Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Songs in Ursa Major: A novel

Songs in Ursa Major: A novel
reviewed on


Entertaining book. But I was put off at first, wondering if the author had actually lived in the late '60s. Some things in the first few pages didn't ring true to the era, like someone from California not knowing what a tequila sunrise was (and a teenage bartender on an island off Massachusetts did?) or saying someone "could be a rock star." That term is so 21st century! If this took place in 1969, "rock stars" barely existed, certainly not with that terminology. But overlooking those miscues, I did get caught up in the story, and the way the characters' lives ended up surprised me. Other reviews note the similarities between the characters' love story and the relationship of Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. And I could see how the Morgan character could be based on Carly Simon. Overall, entertaining. I read it in just a few days.