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Summary
Summary
From the golden-haired, curly-headed half of Simon & Garfunkel--a memoir (of sorts)- artful, moving, lyrical; the making of a musician; the evolution of a man, a portrait of a life-long friendship and collaboration that became one of the most successful singing duos of their time.
Art Garfunkel writes about his life before, during, and after Simon & Garfunkel . . . about their folk-rock music in the roiling age that embraced and was defined by their pathbreaking sound. He writes about growing up in the 1940s and '50s (son of a traveling salesman), a middle class Jewish boy, living in a red brick semi-attached house in Kew Gardens, Queens, a kid who was different--from the age of five feeling his vocal cords "vibrating with the love of sound" . . . meeting Paul Simon in school, the funny guy who made Art laugh; their going on to junior high school together, of being twelve at the birth of rock'n'roll, both of them "captured" by it; going to a recording studio in Manhattan to make a demo of their song, "Hey Schoolgirl" (for $7!) and the actual record (with Paul's father on bass) going to #40 on the national charts, selling 150,000 copies . . .
He writes about their becoming Simon & Garfunkel, taking the world by storm, ruling the pop charts from the time he was sixteen, about not being a natural performer, but more a thinker . . . touring; sex-for-thrills on the road, reading or walking to calm down (walking across two continents--the USA and Europe). He writes of being an actor working with directors Nicolas Roeg ( Bad Timing ) and Mike Nichols ("the greatest of them all") . . . getting his masters in mathematics at Columbia; choosing music over a PhD; his slow unfolding split with Paul and its aftermath; learning to perform on his own, giving a thousand concerts worldwide, his voice going south (a stiffening of one vocal cord) and working to get it back . . . about being a husband, a father and much more.
Author Notes
ART GARFUNKEL attended Columbia University, where he earned a master's degree in mathematics. He performed with Paul Simon as Simon & Garfunkel from 1963 to 1970. Garfunkel, with Paul Simon, has been the recipient of six Grammys, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1990 was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Garfunkel lives in New York with his wife and two children. He continues to travel around the world giving concert performances, and since 1973 has produced twelve solo albums.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Garfunkel, half of the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, loves singing, reading, performing, acting, walking, keeping lists, and his wife-as he writes in this meandering, sometimes incoherent memoir. Early on, Garfunkel pays tribute to his vocal talent: "These vocal chords... have vibrated with the love of sound since I was five and began to sing with the sense of God's gift running through me." As the narrative proceeds, Garfunkel wanders through his life, reflecting here and there on his complex relationship with Paul Simon; his love for and admiration of James Taylor; the suicide of his girlfriend Laurie Bird in the late 1970s; his walks across Japan, the U.S., and Europe; and his wife Kathryn Cermack's breast-cancer diagnosis in 1996. Obsessed with lists, Garfunkel intersperses his rambling reflections with lists of the books he has read, songs on his iPod, and even 10 reasons why he's in "awe of his wife." Garfunkel seldom settles on one subject for long before he's off to a related topic from his life. While Garfunkel reveals flashes of real insight about the transcendent power of music and the inner workings of a singer's life, for the most part this slim volume feels tiresome. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
At an early age, Garfunkel wowed his classmates, including Paul Simon, with the voice of an angel. The two spent a lot of time listening to records and singing, scoring a national hit as Tom & Jerry in 1957 while still in high school. Later, they achieved stellar fame and fortune as Simon & Garfunkel. My life, so far, is a two-act play, Garfunkel writes, Bridge over Troubled Waters ended Act I. This covers Act II, from Garfunkel's substantial solo career to his many meditative walks across America and Europe and his intense love for his family. Instead of a conventional memoir, he presents lists and prose poetry in an impressionistic, lyrical, and sometimes whimsical take on fame, singing, and aging. I walk for simplicity, to empty out, to come about, he writes, and he sings, Ol' Man River to cows. He reveals a sibling-like rivalry with Simon and claims that they were conceived at the same instant, pondering, who will speak at whose funeral? Sensitive, soulful, sharp-tongued, and serious, Garfunkel vies for a place in the pantheon of singers.--Segedin, Ben Copyright 2017 Booklist