BREAK SHOT My First 21 Years

Midway through this audiobook, James Taylor describes how, while learning to play the guitar, he drove his father up a wall by repeatedly attempting to bend a seventh chord. Happily, for non-musician listeners, Taylor plays the chord, illustrating one of the great features of his memoir: It includes music. It seems like a simple thing to ask for in a musician's memoir, yet few have accomplished what Taylor has: enhancing his life story by telling tales with a guitar in hand. Interspersed among his stories of coming-of-age, family madness, and meeting the Beatles are performances of relevant music. By the time the listener hears "Fire and Rain," the song takes on new meaning and reinforces Taylor's introduction of himself as a professional autobiographer. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2020]