...written in a style similar to Bob Dylan's Chronicles or Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. There's a loose chronology, but mainly it's an act of mythic storytelling and perhaps a bit of down-low fence-mending ... This is a character-driven bildungsroman, not a properly straightforward set of factoids, which allows Ani's natural gift for the carnivalesque tale to really shine. Her swirling onstage impromptu has always been a gold standard, so it's no surprise that given some time for reflection and revision, she shows herself here as an exceptionally talented writer ... How wonderful that she has a chokehold on the generic human irony of her spectacularly one-of-a-kind position in music history ... presents a refreshed version of her self-concept that is both instantly recognizable as and clearly different from the flat icon we worshipped.

Ani DiFranco has spent decades challenging the status quo, standing up for what she believes and creating honest, raw music. Her memoir is an extension of these passions ... 'No Walls and the Recurring Dream,' is unapologetic, steadfast and vulnerable. The book also stands alone, for those who haven’t before encountered DiFranco. She is vulnerable in a way that is brave, she recognizes the imperfect moments in her existence just as she acknowledges her own triumphs. The honesty of her introspection encourages the reader to look internally as well ... You don’t have to be a staunch liberal or feminist to appreciate what she has to say and the stories she has to tell. DiFranco does a brilliant job of walking this line. She won’t sugarcoat her own opinions, but she also leaves room for a conversation to unfold.

Whether you know her music or not, Ani Difranco’s memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream is a compelling read. For those who’ve been listening to her for years, like me, it is an intimate look at someone you may think you know—from her music—but you really don’t ... Readers who expect page after page of epiphany will be disappointed; this isn’t that kind of book. Rather it is the soul of the writer laid bare as it formed ... She leaves you wanting more, so when you finish No Walls and the Recurring Dream you’re ready to start over with her.

...part feminist and social-justice manifesto, part bracing road story ... Readers looking for a definitive account of her life should be forewarned: 'I only ever intended this book to be the ‘making of’ story,' she says at its close ... Glam vignettes aside, a deep and thoughtful current runs throughout DiFranco’s memoir. She’s a longtime activist, and her book highlights the value and power of speaking up.

DiFranco needed all of her 300 pages to ready readers to see her so raw. An indie celebrity, she had to write and write and write in order to dispel the many narratives that sought to speak for her. Which is to say that the writing in No Walls and the Recurring Dream lacks the poetic density of her songs in favor of the purposefulness of prose ... DiFranco’s memoir undoubtedly bubbles up from the same creative well as her music ... As if to admit that no matter how much she writes she always thinks in song, the text often breaks into italics—paragraphs and pages that read like a diary’s confessional ... No Walls and the Recurring Dream is...not a literary masterpiece, but the passion of a woman searching for a friend. There are times in the book when DiFranco presents herself as flawed, even downright unlikable, but given the project’s aim, such an honest portrayal is necessary—and welcome. If we are to know her, we must see her ... DiFranco uses the memoir to create a self-portrait through a collage of intimate details ... Lacking narrative purpose, her efforts at self-discovery avoid the memoirist trap of writing toward a predetermined end; indeed, this book might better have been called an autobiography. By the end, a timeline-driven image of DiFranco emerges, somewhat antithetical to our idea of the artist, yet one that still feels honest and factually sure ... This is a story with a soul, a reminder that DiFranco’s life, like all life, has been a process of birthing, of always favoring process over product; and as any artist knows, the hardest part of making is reckoning with what’s been made.

Fans of DiFranco’s angry folk-punk music know that her song lyrics are an incisive cut right to the truth, and her between-song banter is charmingly random. This pretty much sums up her memoir, which presents her origin story in disjointed flashes ... [She] expounds, fascinatingly and poetically, on her unique sound ... This unexpected memoir will be of interest to the many feminists DiFranco has inspired.

...DiFranco’s tale celebrates both independent music and an unconventional life daringly lived. A refreshingly frank and free-spirited memoir from a feminist icon.

DiFranco, a Grammy Award–winning musician and political activist, makes her literary debut in this powerful reflection on her life and career ... Honest and passionate, DiFranco’s memoir will resonate with her many fans.