Sheila WellerReviews

This is a really great book that is packed with information about Carrie Fisher and the audiobook is quite pleasant to listen to so much that I listen to it twice and now I know everything that there is to know about Carrie Fisher.

I picked this up because (a) it was mentioned favorably on a blog I sometimes enjoy, and (b) as a teen, I was a huge, huge fan of Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell. (I liked Carole King well enough, but she was no Joni.) I'm having a hard time pushing through this book. The prose is too floral, for lack of better word. And the author's attempts to link every moment of these women's lives to cultural and historical touchstones is becoming tedious. It's worse than Forrest Gump. For instance, watching news coverage of the Kennedy assassination, "little did young Carly Simon know that decades later, she would form a deep and playful friendship with Jackie Kennedy." In chronicling Joni Mitchell's reaction to the Kennedy assassination, no one seems to know exactly where she was - or where she stood on Canadian-US relations at the time. Yet the author still feels the need to spend a page on the Kennedy assassination in Mitchell's life!

I get that the author is trying to make a point about women of a certain generation, but I'm not feeling it. These three don't seem to have much in common, other than careers in pop music (duh!) and James Taylor. This book probably would have been better as three long-form magazine articles, without the heavy-handed, clumsily wielded spokeswoman-for-a-generation theme.

'Girls Like Us' is a monumental undertaking that ultimately collapses under its own weight. Author Sheila Weller’s attempt to write three simultaneous biographies of young female singer-songwriters whose works upset the male-dominated apple cart of pop music is an ambitious look at too many topics, with too many characters, and not enough editorial oversight.

Weller has chosen as her subjects three significant female voices that emerged from the saccharine pop music scene of the late 1950s, tapping the deep roots of American folk music and thriving in the upturned soil of second-wave feminism. Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon were all babies of the early mid-1940s, all children of the Gray Flannel 50s, and all began to find their own voices and their own identities in the turbulent 60s. Each came into her own via a different path – King married early and cranked out pop hits from the time she herself was still a teen; Mitchell fled the stultifying life of Canadian small towns and poured out a series of autobiographical lyrics that eventually caught the current of the times; Simon grew up in a moneyed family whose social set included the Manhattan literati. All ultimately wound up creating music that served as a soundtrack to the lives of millions of Baby Boomers struggling through the Vietnam War era in a world that was profoundly different than that of their parents.

There are enough significant commonalities in the career paths of these women and in the struggles they faced to make a certain sense of attempting this tripartite biography, and enough differences to make it necessary to follow each one as a separate, intertwining path.

And that’s where the trouble starts. Weller wants to use a microscope on her subjects instead of a wide-angle lens. Her prose is breezy and gossipy, often degenerating into little more than a who’s who list of the 60s and 70s music scene from Greenwich Village to the Haight-Ashbury and Laurel Canyon, with few stops in between. She can’t resist dropping every name on the list, often piling them into a single paragraph or sentence like toppings on a pizza. Here’s a brief example, a partial sentence from a paragraph describing the attendees at a glossy Greenwich Village party, including: “…Jerry Schatzberg's rapier-cheekboned hipster actress girlfriend, in months to be shot-out-of-a-cannon famous in 'Bonnie and Clyde': Faye Dunaway." Neither Schatzberg nor Dunaway have anything to do with the careers of the main characters, nor do they ever make another appearance in the book. The full sentence is just a 101-word conglomerate cramming in 30 unnecessary adjectives and eight semi-recognizable names, apparently to prove how in-the-know and hip the writer is. After a few hundred pages of this breathless, over-adjectivized prose, often recounting little more of substance than who was sleeping with whom, the whole thing becomes overwhelming.

There’s definitely a story line in here, but it’s buried so deeply under the trivial that it asks the reader to do the excavation job that should have fallen to the author. Like virtually every young woman coming of age at the time, King, Mitchell, and Simon were all asked to re-evaluate the traditional male-female roles they had grown up with. As artists, they had to fight battles for self-determination in an industry that was utterly controlled and directed by men. Mitchell was savvy enough and determined enough to retain all the rights to her own work, from the very beginning – an unheard-of demand from a wispy little girl singer from the Canadian sticks that no one had ever heard of. All three had relationships destroyed when the men they had chosen to love were unable to cope with being the lesser-known, lesser-successful half of the partnership. Each of the three women enthusiastically embraced the sexual freedom rising from a combination of factors – the empowering message of feminism, the introduction of the birth control pill, and the rising social acceptance of non-marital relationships. Their combined list of lovers could sustain a book all its own, and there are enough names that would appear on all three lists as to make diagrams and timelines helpful, if not downright necessary.

Weller also chooses to follow her subjects into the 21st century, where all struggle to cope with changing musical tastes, the fallout from failed relationships, and the inevitable reality of physical aging. It’s a sad and largely depressing end to the book, which was published in 2008.

At its best, 'Girls Like Us' will send Baby Boomer readers digging through their music collections to revisit old favorites. At its worst, it will simply bore them. And that is something its subjects, for all their professional ups and downs, never did.

A difficult read but an important one.

An interesting look at the lives and times of these three women. Sometimes in the parts where shes setting the scene changes or explaining about the people around them, things get a little drawn out and meandering. Overall very enjoyable though.

Entertaining but VERY long. TMI.
Interesting, though..So promiscuous. Fun to read about James Taylor.
Got to know these women and that era a whole lot better.

A look at an era. Ladies finally come into their own as singer/songwriters. Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Carly Simon all had tough journeys to become the icons there are. This is a long book, but it's key strength lies in tying together the paths they each took, the battles they had to win, the successes and failures involved in making a place for themselves in the music world. Their stories are well told. I highly recommend this book.

I am only one chapter in, and I'm putting it on hold until I can get more of the early recordings. I think I'm a generation younger than the intended audience because I'm not getting a lot of the cultural references.

Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge by Sheila Weller is a highly recommended biography of the well-known actor, best-selling author, and advocate for mental health awareness.

As the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Carrie Fisher began her life in the public eye and her fame followed her through her entire life. Many people immediately associate Fisher with her iconic role as Princess Leia in Star Wars, while others immediately think of her many books. She honestly covered many of her life events and struggles in her books. It is well known that she struggled with drug addiction and bipolar disorder, but it is also known that she openly and honestly shared her struggles. She had well-known parents, romantic partners, and friends, as well as a sometimes exuberant, sometimes troubled, complicated life.

While many people will know a lot of the information, what Weller does is bring all the facts and faucets of Fisher's life together in one biography and captures all the aspects of Fisher as a special individual. She was a devoted friend, generous, witty, brilliant, out-spoken, and unique. She worked as an actor, a novelist, a memoirist, a script doctor, and an advocate for mental health awareness. Included are many interviews with Fisher's friends, lovers, associates, and family members covering her entire life. Her well-known battles with addiction and mental illness are covered. The book includes many quotes and stories. Weller has an extensive section of chapter notes in the back so all the information she shares is well documented through other sources.

This is a well-written combination of exhaustive facts, information, and quotes alongside a lot of name dropping. While I admittedly became a bit weary of the name dropping, all of these people were a part of Fisher's life and are as much a part of her life story as she is of theirs. This is an unauthorized biography, but it is also not a hack-piece. Weller has done her research, has notes included about everything, and presented Fisher as a beloved woman with her own personal struggles. Fans of Fisher, either Star Wars or her writing, will appreciate this comprehensive biography.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/11/carrie-fisher.html½

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews " Carrie Fisher A Life On the Edge" by Sheila Weller. November 2019

WOW! Kudos to Sheila Weller, author of "Carrie Fisher" A Life On the Edge" for writing such a poignant, memorable, compassionate, and intriguing Biography of the life of Carie Fisher. The Genre for this book is a Biography, and Sheila Weller has interviewed many friends, acquaintances and has done extensive research into Carrie Fisher's life.

Sheila Weller shows us Carrie Fisher as "Hollywood Royalty", daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. The author does discuss that Eddie Fisher most probably had a Bi-Polar disorder and had an addictive personality, which Carrie did inherit. Eddie Fisher did leave his wife, a young Carrie and her younger brother for a well-known actress.

The author shows us Carrie's life from a little girl to her tragic death in 2016. Carrie had an unbelievable amount of friends, and Carrie herself was a loyal and generous friend. I was enthralled by Carrie's life as a singer, actress, friend, daughter, writer, mother, and spokesperson. Carrie is also shown to be a feminist in many ways. Carrie was quick-witted and intelligent. She would question why older women in the entertainment industry would have certain expectations about their looks of youth, and men would not have that problem. Carrie would question many things.

I loved that Sheila Weller shows tremendous sympathy and compassion for Carrie Fisher's mental illness and addiction. The author does show us that Carrie was aware that she needed help and struggled. Perhaps if there wasn't a stigma of mental illness, when Carrie was much younger she could have gotten timely help. I would highly recommend this thought-provoking and amazing biography.

Alrhough I was not old enough to live thru the Hippie era, the music of the times was the soundtrack of my childhood. These were the songs of summers at the cottage, bonfires at camp, and afternoons after-school. This book tells the stories of Carole King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell. The first 2 ladies are singer songwriters I adore, Joni, well, not so much. I could never stand her voice, preferred it when others recorded her songs. I never gave her credit for being such a brilliant songwriter, she truly writes poetry, words that stand alone without the music!

I have alsways loved the hits of Carole and Carly, and the stories behind the tunes are juicy gossip! Their lives meshed and co-mingled, rarely with happy results! The personal details are fun, Carly, such a slut, Carole, growing up thru her music, and Joni, well, Joni always seemed mean, cold and petulant to me, and this book did nothing to disavow me of these impressions! They shared men, few of whom are anywhere near as talented or interesting as the ladies!

This is a big book, and a rather slow read, but if you grew up with these ladies on your portable record player, you will really love this book! Get your ipod loaded up with these nostalgic songs and enjoy!

I liked this very much. Won't change my listening habits much but I thought Weller did a good job with the social/political context of the songs and careers. I was especially interested in her observations on marriage and motherhood. Great bibliography - I love when authors include fiction in their researcj. Clearly, I need to read some Alice Adams.

Ay-yi-yi though, those ladies slept around. I was exhausted just reading about it. I mean, is there enough time in any given day?

nteresting bios

I was taken back by the complexity of their lives (although I shouldn't have been) and especially enjoyed learning what motivated a particular song.

Two stars for subject.

The book is about Joni Mitchell, Carole King, & Carly Simon.....their music, lives, & loves (some handed down & around).

I did not like the book: It began with a supposed diary entry of Carole's best young time friend about the day Carole chose her new last name King (it was Klein)....then in midstream I was reading about a young pregnant Joanie Anderson (now Mitchell)...and then I was reading about a stage frightened Carly Simon.

The book kept shifting between the three women and was not written in a contiguous chronological order. I sure couldn't follow it.

Also the author inserted suppositions....and I could not figure out how she could possibly know if she wasn't there.....

I was very disappointed....At least the photos made some sense to me of what what was going on in their lives...and those I could follow.

entertaining.

Like really great historical fiction, this biography did a wonderful job bringing to life not only individuals but also a larger setting. I found Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, and Christiane Amanpour's histories and inspirations fascinating. They're all incredibly interesting women with many unique life experiences. Although I probably would have described this as narrative nonfiction, the author explicitly states that she thinks of this not as narrative nonfiction, but as journalistic nonfiction, told largely through quotes from primary sources. I'm not sure those two genres are mutually exclusive, but I did notice and appreciate all of the direct quotes the author used. Most flowed smoothly with the narrative bits she'd written. Together, they presented what seemed to be an unbiased and well-rounded view of each woman. Despite obvious similarities, particularly their success in a male-dominated profession, the author also clearly highlighted their individual personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.

The author also occasionally digressed from their individual stories to discuss other female journalists and the overall status of women in this profession. I wasn't sure I liked this at first, in part because I have a strong preference for chronological storytelling in the absence of clearly labeled time jumps. At the end of the book though, this turned out to be one of my favorite parts. It put the stories of these individual women into a greater context. It also brought the time period and experience of being a woman in news reporting into focus.

Another part of the book I wasn't sure about was the focus on the clothes each woman wore and the romantic relationships she was involved in. The obvious question was whether or not the author would include such details if we were reading about men. I think the answer is no. However, I ended up feeling as though this wasn't sexism on the author's part, but a deliberate choice to include information about facets of these women's lives that influenced how the public perceived them. The author's tone was always neutral, without judgement of her own. She factually conveyed the way the public judged these women without inserting her opinion. In fact, this initial concern ended up feeling like one of the book's strengths as well. The author captured a lot of detail about each woman's life and discussed every issue, from possible sexism to any controversy surrounding each woman, in a very even-handed way.

After reading this, I would definitely look for more books labeled as journalistic nonfiction. This depends a bit on the topic, but I almost always prefer an author who can approach their subject in a neutral way. Direct quotes are also something I enjoy seeing. It's fun to get a first-hand perspective on a story and also can help keep the story free of the author's biases. The section labels helped me keep track of who was who, as did the author's ability to bring these women to life through incredibly detailed descriptions. I think she did these women proud.

 This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.

If you have been following the news lately, you have no doubt heard about the suspension of NBC News' Brian Williams. If you are fascinated by this saga, you may wish to pick up a copy of Sheila Weller's book, The News Sorority- Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News.

Weller takes us on a tour of the interesting lives of these three successful women. Diane Sawyer was the daughter of a successful judge and a "1950's version of a Tiger Mom" in Kentucky. She idealized her father and his death when she was a young woman devastated her.

Sawyer wanted a job in news, and with her steely reserve and driving ambition, she started at the bottom and worked harder than everyone else to work her way up the ladder from reporter to the press office for President Nixon to morning anchor at the CBS morning show to her latest home at ABC, where she became the face of ABC News, anchoring at various times Primetime, Good Morning America and finally ABC World News Tonight before recently retiring.

Katie Couric was raised in an upper middle class family in Virginia, and she was the youngest of three daughters, all of whom were intelligent and successful. Couric was a cheerleader in high school, and she used everything in her arsenal from her smiling, chipper personality to tenacity and strong work ethic to move up the ladder from reporter at a Miami TV station to a mostly forgettable CNN reporter stint to Pentagon correspondent at NBC News to her breakout at The Today Show, and her short-lived stint as anchor of The CBS Evening News.

Less is known about Christiane Amanpour, who has been at CNN for many years. Her wealthy Iranian family fled their homeland when the Shah of Iran was overthrown and Amanpour was sent to a boarding school in England. Amanpour was star-struck and kept scrapbooks of Hollywood stars. She loved fashion and didn't seem to be the serious minded woman we know her as today.

The book takes us through the well-known aspects of these women's lives- Sawyer working with President Nixon on his memoirs after his resignation, her marriage to Mike Nichols, Couric's famous "ambush" interview with President George H.W. Bush and the terrible loss of her young husband and sister to cancer, Amanpour's war reporting and on-air confrontation of President Clinton over his policy in Bosnia.

Less is known about Amanpour, and perhaps that is why her story seemed more interesting. Her reporting from war zones, as in Bosnia, are harrowing and heart-pounding. Weller spoke with reporters and producers and tech people who accompanied Amanpour and these sections of the book are the most compelling.

Amanpour's zeal to bring an important, horrific story about the genocide in Bosnia drives her to nearly single-handedly bring this story to the attention of the American people and politicians and demand action.

We get a lot of behind-the-scenes information, with the story of the early days of CNN being most intriguing (they had no bathroom in their building and had to use a nearby motel and gas station). The egos involved in the news business (Peter Jennings and Charles Gibson do not fare well here), the jockeying for position, and the politics of it all are enlightening.

The one thing that bothered me was the "unnamed sources" who were willing to say not-so-flattering things about the women without putting their name to it. The highschool gossip-y feel of that detracted from the book for me. I found the things said by people willing to put their name to it more credible.

What shines through is that these successful women all had faced adversity and loss, and were driven to succeed in their field. They felt a calling to bring important information- Saywer's reports on childhood poverty, Couric's drive to inform people about colon cancer, and Amanpour's reports on war and religion- to the American people.

Fans of TV news will appreciate this book most, and I would love to read a book about the early pioneers of women in TV news, women most of us have never heard of who paved the way for today's well known successful women.

A special thank you to First to Read Penguin Group, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sheila Weller is a bestselling author and award-winning magazine journalist specializing in women’s lives, social issues, cultural history, and feminist investigative. Her seventh book, The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, a well-researched and written book about three extraordinary women.

Weller portrays three revolutionary women: ABC's Diane Sawyer, the first female correspondent for 60 Minutes; Katie Couric, who conquered the world as Today cohost; and CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a male-dominated realm of network news.

All three of these women are legends, today's professional heroines; modeling a reality of success that was different from past models. The more powerful they became, the more interested in people they became. They are compassionate, in the stories they have told, and in their lives.

As Weller takes as inside look at these prominent women who remained profoundly committed to telling the stories of ordinary Americans, unfairly besieged victims, people in cataclysms and crises, fascinating celebrities both worthy and spoiled, world leaders both benign and heinous.

These leaders passionately kept up their commitments to their families, friends, and needy strangers through both improvised and formal philanthropies. They remembered what they had pushed past—grief, danger, and tragedy, and the more they saw and reported, the more they folded the new experiences into those primary lessons.

“Intensely competitive, whatever their idiosyncrasies, whatever their egos, whatever their aggressiveness and ambition, they retained an experienced kernel of humbling reality and it controlled their choices and the consciences. From world news, 9/11, Columbine, earthquakes, corruptions, cancer, to poverty, we got the news from them. And we also got from them what is underneath the news, what is underneath all news: We got humanity."

Weller writes in a journalistic style, versus narrative nonfiction, which I found appealing, written in a balanced style with the vast amount of research and interviews, with humor. Even though she did not interview these three women directly, through interviews of many, she was able to attain insights and memories, while maintaining control over her writing.

A book of three heroines, who came of age in the 1960s and '70s—to demonstrate to readers, how they worked and how they made it to prime time. In a difficult time and a hard business these women put themselves out there where millions expected perfection, against the odds.

I enjoyed reading about a highly competitive world, each woman with their own unique strengths. Their focused ambition, and high quality of work as they strive to be better in a man’s world.

Very well written and researched, and an interesting reporting style. The format was very well organized with the range of years (which was quite interesting), as in this age bracket focusing on each woman with extensive research and references. Inspiring News buffs will love it!

At almost 600 pages, there's no point in picking this book up without an interest in the subject. That was not a problem for me, since the subjects are 3 singers whose work provided an important sound track to my youth: Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Tapestry, No Secrets, and Ladies of the Canyon (and Blue) all came out when I was in college, and Joni especially got played over and over. These artists also had men falling all over them (some famous), and there's plenty of gossip.

i used to read a lot of true crime. now it makes me queasy. the best lesson from this one is the moment your guy is abusive you are out of there forever. this is safer. he will be surprised and you may be safe.½

I haven't even finished this book. Unless you are just Totally engrossed in the era of Joni Mitchel Carole Kind and Carly Simon (Whom I was reading it for) It is just a total bore. Sorry every one.

first half of book was fascinating look at era & performers. Unfortunately, the last part of the book became a recitation of the performers' personal lives, which was a lot less interesting to me than to the author.

Story of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon--all artists that I love. Think I just wasn't in the right head-space for this at this time, but will try again for sure.

When I listened to these women's music in my teenage years, I had no idea how much they were enacting on my behalf all the changes in society and women's roles that were taking place in such a volcanic way. The world in which Carole King and Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon were born and raised was so different from the one they and I live in today - and those changes are due in great part to the way in which they forged and shaped a new world for women, albeit filled with old-fashioned longings and ambivalences and uncertainties, all of which come through in their music, things I used to think of as corny but which I now see were so true to who they were as women. Yes, this is a gossipy book, but why not? Women have always known that the truth about the world rests in gossip - how do people treat one another? what are their secrets? how do they get what they want? what are people like when others are not watching? This is the stuff of life, of music and of this book. I love it.½

Absorbing look at the lives of three seminal women in rock music history. Joni Mitchell's life seems most compelling and Carole King's the least but all offer a different slant on strong women in the music scene of the 1960s. Well-written social commentary.