Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell

Among the greatest songwriters in history, Joni Mitchell has enriched the nation's sound track since the late 1960s. The Canadian-born singer suffered polio at age ten and went on to embellish the baby boomer-Woodstock-era songbook with standards such as "Both Sides Now," "Help Me," and "Big Yellow Taxi." Regular access to the singer positioned Yaffe (humanities, Syracuse Univ.) to mine the stories behind her songs, love affairs, heartbreaks, and losses. As Mitchell, narrator Xe Sands builds on this intimacy, channeling the subject believably. Interviews with around 60 of Mitchell's associates—many musical legends themselves—reaped expressions of awe about her crystalline voice, virtuoso strumming, and evocative lyrics. Yaffe has his own musical chops, making him well equipped to add insightful musical exegesis about his subject's work. Because musical nuance can't be fully communicated in narrative, libraries might want to augment their CD collection with albums such as Blue or the DVD of PBS's American Masters episode Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind.