Joni Mitchell: A Reflection of Her Life Through Music and Lyrics

R. Prescott: Other than the fact that it's a library discard and seller probably got it for free, there wasn't much wrong. But, in that case, the asking price was a bit high and seller should have disclosed it was a library discard.

United States on Nov 17, 2023

Leslie liberman: Loving this book! I read a few reviews that indicated the book did not reveal much about her personal life. While I understand the potential disappointment and "missing" intrigue, these detailed interviews explore Joni's muse, inner world, thought processes, conflicts, trauma and her unique writing and creative process. It's not hard to imagine her more intimate journeys based on what is shared about how consuming and prevalent her creativity has been. I'm in the middle of this book and loving it. If you're a Joni fan, you will likely eat this up just based on the fact that she is quite expressive and clear about so much of what has motivated her. Love it!

United States on Jun 26, 2023

jazzlover: Loved learning more about this fascinating artist

Canada on Dec 21, 2022

Dave: Helps one to get to know this beautiful musical and fine artist.

Canada on Oct 31, 2018

Sprari: "Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words" is an essential read for those interested in knowing who the artist was, as a person and as an artist. The book consists mostly of three interviews with Joni's long-time friend Malka Marom. Malka asked, Joni answered. The questions pertained mostly to Joni's creative processes - how she went about creating her songs, what her philosophy of song-writing was, how she felt about critical reviews of her work, and her comparisons with her peers. The book is not a detailed chronicle of her life: where she lived at this precise time or that time; where and when she performed, who loved her and whom she loved. Readers will not find many gossipy details of her love life, not even about her first marriage or her immediate family. Joni carefully keeps her love life to herself, except in her songs, and even then, names are rarely mentioned. Before I read the book I learned that her short, first marriage was unhappy, so it was evident that "I Had a King" was about Chuck Mitchell. Beyond that, the identities of "Carey", "Michael" and others were not revealed. Who was she singing about in "Cactus Tree"? She was singing about herself. None of this is to imply...

United States on Oct 08, 2018

elmarworks: I love this book, very well designed and presented. I also love the fact that, just by writing an email to the editor, it is possible to have a full digital edition, complete with pictures. Amazon service very good, as usual.

Italy on Dec 14, 2015

therealus: A chance encounter in a Toronto club in the mid 1960s gave Malka Marom her first taste of the music and talent of Joni Mitchell. At the time herself a high-profile singing artist as the former half of Malka & Joso, Marom was suffering from the fallout from her split from the duo prompted by her distaste for the direction she was being steered in the interests of commercialism. Thus Joni Mitchell’s own struggles with the same forces carry a heavy resonance for her. Marom found her outlet in journalism. Mitchell was able to ride out the storm, after a fashion, and has bequeathed us with a treasury of exceptional music. And although Mitchell makes it plain that she regards herself as very much a kind of renaissance figure, as a poet and painter too, it is for her music and song that (with apologies, maybe) most of us are likely to most value her.

The real value of this book is that, unlike any of the other books about Mitchell I have encountered, it is based entirely on interviews with Mitchell herself, with Marom’s own views comprised in her questions and comments which Mitchell is then able either to repudiate or elaborate upon. This was only partially true of...

United Kingdom on Aug 03, 2015

Phil Fiebig: Timely. Relevant. Informative. Entertaining. Original. Thought provoking. Like Joni's music.

Australia on Jun 04, 2015

MeriJ: Normally celebrity interviews are brief, awkward affairs held in sterile hotel rooms or agents' offices. After you read a few from the same tour, you realize they are just going through the motions, repeating boilerplate stories and once-fresh-but-now-stale observations for lazy interviewers who don't seem to notice or care they aren't getting the good stuff.

What's different about this book is that 1) the interviewer is a personal friend of Joni's, and 2) the three interviews evolved over a period of almost 40 years. They took place in Joni's living room, several days per session -- I daresay over wine and cigarettes -- the 1st in '73 during the taping of Court & Spark, the 2nd in '79 around the time of Mingus and the final one just two years ago.

By the time they get to 2012, the two of them are flipping through a book of Joni's lyrics and riffing off each other on what things meant, what was cool, what was stolen from others. It helps that the interviewer is a singer and that they met back when Joni was a total unknown.
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To be honest, I'm usually reluctant to read interviews with Joni. I...

United States on Aug 25, 2014