It’s fitting that Nicks would inspire a new book as cluttered and, sometimes, distracting as one imagines her walk-in closets are, but one that also pays her the perhaps overdue compliment of taking her seriously ... [Morrison] has attempted not a straightforward biography...eyes and nose turned nobly away from the sewer. But Mirror in the Sky is not really a critical biography, either; the term is too formal and confining for a book that reads less like a well-argued appreciation than a subreddit run by an obsessive-compulsive super-fan, albeit a smart, insightful one ... Morrison [has a] flair for the digressive ... When it comes to the music itself, Morrison can be enlightening, if arid ... He’s almost too ardent a champion. At risk of the sin myself, I’ll note that he can be mansplainy, as well ... But my incessant quibbling aside, I enjoyed reading Mirror in the Sky—quibbles are a sign of engagement, after all.
Morrison walks readers through Nicks’s career using her songs to ground his exploration, combining a deep dive into the writing, recording, and production of her most popular and more obscure songs, with a glimpse into her personal life ... Morrison’s extensively researched biography does not shy away from Nicks’s battles with addiction and emphasizes how as a woman musician, she has had to work harder and be better than the men around her ... Nicks fans will appreciate Morrison’s care in the details of her songwriting and the song production, but the text may be a little dry and formal for readers looking to get more personal insight into Nicks, who was not interviewed for this book.
A portrait of a sensitive artist who immersed herself in the surrounding culture, responding to cultural and industry changes. In its focus on Nicks’s creative pursuits, the book downplays well-known dramas in her life ... The book also draws on Nicks’s lesser-known work for its assessments, including demos and tracks not included on her albums, adding to collective understandings of Nicks as both a singer and an instrumentalist. Though Nicks has characterized her own techniques as spontaneous and idiosyncratic, this book approaches her process in a serious manner, pointing out the chord progressions, lyrics, and rhythms that comprise her message of independence and self-assurance. Here, Nicks is re-centered as an artistic presence in her own right, and her opulent attire, seductive mystique, and wide influences become proof of her lasting star quality ... Written with respect and admiration, Mirror in the Sky analyzes Stevie Nicks’s music with care, noting how it expressed the sentiments of a generation.
