Paul Simon: The Life

This was purchased as a gift for my wife who's a big Paul Simon fan. She has enjoyed the reading the book and found a lot of the inside stories from the man himself pretty captivating.

When I was in high school in the 1970s my best friend and I learned top play guitar and tried very hard to sound like Simon and Garfunkel. I've been listening to his music for fifty years, and to read this book was to have that soundtrack playing in my head from beginning to end. There were lots of things I already knew, but also much new information for me. I particularly enjoyed the insights into Paul's songwriting methods. I highly recommend this book.

Immersive autobiography of a man whose public face is to all purposes the face of America in the second half of the 20th century. Despite protection of his private life the book manages to capture the essences of his personality, talent and musical charisma perfectly. I defy anyone to read this without evoking the persistent reflection of....now where was I when I first heard that? Riveting, entertaining and insightful. I heartily commend it.

Este biografia de Paul Simon cubre todas las fases de su vida, y con bastante integridad. Como es bastante habitual con cantantes de su edad sus primeros años son los mas interesantes, y igualmente son las canciones de 1965 hasta 1985 que me gusta mas. Igualmente son los últimos 30 años que atraen menos, y el autor Robert Hilburn se dedica mas a dar detalles del "activismo social" de Simon que me interesa poco. Sin embargo es un libro bien escrito,y me imagino muy apreciado por sus "fans". Incluye una interesante collecion de fotos también.

Mit Biographien ist es immer so eine Sache. Oft ist der Mensch, über den geschrieben wird, den Aufwand nicht wert oder das Berichtete nur für eine Minderheit von Interesse. Aber hier ist es Robert Hilburn gelungen, in die Schöpfungsprozesse eines exzeptionellen Musikers und Songwriters einzudringen. Wen das interessiert, der findet hier einen "pot of gold".