by Carly Simon
First published 2015
Carly Simon opens her life story as the third daughter of Richard L. Simon, co-founder of Simon & Schuster publishing house. Her childhood combined musical privilege with family secrets that would later fracture her world. She traces her journey from performing folk songs with sister Lucy as The Simon Sisters in Greenwich Village to launching a solo career that produced thirteen top 40 hits. Simon describes the creative moments behind classics like "Anticipation" and "We Have No Secrets," revealing how romantic relationships with famous men shaped her confessional songwriting style. The memoir details her historic triple crown achievement as the first artist to win Grammy, Academy, and Golden Globe awards for "Let the River Run" from Working Girl. Simon examines her high-profile marriage to James Taylor and its eventual collapse, connecting her personal struggles to the raw honesty that defined songs like the number one hit "You're So Vain." Through it all, she captures the tension between public success and private pain that fueled her most memorable music.
Genres: autobiography, biography-memoir, music
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical
Tropes: confessional-storytelling, personal-struggles
Setting: Greenwich Village
Period: 20th-Century
384 pages · Hardcover · Flatiron Books