Boys in the Trees: A Memoir

Once upon a time, when there used to be a ballpark here, there lived a lanky lefty with incredible stuff. This southpaw, who bled Brooklyn Dodger Blue down to the tiniest capillary, had a blazing heater and a curve that made San Francisco’s Lombard Street look like a straightaway. One hot 1955 summer day in mid-season, Dodger scouts enthusiastically boarded the subway and made the journey north, getting off at 242nd Street, the last stop, finally trudging up the hill in the scorching heat to the regal Georgian mansion on Grosvenor Avenue. Once there, they marveled as a young hurler destroyed a makeshift backstop from an improvised mound. The army of scouts rubbed their hands with glee, until they discovered that the 10-year-old “phenom” was a little girl. Disappointed, Dodger scouts took the subway back to Brooklyn to continue searching for the Holy Grail. Ultimately, they signed a southpaw out of Brooklyn’s Lafayette High School then better known as a basketball player. That’s how Sandy Koufax became a legendary pitcher, and Carly Simon, an immortal rock star.While the above tale is apocryphal, Carly Simon’s path to stardom, as detailed in her beautifully written and incredibly literate memoir, “Boys in the Trees,” didn’t exactly straighten those curves and flatten those hills. “Overnight sensations” typically spend years driving a truck for the Crown Electric Company, playing in seedy joints on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany, or performing to an automotive audience in a garage. Carly, despite (or because of) her privileged background, is no exception.Our story begins in 1948, when Carly, an adorably precocious 3-year-old, introduces herself to her new nanny, Helen Gaspard, by getting down on one knee, raising her arms in the air, and presenting Gaspard with an Al Jolson-style “Hi!”, and ends in 1983 with the breakup of her marriage to fellow superstar rocker James Taylor. (Gaspard would go on to pen the best-selling children’s classic “Dr. Dan, the Bandage Man” which starred a small boy named Dan, his little sister, Carly, and Spotty the Dog, possibly the weirdest-looking canine in the history of children’s literature.) But shortly after that auspicious and audacious entrée, Carly developed insecurities (which she nicknamed “The Beast”) that would plague her, on and off, her entire life.The causes of those anxieties are well known to Carly’s legion of fans: Carly’s father, Richard Leo Simon, the brilliant, urbane and vibrant co-founder of Simon & Schuster, developed serious health issues during the 1950’s, when Carly was a child, and additionally, watched helplessly as the company he built was stolen from under his nose by co-partners Max Schuster and Leon Shimkin. At the same time he was cuckolded by his wife, who was carrying on an affair with a hunky college student hired to ensure that Carly’s younger brother Peter wouldn’t become “gay.” A particularly poignant chapter in “Boys in the Trees,” entitled “The 29th Floor,” described when Carly, age 15, visited her father at the S & S headquarters, then located at 630 Fifth Avenue, and was directed to Simon’s office, not the baronial suite he had occupied on the 28th floor for many years, but to one much smaller the next floor up. (This may be literally how the expression “kicked upstairs” was derived.) Even more heartrending was when Carly and her father descended in the elevator at day’s end; the former associates who previously called him “boss” and trembled at this giant of a man’s approaching footsteps averted their eyes on the way down. This was probably the last time Carly visited her father at work; he died of a massive heart attack a month later. Carly, who was crazy about her father and had a sense of foreboding about his demise from when she was little, never got a chance to know him well, and to win his approval. Had Richard Simon lived 15 or 20 years longer, I suspect Carly would have written quite a different book.Richard Simon’s death affected Carly more than her two older sisters, who did have a chance to know their father when he was at the top of his game. Her schoolwork suffered, and according to Carly, did poorly on her SATs, something difficult to comprehend given Carly’s exceptionally rich vocabulary and mastery of the English language, which is evident on every page (as well as in her songwriting). Nevertheless, Carly got into prestigious Sarah Lawrence College, and spent 2 ½ years there as a Russian Lit major, before taking a leave of absence to live in the south of France with her fiancé, Nicholas Delbanco, a recent Harvard grad, and who now is a well-known professor of English at the University of Michigan, and the author of many books, at least four of which are, in whole or in part, about Carly. Like all the locals, Carly and Nick partook of the local Chateauneuf de Pape, a red wine famed for its robustness (and in those days, its inexpensiveness). It turned out, unfortunately, Carly was severely allergic to that particular grape (how she self-diagnosed it as an allergy is a story out of Modern Medical Mysteries), and had to return home. (She also had a budding career as a folksinger with her older sister Lucy as one of the Simon Sisters, which also conflicted with what could have been an idyllic life married to a college professor, in which case the world may never have heard of (or heard) her.)For the next five years, Carly held a variety of “college girl” jobs while trying to break into the music business. A few months of that time was spent in London with a charming huckster named Willie Donaldson, who arranged a bunch of gigs for the Simon Sisters in Britain, while also becoming her paramour (Willie was already married, to actress Sarah Miles). Donaldson is responsible for the phrase “Well done, Simon Sister.” One of my favorite parts of the book was Carly’s return home (with Lucy) on the USS United States (Carly doesn’t like flying; she took the Queen Mary out). The two sisters shared a cramped inside cabin onboard ship, but, as Providence would have it, Sean Connery was a fellow passenger, staying in the ship’s Presidential Suite, 007 decks above theirs. Carly mustered up the courage to send Connery a note saying that the two girls weren’t “ordinary” fans, and could they meet for a preprandial cocktail (shaken, not stirred)? No sooner than one could say, “The name’s Bond. James Bond,” Connery showed up. The three had what apparently was a platonic, but highly enjoyable, shipboard romance, until the last night of the voyage, when sly Lucy left the girls’ cabin for parts unknown, to return about 5:15 AM the next morning, which may be why there isn’t a tall, stunning Bond Girl named Lycra Moins holding her place in movie history alongside Honey Ryder, Holly Goodhead, and, uh, “Kitty” Galore.Another Simon suitor—the one who Carly disclosed is the subject of the second verse of “You’re So Vain”—doesn’t come off quite as well. Simon uses her Russian Lit background to compare him to a “Potemkin Village”—a hastily constructed, movable façade of apparently elegant buildings behind which there is nothing but steppe. This wicked comparison leads up to the funniest anecdote in the book: Carly discussed with her shrink her previous night’s visit from this “most handsome and charming and sweet and funny and politically correct (that latter isn’t necessarily a compliment, but this reviewer is that proverbial politically incorrect Big Dumb Guy) and extremely talented man,” only to learn from the therapist that she (Carly) wasn’t the first patient of the day who had been blessed by a visit from Mr. B. From Carly’s writing, one can deduce Bond trumps Bugsy.The last third of the book is devoted to ex-husband James Taylor, of whom one can say was (and is) the love of Carly’s life, although a certain Little Red Rooster, now an alter kocker, also gets several pages of passionate ink. The gradual downward spiral of their relationship is reflected in one of Carly’s saddest (and most touching) songs, “We’re So Close”: From having a secret language, to having a silent language, to not communicating. (This reviewer pays very careful attention to its words lest his own stable marriage slide down a similar path.) Eventually, by approximately 1980, their marriage was irreparable. However, Carly vowed not to act like her father under analogous circumstances, who simply resigned himself to his wife’s cheating, “as polite as a lake,” as Carly writes, and subsequently died of a broken heart, regardless of what it might read on the death certificate. What she did was remarkable, and beautifully told: Carly was determined to confront her husband’s lover, but to do so in a nice but firm manner. With The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” (a quintessential Carly Simon song although she didn’t write it) on the radio, she left her apartment on 73rd Street and Central Park West at 2:00 AM, and walked through the Upper West Side’s deserted streets to 70th Street near Columbus Avenue, where JT’s mistress lived.The confrontation, penned with a combination of wit and sarcasm, between wife and mistress is a must-read. Carly was indeed as gracious as a lake during the altercation. Evey (the mistress) was too: As well-mannered as Lake Superior on the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. She accused Carly of being a “JAP driving around Hollywood in a Mercedes convertible,” a clothes horse, of primping for “her rich lovers who send planes for you all over the world” (as previously mentioned, Carly doesn’t like to fly), and horrors! Being addicted to manicures and pedicures.Often, the half-truth hurts more than a pants-on-fire whopper. Was there any credibility to what Evey spewed? But the line about pedicures destroyed any credibility Evey might have had; Carly had little use for hand and foot grooming, and James had complimented her on it. It was as if Evey accused Carly of having grown up a Yankee fan; utter balderdash. Score one against The Beast. While that was a temporary victory, her writing of her memoirs, and confronting the bugbears within, might well annihilate The Beast forever.In conclusion, if you are a writer, read this magnificent book, and more than once. You will become a better one. And as Willie Donaldson, from his perch in Heaven would say, “Well done, Simon Sister.” Simultaneously, from not far away--as the angels fly--a colossus of a man would echo, “Well done, Simon Daughter.”

First of all, let me say that I love Carly Simon and i was highly anticipating her autobiography. Carly is one of the most underrated singer/songwriters in popular music. She is a prolific composer with 16 albums of original material, with the vast majority of every song written or co-written by her. In addition to her album recording, she has recorded a plethora of songs for film and scored several as well. Therefore, I thought it ironic that her music, her talent - the reason for her fame was given such short shrift in the book.The book, which is beautifully written, recounts her family background and her place in the family, being the third and last sister in the pecking order of her other more attractive and talented (deemed) siblings. As the story unfolds of her insecurities, stammer and phobias, and the general dysfunction in the Simon household, it becomes apparent that Carly Simon somehow still buys into the fact that she is somehow not worthy of her success and respect as an artist in her own right. There is very very little written of her music, her songwriting and lyrics, or how she has approached her work. What does she think of her catalogue? What went into the making of some of her iconic albums? She does divulge specific songs that are autobiographical and places those lyrics throughout the book, in context to the story or person they relate to, but somehow, it is not enough. As a reader and a fan, i wanted much more.Instead, the book focuses on her personal life, which is rich with stories and drama, much of which is extremely entertaining and interesting. Some people would call Carly a name dropper, but in her case, that truly has been her life from a very early age. Of course, her father was Richard Simon, co-founder of Simon and Shuster, and she grew up with dinner guests such as Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein and Albert Einstein and houseguests like Jackie Robinson - all this long before her own illustrious career. Perhaps she was inspired of greatness at a very young age and always felt lesser than those around her. As Carly comes into her own as a singer and songwriter in her own right, the stories unfold of her relationships with the men in her life, whether brief, (e.g. Warren Beatty and Cat Stevens), or long term, (her 11 year marriage to James Taylor, which consumes the last third of the book).Does Carly only define herself by the men in her life? Was it an editorial choice to concentrate the stories on her tabloid marriage and various relationships? While all of that is relevant and certainly a big part of her life, the author seems to forget that many of her fans love her and are interested in her for her own incredible songwriting and voice, rather than just the company she has kept over the years. While Carly panned the biography that was written about her a few years ago, "More Room In a Broken Heart" by Stephen Davis, that book gave a much more balanced look at her own talent, songwriting and scope of her work over the years. Davis may not have gotten all the personal stories right, but i got the feeling that he respected Simon as an artist far more than Carly herself.What I find interesting and refreshing about the narrative is that she never comes off as a victim but rather as a survivor. She mostly recounts lovingly of the people in her life, and she has made peace with her own mistakes and those of others. Perhaps waiting all these years to look back, she can be more objective about her past, and because of this, the she never once comes off as nasty or vindictive, but more wistful and thoughtful about her family and relationships. Carly is a natural writer, with lots of metaphor and hugely descriptive passages, which is a contrast to her songs, which have always contained direct thoughts, stories and ideas.The book ends in 1983, with her marriage ended, her career stalled, and moving forward alone with her two children. I have to think there is at least another book in Carly, one that concentrates on her craft and her second act. Carly had great success in the 80's with a hugely successful comeback album, "Coming Around Again", an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy for "Let the River Run", a 20-year second marriage and of course, the relationship with her children, Ben and Sally. Here's hoping for Carly Part II.

Carly Simon was one of the icons of the 70s – No Secrets and, especially, You’re So Vain establishing her as a superstar. She grew up in an atmosphere of wealth and privilege – her dad half-owned the Simon & Shuster publishing house (and was a talented non-professional pianist) – but wealth and privilege don’t buy happiness: her dad was cold and remote, her mother had a (not-terribly-secret) live-in lover, and Carly felt the least-loved of the 3 Simon girls (ugly face, uncontrollable hair….). Still, holidays in the Hamptons… where she met James Taylor as a teenager…All the Simon girls were musical, and, folk music being the in-thing, Carly and her elder sister Lucy formed a duo (the Simons Sisters, surprisingly…) which had some moderate success before Lucy left to get married. Carly carried on, got a record deal, and eventually No Secrets, and BAM! Then James Taylor comes into her life again, they get married, have kids, he cheats (serially), she accepts it for quite a while, for the kids as much as anything, then can’t take it any more, and they split. And that’s where this book ends.What’s interesting about this book is that it’s very well-written and easy to read, and Carly is unflinchingly honest about what she did and who she slept with, even when it’s not a good look for her – being passed around Jack Nicholson’s mates may have felt like fun at the time, but hindsight suggests it was just that old white male privilege taking her for granted; and, yes, she did cop off with Mick Jagger around the time of You’re So Vain (although it wasn’t about him). Entertaining though it is to read about the bedhopping (not much drugs, though – that was James’s thing), for me personally, it’s sad to appreciate that, because of her relatively remote relationship with her dad and the low self-esteem from her position in the family, she spent much of her life seeking to please and appease men rather then looking out for herself. She is in a better place now, to be able to write with such frankness.A very good read, lots of insight into the 60s and 70s scene, although it does grate a bit towards the end where she over-rationalises putting up with JT’s fuckwittery.

Wonderfully written memoir of her life from childhood to her divorce from James Taylor. I read it in one sitting and have to say at the end of it felt quite sorry for her despite her talent, wealth and star studded life. Many reviewers, especially men, I note, have made much of the number of partners she has had but do not condemn Taylor for his having girlfriends and needing to visit a "clap clinic" despite his being a married man with children. I think it's also important to factor in her childhood abuse that will have left her with confused boundaries and the fact both she and J.T lived were young and lived their youth in the sexually revolution begun by the introduction of the Pill in the 60s. In addition to this both spent long times away from one another whilst touring and we're subject to more sexually and drug temptation than most of us will ever know. J.T has talked about his drug addiction, his drinking and episodes of mental illness which cannot have been easy to live with and Carly here documents her own struggles with depression and anxiety. It's a brave and honest book and yes, she does seem to regard J.T as the love of her life, but he's the father of her children and the man she'd hoped to spend her life with, and what's so wrong with that? Great book and I'd recommend anyone interested in Carly or J.T to read it. I just hope there's another volume to follow.

Carly Simon, daughter of publishing giant Richard Simon, had a surprisingly complicated childhood with a distant father who clearly favoured her siblings and an adulterous mother with a scandalously young lover. This engaging memoir charts her life from childhood to her 30s, when her stellar singing/songwriting career was on a rocketing trajectory but her troubled marriage to James Taylor had reached its sad conclusion. Packed with gossip and juicy insights into a catalogue of music luminaries, the book reveals a woman who struggled with emotional baggage from her privileged but rather unhappy childhood and, in spite of a reluctance to perform, crafted a life in the spotlight as one of the biggest singing stars of the 1970s. Carly Simon is not just a spoiled little rich girl who got lucky - she's wrestled with big demons and writes with forthright honesty about the sadness of her childhood, her difficult relationships with men, her drug-addicted husband and her fascinating path to stardom.

I've just finished this and was hugely impressed with Carly's writing. It spans her life until the time she and James Taylor break up. It paints vivid pictures of her life and environment; on one hand her childhood was the stuff of privilege and delight, on the other, a seed bed of anxiety, sadness and challenge. Her mother's relationship with a younger man and its effect on the family was shocking and tragic in its consequences. It made me smile to read the names of famous musicians and celebrities scattered among her prose - what a time to be a musician. I felt her deep sadness at the breakup with James Taylor; I did wonder how much she's recovered from it, as I felt her writing had a haunting emotional quality to it. This is a very honest memoir that's beautifully written and is well worth a read.

Carly tells her story of her childhood, her family and how certain things affected her. Her weaknesses, her strengths and her love for people she cared for. I enjoyed reading about her life, there were parts that made me tearful, there were parts that made me smile. I've always liked her as a singer, enjoyed listening to her. So to read this story put everything into perspective. Thank you Carly for giving me the opportunity to read your book.