Trade Paperback
Travelling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell
By Ann Powers
An Independent Best Non-Fiction Book for 2024
Celebrated music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of the legendary Joni Mitchell
What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell. Instead, it’s a tale of long journeying through a life that changed popular music: of a homesick wanderer forging ahead on routes of her invention, and of me on her trail, heading toward the ringing of her voice.
One of the most celebrated artists of her generation, Joni Mitchell has inspired countless musicians and writers, while never stopping still herself.
In Travelling, celebrated music critic Ann Powers seeks to understand the paradox of Mitchell – at once both elusive and inviting – through her myriad journeys. Drawing on extensive interviews with Mitchell’s peers and deep archival research, Powers takes readers to rural Canada, charts the course of Mitchell’s musical evolution, follows the winding road of Mitchell’s collaborations with other greats and explores the loves that fed her songwriting.
Kaleidoscopic in scope and intimate in detail, Travelling is a fresh and fascinating addition to the Joni Mitchell corpus – and one that questions whether an artist can ever truly be known to their fans.
”'The Joni Mitchell book we’ve all been waiting for. Ann Powers gives us a brilliant guided tour through the history, myth, and music of an icon.” - CLAIRE DEDERER, bestselling author of Monsters
”'A daring, intimate book about a daring, intimate artist, Travelling is a thrilling provocation from Ann Powers, one of the greatest cultural critics of our time.” - EMILY NUSSBAUM, The New Yorker
”'A brilliant and layered book, which is a full and generous examination of a life that feels rich, caring” - HANIF ABDURRAQIB, author of A Little Devil in America
”'An exhilarating ride down the lonely roads where Joni Mitchell has led the way. For anyone who’s ever been transfixed by a Mitchell song, Travelling is full of fresh revelations and insights.” - ROB SHEFFIELD, author of Dreaming the Beatles
”'This is Ann Powers’s intimate, fortifying, and sometimes soul-crushing story of how life becomes songs, how songs chart lives, and how Joni Mitchell became Joni Mitchell.” - DANYEL SMITH, author of Shine Bright