Song so wild and blue A life with the music of Joni Mitchell

Novelist Lisicky (Later) delivers a passionate if meandering memoir about Joni Mitchell's influence on his life and art. When Lisicky sang "Both Sides Now" in his fourth grade New Jersey chorus, he was struck by the juxtaposition of the melancholy lyrics and sunny melody. Already taking piano lessons, Lisicky soon picked up guitar and started to write his own songs, entranced by Mitchell's vividness. Whenever he tried to write like her, however, "it sounded like an outtake, descriptions and guitar chords untested by life experience." Instead, Lisicky began writing fiction, using Mitchell's raw emotionality as a touchstone as he enrolled in the Iowa Writers' Workshop and drafted his first novels; interspersed throughout the account are imaginings of how Mitchell might have responded to certain events in her life, including her return to the stage at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival. Regarding his own work, Lisicky writes that he "wanted to give to others what Joni had given to me," but he falls short of that lofty goal here--the book manages mostly familiar insights into Mitchell's artistry and struggles to maintain a narrative throughline. Still, the musician's most devoted fans will enjoy this tribute from a fellow admirer. Agent: Matt McGowan, Frances Goldin Literary. (Feb.)

A memoir about a recording star's influence on an author's life and work. When Lisicky's fourth grade music teacher--a woman who "made music feel like it was meant for everyone, not just those with special talents"--introduced the class to Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," the result for him was transformative. Thus began a lifelong love of Mitchell's considerable output. As Lisicky puts it, "Joni's songs saved my life." In this exceptional, warmhearted memoir, each chapter bearing the title of one of Mitchell's songs, Lisicky draws parallels between the singer-songwriter's artistry and life struggles--from her bout of polio when she was 9 to a late-life brain aneurysm that "left her for days on the floor"--and his own difficulties and cites how her work inspired him. An aspiring songwriter himself--he composed liturgical songs, in part because he couldn't write love songs about the men he was attracted to--Lisicky was moved by the structure of the tunes in Mitchell's albumFor the Roses and by her voice, which, in one of many poetic phrases, "sounded like honey had been poured onto it--or perhaps California had been." Hers was "the music of loneliness" yet "layered with happiness and hope," a particularly resonant message for a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality. Even after he turned to fiction and received recognition for his writing, Lisicky found inspiration in Mitchell's work. He wanted, he writes, "to give to others what Joni had given to me…a chart as to how one lives a life." Along with moving passages about his relationships and their challenges, Lisicky writes beautifully on mortality and death, including his parents' health struggles, and on the highs and lows of being an artist. "To follow Joni's lead," Lisicky writes, "was to find out what was inside me." A beautiful tribute to a legendary musician and the act of creation. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.