Member Review
Review by
Jack M, Reviewer
Joan Baez: The Last Leaf by Elizabeth Thomson should quickly become the definitive biography of Joan Baez. Neither the music, the activism, nor the personal life is given less than their due. This is a complete, as in well-rounded, biography.
I admit to being a big fan, of her music and her activism. I fully expected to like this biography but I expected, which is what usually happens, to hope for the next biography to focus on what this one didn't. Well, Thomson manages to focus on all aspects of her life and career while still making it all flow. I have rarely been this impressed with a work about a complex celebrity.
Whether you're a fan of hers, or simply a fan of music history, this will offer wonderful insights into the folk world and the pop world from 1959 to now. If you're interested in social and cultural history, especially social justice and human rights, this will show not only what Baez did but also what a sincere impassioned activist in general can, and should, do. It is admittedly difficult for anyone to always stand up for what they believe is right, yet Baez succeeded far better than the vast majority of us, famous or not.
I think what makes this book really stand out is that it does not become just a recitation of what happened when, then what happened next, etc. There is depth and analysis here. Yet Thomson also doesn't get bogged down in analysis just for the sake of analysis. The flow of the book, from events to the hows and whys, is seamless and the reader gets swept along. I felt like I was reliving some of those times but with new perspective and insight.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I admit to being a big fan, of her music and her activism. I fully expected to like this biography but I expected, which is what usually happens, to hope for the next biography to focus on what this one didn't. Well, Thomson manages to focus on all aspects of her life and career while still making it all flow. I have rarely been this impressed with a work about a complex celebrity.
Whether you're a fan of hers, or simply a fan of music history, this will offer wonderful insights into the folk world and the pop world from 1959 to now. If you're interested in social and cultural history, especially social justice and human rights, this will show not only what Baez did but also what a sincere impassioned activist in general can, and should, do. It is admittedly difficult for anyone to always stand up for what they believe is right, yet Baez succeeded far better than the vast majority of us, famous or not.
I think what makes this book really stand out is that it does not become just a recitation of what happened when, then what happened next, etc. There is depth and analysis here. Yet Thomson also doesn't get bogged down in analysis just for the sake of analysis. The flow of the book, from events to the hows and whys, is seamless and the reader gets swept along. I felt like I was reliving some of those times but with new perspective and insight.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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