Joni Mitchell: The Complete Poems and Lyrics
The sweeping imagery and confessional tone of Joni Mitchell's lyrics have made her a pop icon  for decades. Her writing, like that of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan,  helped legitimize song lyrics as poetry by  adding  sophisticated shadings and nuances that earlier rock and folk music often lacked.  What's more, as  a woman writing in a medium dominated by men, Mitchell became an important  role model for  young  women trying to make sense of their lives during turbulent times. Given her importance as a pop poet and  the care and craft with which she approached her craft, it is a treat now to have her work compiled in one  volume. Mitchell's has been an aural art, but having the words to read on the page without benefit of  melody heightens one's appreciation of the lyrics as poems.