Gauthier has braided a confessional memoir of recovery and redemption around a short course in creative writing. It’s an unusual but powerful combination. Her recurring message is that without digging down to the truth of one’s emotional traumas, real art will always remain elusive.

Starting with the song’s lyrics, Gauthier recounts her personal connection to the song through concrete, accessible personal narrative. By the end of each chapter, readers have gained a behind-the-scenes scoop on the real-life experiences that influenced the song and a wise takeaway for their own lives.

... [an] intimate, riveting memoir.

Hers is no ordinary book about the craft of songwriting but rather a thoughtful meditation by one of the finest practitioners around on what makes a song matter and the hard lessons she’s learned. Gauithier describes her bout with the bottle in painful detail.

... an authoritative writer.