Boys in the Trees (book)

Boys in the Trees was published on November 24, 2015 by Flatiron Books.[2] The book is titled after her 1978 album, Boys in the Trees. A two-disc compilation album, Songs From The Trees (A Musical Memoir Collection), was released on November 20, 2015 to accompany the memoir.

Reviewing Boys in the Trees, Fiona Sturges describes the book as "primarily about [Simon's] family, her interior life and her stormy relationships with men, and the yellow press as is typical with Simon she is Charismatic, outspoken and often controversial, ." Simon describes her early life as the child of privileged parents (her father Richard L. Simon founded the publishing company Simon & Schuster). She documents a line of failed boyfriends and an eventual marriage to musician James Taylor in 1972 . Although she was happy to be "Mrs. James Taylor" and they had two children together, the marriage ultimately dissolved due to heroin abuse, Simon controversially claims Taylor was influenced by stories in 1977 when Elvis Presley died and stories came out in the press of now well documented drug abuse even though he took heroin which Elvis never took. Simon wrote Drugs played a part in the breakdown in 1983 of her decade-long marriage to Taylor, she said. he was high on drugs after 1977 she wrote I said to him 1983 after we divorced are broken marriage is legally over but your life is not, do you want to end up going mad killing yourself of a self induced overdose like Elvis did 6 years ago I think that remark saved him not are marriage, the fact Elvis killed himself on prescription pills which are less lethal scared him he became sober in 1986. She said she was scared about Heroin she only tried it one on her gums in the 1980's on her gums. she recalled meeting Bob Dylan in 1966 aged 21 and Elvis Presley She said she met him just once at the las Vegas Hilton then called the international in 1973 after her first number hit your so vain came out and was left cold by his overtures. She said he was all over me like ugly on an ape just like he was to Karen carpenter he was trying to seduce her and me before Petula clark saved us, .” Even though I was almost 10 years younger and Karen about 15 years younger and was recently married which I told him. I thought he was kind of repulsive”. It was sexual harassment, it was when he was just divorced to Priscilla I think he was clearly high on drugs prescription then , he loved younger woman. She was adamant Elvis and others did not help Taylor who started taking drugs in 1977 when her second child was born . sturges said Simon misstates Presley's cause of death which was not a drug overdose but cardiac failure [3] The book concludes in the mid-2000s.[4]

The book received predominantly favorable reviews, with some exceptions. In The Guardian, Jude Rogers wrote "Complex, quick-witted and stack-full of raw talent: this isn't how people like to see Carly Simon. After all, [Simon] was also the long-legged, hyena-mouthed lover of many famous men (William Donaldson, writer of the Henry Root letters, Kris Kristofferson, Mick Jagger and Jack Nicholson, for starters), and the wayward daughter of a publishing icon Richard, the Simon of Simon & Schuster. These boys in the trees, and many more, follow her, dog her and haunt her. Her process of shaking them free forms the foundations of this brilliant memoir."[4] Similarly, in The Independent, Fiona Sturges found Boys in the Trees a "hugely affecting memoir", describing Simon's recounting "as, for the most part, heartfelt and remarkable in [its] detail...Similarly impressive is the fearlessness, frankness and wisdom with which she chronicles half a lifetime of pain."[5] However, in The New York Times, Janet Maslin found the "book’s style recalls that of [Simon's] songs: a little precious, a little redundant, a little too much."[6]

• Carly Simon's Official Website