Back in 2019, my boyfriend at the time gifted me a copy of David Yaffe’s ‘Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell,’ the first book I’d ever read about her.
When I finished that book, a fascinating and much more up close look at Joni than I had previously encountered, I wrote to David to express my thoughts. We’ve been friends since, have eaten meals in the West Village with fellow writers, run into one another at Elvis Costello shows, etc. Now, I’m pleased to have him as a guest on Big Yellow Podcast.
David’s experience interviewing Joni over the course of several years – as you’ll hear him describe in this episode – was not always stress-free. There was bumpy road on both sides, but really, what would a book about an artist like Joni be without that?
I recommend David’s book because it sees Joni talking about periods of her life during a period of her life that was both an ending and a beginning — there was still miles of ground to cover as far as Joni looking backward on her own terms. It was around this time that Joni’s “legacy” really started to solidify.
But here are David’s words.
Thanks for listening x
Allison
A Conversation With David Yaffe