Mitchell is one of a handful of women in her era who were invited into the music world’s clubby little definition of genius, and Powers has the chops to explain exactly why that was so, both through her virtuosic writing on Mitchell’s musicianship and creativity and through a sophisticated interrogation of the gender and race politics of the era. She shows us how we can love an artist like Mitchell and let her be human, too, how we can understand her genius from — forgive me, Joni — both sides now.

Remarkably insightful.

A highly personal, even confessional, 400-plus-page meditation on Mitchell’s life and work.

Intricately probing.

Luminous, knotty and timely.

A discursive narrative that is peppered with critical theory and personal self-questioning.

Expansive.

Works to show the mess of Joni Mitchell—to dismantle the folk-princess myth that characterized Powers’s first encounters with Mitchell’s oeuvre.

A sweeping study of Mitchell’s life and work that swerves familiar touchstones to create a vibrant, multifaceted portrait of a music enigma.

The result is a brilliant and personal distillation of a singular artist..

Powers traces the artist’s life from childhood to the present day with curiosity, context and compassion, using Mitchell’s often nomadic existence as a template to try to understand her life and legacy.

Experiencing this book is more akin to wandering down a scenic path than traveling a timeline of someone’s life, and there is no other musician better suited for this style of biography than the ever-changing Mitchell. Powers’s highly anticipated title lives up to the hype and is sure to be on many lists of the best books of the year..

Vibrant.