Daniel Shaver

“Boys in the Trees” by Carly Simon, is a profound trilogy of a seemingly privileged life. Her vulnerable, soulful, and internal self evaluation is a well articulated account of Carly Simon’s autobiographical passages through her developmental years and transforming adolescent windows. She misinterprets and misrepresents herself in this microcosm of isolation, yet still emerges as this radiant monarch, always cloaked and shielded. Carly Simon’s self deprecating isolation is tragic and gifted. Her long suffering is masked by her intelligence and talents. She is truly a master of the English language, a poet in her own right, and best can be described as a prolific and conscientious writer. There is a rhythm to her life story, metaphors at every turn, and she invokes a the provocation of souls and emotions from her readers and listeners. Carly Simon does just that. Her music, her lyrics, and literary talent require pause, a rest between events and emotion. Reading “Boys in the Trees” is poignant on every level of sensory responses. I compare my physical, spiritual, and emotional responses to Carly Simon to reading “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom, who miraculously survived and emerged from a WWII Concentration Camp. Their accounts have a common thread of love, persecution, and restoration. I am in awe of Carly Simon’s life story and recommend her music and her literary works