I Dream of Joni

In this nationally bestselling "delightful compendium of everything you ever wanted to know about" (The Washington Post) Joni Mitchell, the eternal singer-songwriter is seen anew, portrayed through a witty and comprehensive exploration of anecdotes, quotes, lyrics by Henry Alford, "the most graceful of humorists" (Vanity Fair) and a writer for The New Yorker. Joni Mitchell's life, psyche, and evolving legacy are explored here in "the greatest Joni book ever" (Francine Prose, New York Times bestselling author of Lovers at the Chameleon Club). From her childhood in Saskatoon, Canada, to her transformative years in Laurel Canyon that turned her into, as Alfred puts it, "the bard of heartbreak and longing," this definitive biography examines an artist celebrated by Rolling Stone as "one of the greatest songwriters ever." Each period of Mitchell's life is observed via the artists, friends, family, and lovers she encountered along the way, including James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, Georgia O'Keefe, Prince, and, most significantly, Kilauren, the daughter Mitchell gave up for adoption at birth but then reconnected with decades later. Presented in the impressionistic vein of Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margret, I Dream of Joni explores in fifty-three essays, with the author's critically acclaimed trademark wit and verve, the life of the legendary singer-songwriter.

Henry Alford is a humorist and journalist who has written for The New Yorker for more than two decades. A former columnist for The New York Times and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, he is the author of six books, including And Then We Danced, How to Live, Big Kiss, an account of his attempts to become a working actor, which won a Thurber Prize, and I Dream of Joni.