecurities. The core example of this dichotomy is his lifelong relationship with Art Garfunkel, which is richly covered by Peter Ames Carlin, from their days in grade school and early performances as Tom & Jerry to their many attempts at reconciliation through reunion tours and abandoned recording sessions.
The controversy at the heart of the landmark album Graceland is also here, with helps the reader understand how it's possible that Simon was both genuinely supporting the South African musicians whom he so admired, while also exploiting their talents. His "Graceland" studio session with Los Lobos is now infamous for similar reasons.
His attempts to win over Broadway audiences with "The Capeman" and Hollywood with "One Trick Pony" show Simon at his most vulnerable and defensive. He has been jealous of Bob Dylan for being revered as the poet of his generation, of Art Garfunkel for being seen as 'the sex symbol' of the duo, and yet he toured with Dylan in the 90's and generously supported Garfunkel spending time in Hollywood working on the film "Catch 22".
Carlin does a balanced job of presenting the many facets of Simon's personality, as well as giving a fair overview of his work as a writer and singer.
Toward the end of the book, Carlin encounters Simon at Emory University, where Simon is scheduled to do a symposium. Simon spots Carlin, gives him an icy stare, and then a dismissive wave. As this book is not authorized, Simon tells us all we need to know about how he feels about his warts-and-all career being presented on the page. That's as close as Carlin ever got to Simon. So, like all third party unauthorized biographies, there should be a huge grain of salt taken with "Homeward Bound". Simon may not be the kind of guy you'd want to have a cup of coffee with - truly, it sounds like it depends on the day. Some days, he's a real mensch, other days...not so much. But, you want him on that stage, you want him at his writer's desk, and in the studio. Because that's where he creates a transcendent magic that makes the rest of it little of our business.
The controversy at the heart of the landmark album Graceland is also here, with helps the reader understand how it's possible that Simon was both genuinely supporting the South African musicians whom he so admired, while also exploiting their talents. His "Graceland" studio session with Los Lobos is now infamous for similar reasons.
His attempts to win over Broadway audiences with "The Capeman" and Hollywood with "One Trick Pony" show Simon at his most vulnerable and defensive. He has been jealous of Bob Dylan for being revered as the poet of his generation, of Art Garfunkel for being seen as 'the sex symbol' of the duo, and yet he toured with Dylan in the 90's and generously supported Garfunkel spending time in Hollywood working on the film "Catch 22".
Carlin does a balanced job of presenting the many facets of Simon's personality, as well as giving a fair overview of his work as a writer and singer.
Toward the end of the book, Carlin encounters Simon at Emory University, where Simon is scheduled to do a symposium. Simon spots Carlin, gives him an icy stare, and then a dismissive wave. As this book is not authorized, Simon tells us all we need to know about how he feels about his warts-and-all career being presented on the page. That's as close as Carlin ever got to Simon. So, like all third party unauthorized biographies, there should be a huge grain of salt taken with "Homeward Bound". Simon may not be the kind of guy you'd want to have a cup of coffee with - truly, it sounds like it depends on the day. Some days, he's a real mensch, other days...not so much. But, you want him on that stage, you want him at his writer's desk, and in the studio. Because that's where he creates a transcendent magic that makes the rest of it little of our business.