Joni is Blue

I just finished this pretty good book about Joni Mitchell's Blue period, called "Will You Take Me As I Am: Joni Mitchell's Blue Period," by Michelle Mercer. The title caught my eye, which is a line from the song 'California.' She implores that California "take me as I am, strung out on another man." Like many other young women and gay men, Joni articulates the roller-coaster that is love with patience and truthfulness. Love affairs are deeply felt and equally mourned when they go sour, with all the drama that comes with youth. Joni's music is like my road map to love and life as one who falls hard and fast and gets hurt easily.


This being said, I had high expectations of this book. Joni's Blue period was a early in her musical career, where her song writing was autobiographical and her heart heavy after giving up her child. But the songs that she produced during this period are easily her most prolific and personal. The author, while indulging in some hero-worship, also shows several less than glamorous sides of the siren. Joni can be cold and impatient with those not to her intellectual level. The author does paint Joni with a light brush, drawing shades and gradation from her childhood polio and life of the plains of the Canada. Overall, the book felt uneven and spotty in areas, generally unsatisfying. This probably due to the fact that this was the only biography written specifically with Joni's contribution and interviews. If anyone has found a better biography, do tell!