• About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support
    • Feedback
  • Log In
  • Read
    • Books
  • Travel
    • Tours
    • Hotels
    • Videos
  • Connect
    • About
    • Submissions
    • Contact

    Sign in


    • Read
      • Books
    • Travel
      • Tours
      • Hotels
      • Videos
    • Connect
      • About
      • Submissions
      • Contact
    Sign in

    Tag: James Taylor

    james taylor fire and rain album cover

    Why I Love Biographies, Even If They’re Not Great: ‘Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Story’

    You are unauthorized to view this page. Username Password Remember Me     Forgot Password

    Katy March 31, 2015
    0 Comments

    Featured Posts

    • 1
      Bright Blossom of the Pacific
      • January 28, 2023
    • Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash 2
      Literary Traveler’s 2022 Holiday Gift Guide
      • November 28, 2022
    • Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s tallest peak, under overcast skies. Photo by: Heidi Lachapelle, circa August 23, 2021 3
      Katahdin: “The Great Mountain” and Six Witty Wanderers
      • November 14, 2022
    • 4
      Chasing the Northern Lights: Driving Iceland’s Ring Road (with Gísli the Outlaw)
      • October 25, 2022
    • 5
      I have seen Sakhalin
      • October 19, 2022

    Categories

    • Articles (473)
    • Author (10)
    • Books (125)
    • Cruises (4)
    • Gear (29)
    • Hotels (30)
    • Interviews (5)
    • Movies (14)
    • My Personal Legend (4)
    • Newsletter (1)
    • Recent Articles (6)
    • Reviews (7)
    • Theater (4)
    • Tours (54)
    • Travel (82)
    • TV (3)
    • Uncategorized (54)

    Author

    Francis

    Newsletter Signup

    Sign up to receive emails about upcoming events, site updates, and other news!

    Select list(s) to subscribe to


    By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Literary Traveler, PO Box 1254, West Concord, MA, 01742-2968, http://www.literarytraveler.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

    Our Story….

    At Literary Traveler we help readers explore their literary imagination. Since 1998, Literary Traveler has provided informative and inspiring travel writing featuring writers and the places that they have traveled. We also have featured a wide variety of literary tours, and literary events to help readers find exciting and interesting places to visit. We have offered unique tours with organizations like Classical Pursuits the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In the past we have promoted and participated in literary tours and cruises on The Delta Queen and The Queen Mary 2. Please check out our travel videos and travel blogs. 

    If you are interesting in writing for Literary Traveler please see our travel writing guidelines. If you are interested in advertising or listing your tours, please contact us at 1-855-LIT-TRVL, 1-855-548- 8785 or use our contact form to request our updated Media Kit. We also consult with various destination marketing organizations, tour companies and hotels and resorts.

    We use and recommend Boston Corporate Photographer Brian Smith for our still photos and video needs. We also highly recommend Travel Writer Steve Jermanock's Active Travels as a top Boston Travel Agency for planning your next adventures.

    © 2023 - Literary Traveler

    Forum Description

    james taylor fire and rain album coverBy Antoinette Weil.  Fire and Rain is one of the most memorable and well known James Taylor songs, and is also the title of Ian Halpernin's biography about the iconic and at times troubled musician. The wonderful thing about biographies is that every person's life is interesting in some way or another. You could read a bio of your local grocery store cashier or financial advisor and find some intriguing facts and probably an engaging story line. I love nonfiction because I love learning; I love reading about people and their passions, places and their topography, time periods and history—anything really. It was this (and a scant bookshelf) that prompted my choosing to read Halperin's portrait of James Taylor, not any preexisting fandom. Taylor's career started long before I was born and I only knew a few of his hit songs going in. As far as the subject material goes, the book does not disappoint. There are stays in mental institutions, recurring battles with drug addiction and depression, career highs and lows, and accounts of affairs and relationships with other celebrities, including a tryst with Joni Mitchell and Taylor's rocky marriage to pop star Carly Simon. Reading Taylor's life story takes you on a roller coaster with several ups and downs per chapter, the highs ever higher and the lows very low. I came to this book without preconceived notions or prior opinions of Taylor, having only heard the soft smooth vocals and acoustic strumming that are so quintessentially him. The juxtaposition of this easy listening folk style and soft crooner's voice against Halperin's picture of young James Taylor as a playboy and a junkie living off of Heroin is quite astounding. This is not to say that Halperin condemns Taylor in the book. He does not. He actually seems quite sympathetic, providing casual explanation for Taylor's reverting back to drugs periodically (he was lonely after a week of touring and went back to Heroin, he knew if he wanted to be an artist he had to live the life of a struggling artist, he was distraught about his career, and so on). Eventually, as we see in the book, Taylor makes peace with his inner demons and matures—both in sound and personality—becoming the activist and hall of fame artist he is known as today. The thing about Fire and Rain is that it lacks the excitement and anticipation that should propel a reader on. It just isn't an enjoyable read. Because it's an unauthorized biography and Taylor himself wasn't a collaborator, Halperin relied on other sources: Interviews with music executives and critics, former band mates, passersby who saw Taylor on Martha's Vineyard every summer, James Taylor fans. Many of the interview quotes presented are not from the author's own interviews with subjects, but rather are taken from older books, magazine and newspaper articles, and television segments. Much of the book is essentially hearsay. The quotes themselves are numerous, lengthy, and seem to be summarized. The same words are used over and over, the same phrasing appears from subject to subject, and each quote sounds a far cry from what an actual person would say. The book is a timeline account of James Taylor's life as told by anecdotes, some facts, and quotes. In its most basic form, this is what a biography consists of. But one does hope for a little something more: A neater writing style, perhaps, some sense of intrigue, some revelation by the artist. Unfortunately, this book feels more like points plotted on a graph. To Halperin's credit, the book is extremely well researched, an affirmation of his background as an investigative journalist. And it must be said that writing without a subject's permission or assistance must be far more difficult. Still, the book fell a bit flat for me. Interestingly though, Halperin has written several other biographic nonfiction books that, while more controversial, also received far better reviews than Fire and Rain including Who Killed Kurt Cobain? The Mysterious Death of an Icon (co-written with Max Wallace) and Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, which became a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Bottom line: If you're looking for cold hard facts or prose that will move you, look elsewhere. If you've been to every concert and read every article already, don't bother. Fire and Rain is not for die-hard James Taylor fans. But, if you simply enjoy his music and want to know more about the artist, checking out this book couldn't hurt.

    Report

    There was a problem reporting this post.

    Harassment or bullying behavior
    Contains mature or sensitive content
    Contains misleading or false information
    Contains abusive or derogatory content
    Contains spam, fake content or potential malware

    Block Member?

    Please confirm you want to block this member.

    You will no longer be able to:

    • See blocked member's posts
    • Mention this member in posts
    • Invite this member to groups
    • Message this member
    • Add this member as a connection

    Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

    Report

    You have already reported this .