Dr. Elizabeth L. Keathley

Associate Professor of Historical Musicology and Women's and Gender Studies

The Music of Joni Mitchell by Lloyd A. Whitesell

There are so many books that have influenced me! With the music I hear, the books I read seem to percolate through me and let me think, hear, and feel in new ways. I have chosen a new book that represents beautifully the possibilities of the "new musicology." Not only does "The Music of Joni Mitchell" treat this important repertory with the seriousness it deserves—unlikely under the regimes of the "old" musicology--it is also filled with insights that enhance my aural, intellectual, and emotional appreciation and understanding of the music it discusses. I take aesthetic pleasure in Whitesell's elegant writing, and I admire the subtle ways he brings feminist analysis to a subject resistant to the notion of feminism. "The Music of Joni Mitchell" bears the hallmarks of the books that have influenced me most: thought provoking, spirited, and a joy to read, I know I will re-read this book again and again.