I’ve been a fan of Paul Simon (with and without Garfunkel) for a long long time. He’s a great songwriter and artist. That said, I did learn a few things from this book. But with THAT said, I wish I had learned a lot more. This book is a quick and easy read, and its worth reading for what it is. However, it’s quick because it’s short and sometimes light on substance. I learned some new facts and information, but throughout the book I kept wishing that the author would dig deeper and provide more.
Some events were almost glossed over and the later part of Paul’s career was short-changed. There was, however, an interesting chapter about Paul’s failed play “The Capeman” and more info about the early Tom and Jerry days, but a number of the chapters were light on details. A song list and a few opinions is not the same as a thorough biography. The author repeatedly mentions the drama between Paul and Art Garfunkel over the years but I kept thinking there was a lot more to their ups and downs that I still didn’t know about.
One reviewer online likened this book to a long wikipedia article and that’s not really right but it’s not completely wrong either in terms of substance. The author gets off-track sometimes too, devoting a lot of space to Paul’s supposed rivalry with Bob Dylan. I was hoping for more about Paul’s life and music, and more depth. But I did obtain the book used (and inexpensive) and I’m glad I read it. Paul is a major talent and deserves to have his story told. This book tells some of it.
Other Paul Simon books and music
Interesting; I’m also a big Paul Simon fan. I read a similarly titled book, (Paul Simon, The Life) a couple years ago (published in 2018), by Robert Hilburn (former music critic for the LA Times. You might check that one out.
I saw comments online that that one was a better book. Will watch for it.