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More Room In A Broken Heart: The True Adventures Of Carly Simon (2012)

by Stephen Davis(Favorite Author)

3.17 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1592406513 (ISBN13: 9781592406517)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Gotham

review 1: Back in the day, (before people actually said, “Back in the day”), when this reviewer was playing Carly Simon music on the radio, I had no concept of her personal life. Absolutely no clue. I didn’t read the trade publications much. With the possible exception of Billboard magazine occasionally. But now, thanks to her biographer, Stephen Davis, boy, do I know now!As Davis so graphically illustrates in this unauthorized biography, it’s interesting to note that both Simon and her first husband, James Taylor, came from similar privileged backgrounds. It would also seem both wrestled with demons for large portions of their adult life, largely through no fault of their own, but caused at least in part by less than ideal relationships with their fathers. Davis docu... morements a lot of National Inquirer type gossip about Simon and Taylor and their family and friends. Within these 409 pages you’ll find some juicy stuff. Like stories about Taylor, “an alcoholic, drug-addicted husband.” Like stories about her adulterous affair with Jeremy Irons. Simon allegedly not only aborted a child fathered by Irons but the singer “did” cocaine with the actor for the first time. Not to mention two failed marriages before a third. Alleged one night stands. Numerous affairs, including a hidden relationship with Mick Jagger. No wonder she has refused numerous attempts by others to have her write her own biography. She told one would-be biographer, “I would pity you, having to re-live my experience, I would say, 89 percent of which was painful.”Aside from the Simon family dirty laundry that gets aired here, Davis seems obsessed with analyzing every single song Simon and Taylor ever wrote and produced. He breaks down every Simon album, including what every tune is about, whom or what inspired it and the musicians, engineers and producers who recorded it. Unless you love to read the Yellow Pages from cover-to-cover, this could be 89 percent painful for you. Davis may have created the world’s longest album liner notes. By and large, this is a sad but true adventure but told well. As Larry King would say, it’s a real page turner. I couldn’t put it down. But, I should’ve paid more attention. Back in the day.
review 2: I prefer memoirs to biographies, and this book reminded me why. I picked it up mistakenly thinking it was the autobiography of Carly Simon, but it makes a very big point of stating that it is an unauthorized biography. I read it anyway. The biographer had apparently met his subject numerous times because he was friends with her brother. He inserts a few too many biased statements making it clear that he is a huge fan, and therefore felt that her story should be told even though he admits that Ms. Simon desires her privacy greatly and did not want it written. Apparently it is okay not to uphold that wish as long you are a fan with the intention of providing a loving tribute. However, the reader never gets a real sense of just who Carly Simon is as a person. The book regurgitates her own words as immortalized in various interviews over the years, but either no one who knows her better was talking, or the author didn't ask them to help him with the book. Either way, I felt like I just read a timeline of her accomplishments, and a real person never materialized on the page for me. That is particularly sad because Ms. Simon is still alive. I was also irritated by how much of the book was taken up talking about James Taylor. I felt like I knew more about him than the actual subject of the book by the time I finished it. Very disappointing. less

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