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Paul Simon
Paul The Definitive Biography
- GenresNonfictionMusicBiography
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2002
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21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2017
The life and works of a famous singer / songwriter are described in this book.
I found this book very informative and I felt I gained some insight into the artist's life and works (especially his dedication and single minded approach).
This is definitively one of the better biographies that I've read.
I found this book very informative and I felt I gained some insight into the artist's life and works (especially his dedication and single minded approach).
This is definitively one of the better biographies that I've read.
February 27, 2008
There is something about a private person's biography: it is a biography made possible by other people's views and insights into the private person's life.
Apart from that there is the usual chronology of incidents, mostly professional, which is a matter of public record anyway. Such a biography serves only on purpose: bring all that content in one place.
However, there is a value that the "compiler" (the author of the biography) really brings to the book and that is the presentation. Take a famous singer's biography, and I would think that there would be enough content there for the fans. Laura Jackson's biography of Paul Simon doesn't do that very well, yet it is a well presented biography. Because if you are Paul Simon fan, chances are that you are beyond mere gossip. To understand the life and times, mind and turmoil of your favourite singer, get to understand his art and approach to the art, is more important.
Apart from that there is the usual chronology of incidents, mostly professional, which is a matter of public record anyway. Such a biography serves only on purpose: bring all that content in one place.
However, there is a value that the "compiler" (the author of the biography) really brings to the book and that is the presentation. Take a famous singer's biography, and I would think that there would be enough content there for the fans. Laura Jackson's biography of Paul Simon doesn't do that very well, yet it is a well presented biography. Because if you are Paul Simon fan, chances are that you are beyond mere gossip. To understand the life and times, mind and turmoil of your favourite singer, get to understand his art and approach to the art, is more important.
November 28, 2024
Some nuggets amidst the sludge
Someone kindly gave me this book on holiday after finishing it. I'd read an earlier PS biography by Spencer Leigh a long time ago and was interested to see if there was anything new to be learnt about his life. This book has a good account of Simon's early years in England, but seems to lose focus afterwards. The description of his records is based almost exclusively on their highest chart positions, and the discussion of the songs is uneven - anyone who can describe the ridiculously exhuberant and optimistic "Gone At Last" as establishing a "dismal attitude of a man down on his luck", linked to "dark thoughts", and being "reflective" must have been thinking about a different song. And finally, the writing suffers from the usual deficiencies of hack work; to take an example at random, I barely got through this cliche-riddled description of September 11 on the very first page, and kept turning back to it in disbelief:
"This devastating assault, which left thousands of people dead, was the most audacious terrorist atrocity ever perpetrated. The whole scenario seemed completely unreal. And yet, the watching world was gripped with the paralyzing fear that the entire West could be under systematic attack. Particularly so when the American administraton named the number one suspects for the outrage as the Islamic militant leader Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network. Clearly, the repurcussions were going to be very far-reaching."
Clearly.
Originally reviewed 20 October 2006
Someone kindly gave me this book on holiday after finishing it. I'd read an earlier PS biography by Spencer Leigh a long time ago and was interested to see if there was anything new to be learnt about his life. This book has a good account of Simon's early years in England, but seems to lose focus afterwards. The description of his records is based almost exclusively on their highest chart positions, and the discussion of the songs is uneven - anyone who can describe the ridiculously exhuberant and optimistic "Gone At Last" as establishing a "dismal attitude of a man down on his luck", linked to "dark thoughts", and being "reflective" must have been thinking about a different song. And finally, the writing suffers from the usual deficiencies of hack work; to take an example at random, I barely got through this cliche-riddled description of September 11 on the very first page, and kept turning back to it in disbelief:
"This devastating assault, which left thousands of people dead, was the most audacious terrorist atrocity ever perpetrated. The whole scenario seemed completely unreal. And yet, the watching world was gripped with the paralyzing fear that the entire West could be under systematic attack. Particularly so when the American administraton named the number one suspects for the outrage as the Islamic militant leader Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network. Clearly, the repurcussions were going to be very far-reaching."
Clearly.
Originally reviewed 20 October 2006
April 2, 2021
I plowed through this book because I've been interested in Paul Simon's music since the mid-1960's. The prose was turgid and filled with quotes from other people.
June 25, 2013
If you know anything about this musical genius, it shouldn't surprise you, in some ways, that this book is so lackluster. Yet the disappointment is saddening. Mr. Simon is a very private sort of artist, an extreme introvert if you ask me. If you're unfamiliar, watch his recent appearance on SNL in Keenan Thompson's "Whats Up With That?" skit to get a pretty good idea of his personality: soft-spoken, shy, and noticeably awkward. It's no wonder Laura Jackson had a hell of a time writing this book; Simon has "built walls, a fortress deep and mighty."
Fans going in probably know this, which is why a "definitive" biography sounds grand. But it quickly becomes clear that Jackson hasn't done enough homework. Maybe there simply wasn't any to do. She was obviously not able to contact Simon for a direct interview, so she merely pieced together bits of information from other biographies and interviews. The result is a cobbled together, jagged story with questionable material. Large and unbalanced sections of the book deal with Garfunkel, a story that has been rehashed in other works ad nauseum. What was lacking were the missing curiosities from previous biographies: we want to know more about Fisher and Brickell, the inspirations, the private reflections, the evolving world view. Without these, it was simply a repeat of information we already knew from others' works.
There's nothing new here. There's nothing insightful. If you're a fan of Simon, you can get the same information from his Wikipedia page. It's not necessarily Jackson's fault, because Simon is who he is, and there's not much to work with in terms of raw information. But it's not worth retelling unless some people are just trying to turn a buck.
Fans going in probably know this, which is why a "definitive" biography sounds grand. But it quickly becomes clear that Jackson hasn't done enough homework. Maybe there simply wasn't any to do. She was obviously not able to contact Simon for a direct interview, so she merely pieced together bits of information from other biographies and interviews. The result is a cobbled together, jagged story with questionable material. Large and unbalanced sections of the book deal with Garfunkel, a story that has been rehashed in other works ad nauseum. What was lacking were the missing curiosities from previous biographies: we want to know more about Fisher and Brickell, the inspirations, the private reflections, the evolving world view. Without these, it was simply a repeat of information we already knew from others' works.
There's nothing new here. There's nothing insightful. If you're a fan of Simon, you can get the same information from his Wikipedia page. It's not necessarily Jackson's fault, because Simon is who he is, and there's not much to work with in terms of raw information. But it's not worth retelling unless some people are just trying to turn a buck.
November 11, 2008
I checked this one out from the library specifically for the chapter on Graceland, to help me with a paper I was writing.
I ended up reading the whole thing, but not because it was so well written. It is somewhat scattered in its approach, zooming in on random details and then brushing lightly over others that I might have preferred to delve more into.
It's been a long time since I've read a Paul Simon biography, so I can't readily recommend another one over this, but I think there must be better out there.
The fact is that I find Paul Simon fascinating, and I will never grow tired of reading about him, no matter how poorly the writing may be.
I ended up reading the whole thing, but not because it was so well written. It is somewhat scattered in its approach, zooming in on random details and then brushing lightly over others that I might have preferred to delve more into.
It's been a long time since I've read a Paul Simon biography, so I can't readily recommend another one over this, but I think there must be better out there.
The fact is that I find Paul Simon fascinating, and I will never grow tired of reading about him, no matter how poorly the writing may be.
February 18, 2015
Some interesting information, but patchy writing with a cliched style that sometimes had me losing interest.
From a random paragraph, "The Democratic Party Convention ... was another powder keg. Brutal police tactics were plastered all over the nation's television screens ... ."
Such cliched words and images had me skimming through, rather than reading, the text.
However, Simon is undoubtedly an important cultural figure and I enjoyed learning more about the events in his career and his life. I just think that I will have to look for a more insightful evaluation of his overall contribution to music.
From a random paragraph, "The Democratic Party Convention ... was another powder keg. Brutal police tactics were plastered all over the nation's television screens ... ."
Such cliched words and images had me skimming through, rather than reading, the text.
However, Simon is undoubtedly an important cultural figure and I enjoyed learning more about the events in his career and his life. I just think that I will have to look for a more insightful evaluation of his overall contribution to music.
August 11, 2011
Any one who loves Paul Simon as much as I do should most definitely pick up this book.
November 14, 2012
Paul Simon's music just so resonates with me that I had to read all about him. He is one very talented individual. The book did not disappoint.
August 12, 2015
I love Paul but did not love this book at all. the writing style was all over the place and subpar. I only finished reading it because it was a gift.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews