Boys in the Trees (Simon)

Book Reviews
Boys in the Trees, Ms. Simon’s overripe memoir, means to correct the impression of extravagant good fortune....This book’s style recalls that of her songs: a little precious, a little redundant, a little too much. She recalls "my parents' dinner parties, one after another, like gold, shimmering beads strung on a necklace." She overplays the drama. ("He was my captor and I was his slave.") And in the too-much-information department, well: "James was my muse, my Orpheus, my sleeping darling...." But the barrier thrown up by this language isn’t insurmountable. And Ms. Simon has a tumultuous story to tell.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


[A] brilliant memoir.... Simon’s tone throughout is surprisingly heavy for someone who often appeared like a carefree, music biz boom-time girl. It can get overblown over matters of the heart, too: her tumultuous relationship with ex-husband James Taylor is likened in florid detail to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. But for the most part, the book reveals her experiences clinically and compellingly, subtly showing us how canny and clever she is.
Guardian (UK)


[T]he book’s overriding theme is one of longing. Boys in the Trees recounts Simon’s singing career only in fits and starts, as if it were more a hobby than a vocation. It ends with the painful dissolution of her marriage to Taylor—who, despite his largely clean-cut public image, features in a few grim, drug-addled moments—more than 30 years ago.
Boston Globe


A lyrical look back at her childhood, her career, and oh, the men in her life...anecdote-filled...dishy without being salacious. There’s plenty here for fans to feast upon" - USA Today
"Boys in the Trees meets its lofty expectations. As one of pop music’s more literate songwriters — she was the first solo woman to win a Best Song Oscar for Let the River Run from Working Girl — Simon writes beautifully and affectingly. Her publisher father, for whom she clamored for attention and validation, would be proud.
Miami Herald


Intelligent and captivating...Don't miss it.
People Magazine


Carly Simon could have gotten away with just the name-dropping. In her life, she's crossed paths with an astonishing range of famous people, from Cat Stevens and Jimi Hendrix to Benny Goodman and Albert Einstein. So it's a pleasant surprise that in her compelling new autobiography, Boys in the Trees, she lays out her naked emotions and insecurities, and that she proves to be a supple writer with a gift for descriptions.
Rolling Stone


One of the best celebrity memoirs of the year ... elegantly written and revealing.
Hollywood Reporter


Simon's memoir unfolds in long, florid, intensely observed scenes...that are at once charged with erotic tension and attuned to subtle undercurrents of feeling. Her writing is impressionistic, slightly boy-crazy, wonderfully evocative, and suffused with the warm voice and bittersweet sensibility of her songs.
Publishers Weekly


The best parts of the book are when the author describes how her songs came into being, while the few tedious ones are moments when names are dropped right and left.... Memoirs by rock icons of the 1960s and '70s are flying fast and furious these days. This is one of the best, lively and memorable.
Kirkus Reviews