A Natural Woman

A Memoir

By: Carole King

Narrated by: Carole King

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Listen to the New York Times best-selling memoir that is "revealing, humble, and cool-aunt chatty" about the incredible life that inspired the hit Broadway musical Beautiful (Rolling Stone). Carole King takes us from her early beginnings in Brooklyn, to her remarkable success as one of the world's most acclaimed songwriting and performing talents of all time. A Natural Woman chronicles King's extraordinary life, drawing listeners into her musical world, including her phenomenally successful number one album Tapestry, and into her journey as a performer, mother, wife and present-day activist. Deeply personal, King's long-awaited memoir offers listeners a front-row seat to the woman behind the legend. The audiobook will include dozens of photos from King's childhood, her own family, and behind-the-scenes images from her performances.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2012 Carole King (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Not great

The story is only OK. It jumps around chronologically. Her voice is not pleasant as a narrator, obviously we all love her as a singer. I would not recommend it, but to a few female friends of that generation.

I saw Beautiful and wanted more.

I was so moved by the musical and I wanted to know more. I loved hearing Carol read and as I hoped it completed the musical. now I can move on. fabulous, thank you CK

Inspiring

I’m a singer / performing artist with a few Carole King songs in my repertoire. What a treat to hear her tell her own story! She’s so real and relatable; just like her music. I’ve also read ‘Girls Like Us’ (about Carole, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon) and that book inspired me to check out this one. Carole, you are an incredible example of an all around artist and consummate musician who is unafraid to follow all of your interests in life and art; no wonder you have so much to sing about! Thanks for sharing your voice as an author!

Incredible life, amazing impact!

This book was so interesting, a thorough history of the music scene over many decades. Her memoir also details an amazing zest for life, and the ability to rebound from setbacks. Hearing how songs are written was all new for me. And, her amazing story unfolds, as she searches for the best way to live. We are lucky we can listen to the full range of her emotions, read by the author, and her feelings over the years. Following her journey is a gift.

Naturally King

I’m sorry but I’m a very big fan of Carole King but I just wasn’t happy with this audiobook. The narrating felt more like reading word for word and pronouncing straight from Webster. There wasn’t much substance to the book. It was ok, just not near the book I thought it should be.

The Baby Boom Generation's Big Sister

Any additional comments?

I eagerly anticipated the release of this book because I had a great appreciation for Ms. King's talent and always sensed that she was an exceptionally good and decent person. Her memoirs caused me to think about a generation of young people, many of whom seemed to become musicians, born during the second world war. There has been much said and written about the baby boomers and our effect upon society. However, it has been this immeadiately preceeding generation, born during the war, which have been our leaders and our guides, our big brothers and sisters. It is they who deserve much of the credit for the quality of life we have enjoyed.

If you can imagine sitting for several hours pleasantly and contentedly listening to an old friend share the stories of their experiences, you have a feel for the enjoyment you'll have experiencing this book. It's not perfect and I doubt any of us is capable of creating a truly accurate self-portrait, but Carole's stories and reflections will carry you through a journey of your own life and fill you with the warmth of remembering how very good it has been.

Just as it would be listening to any friend, sometimes her stories seem to go into excessive detail in some areas and leave out significant information in other areas. In the end, I think you'll close this book with the warm feeling of having spent time with an incredibly hard-working, talented, warm, and loving woman. You'll be a better person for the experience.

Carole King's Memoir narrated by her.

First of all, this audio edition differsfrom the print book edition. It’s really more of a performance. In addition to having Carole King read/talk us through her life, we have little bits of music between parts of the book written and recorded by Carole King on her piano, and whenever she is describing a particular song, if she prints the words of the song in the book, she actually sings it for us. At first I didn’t know if I would actually like this book. Carole’s voice reading it takes some getting used to. It has almost a sing-song quality at times. But the reader gets into her description of her life, the good and the bad parts, and the joy she has gotten from most things. Even when discussing her third husband, who was not so good for her life, she can find positive memories of him in the end. It’s a fantastic story of her talents, and her actual recording of Tapestry. She talks about that album the most because it’s the one she got a Grammy award for, and I know every song on that album by heart! She left us with the idea that there may be more to write about and that she’ll keep us updated maybe with a future book. Strongly recommended, especially in the audio version.

I really wanted to like this!

I have been a fan of Carole King's since her (and my) teenage years. I really wanted to like this book. I really wanted to enjoy Carole reading her life story. But I couldn't.
The book itself needed some serious editing. It interrupted its own flow in places so much that I found myself actually disoriented at times. Paragraphs and pages were devoted to miscellaneous and trivial events, such as winning a court case over the privacy of a road or getting lost in Japan, but only one brief sentence to sending one's youngest son off to live with his father. I'm still confused about how she fell in love with her first husband. Did he just look like a picture she fell in love with that she kept in her wallet of some random model guy or did he have other, endearing qualities? We don't know. There is no depth.
And the narration is just plain awful. I'm sorry. I continue to love Carole's music and if I ever get the chance to see her perform again I will run, not walk, to get tickets. But please don't ask her to read a book again.
I feel like a traitor. I really wanted to enjoy this book. But I didn't.

Carol I love you. And your story!

I equally enjoyed both the book and hearing Carol tell the story. I am smiling. Thank you Carol!
A Beautiful life indeed

Bravo! An excellent memoir and performance.

I have always liked Carol King, but after listening to her read her own memoir I have fallen completely I love with her. I'm glad that I chose to listen to, rather than read this book because I would have missed out on her beautiful accapella singing and her wonderful piano playing.
It was also wonderful to hear the emotion in her voice when she told her story.
What a wonderful woman, an extraordinary story! I hope I get to meet her someday.