Book Review: The Package
The Package. Marie St. Jean. Marie St. Jean Publishing, Ltd., February 1, 2019, Trade Paperback and E-book, 307 pages.
Reviewed by Kelly Fumiko Weiss.
The Package follows the life and career of Joni Mitchell Porter Kashman, aka Mitchell Porter, the next in a generational line of famous and industry savvy musicians. As Mitchell navigates her role in the industry, balances her personal life with her career, and determines what boundaries to put up—not only with what she shares with her fans but also where to draw the line between her health and her ambition—her story is juxtaposed against the poor choices of her twin brother and how fame and fortune ultimately corrupt him.
Each chapter is a mini-episode of Mitchell’s life, jumping from event to event, music collaborations to contract negotiations, run-ins with the paparazzi to important family moments at home.
The through-lines of the story are her love of music and her long-term relationships, including her siblings, childhood friends, her agent, and the main love of her life, Larry. As she grows older, and the book takes us from her teenage years through middle-age, we watch as these relationships steady her and bring her back from her tendency to put herself last and work until she collapses from exhaustion. Her life is her music, and that's both a blessing and a curse.
The book shines most when the author shows us what's happening instead of telling us, and when the story dives into the wild world of music promotion, including the very creative names of the rockstars and songs that the author cleverly presents. The lyrics she includes help shape the book, making the reader wish that she could hear the music right alongside the characters, particularly the song "Daredevils," that is referenced throughout. The author also is quite adept at portraying just how different a famous person's real-life is, compared to what gets written about them online. Nothing illustrates this better than Mitchell's relationship with her producing partner, Jake, and how they use, and maybe abuse, what the public thinks of them in order to shield Jake's true private life from the public’s eye.
I wish there had been a little more of Mitchell’s brother Jon, aka Ca$hMan, in the book to drive home the dangers of the industry more aggressively. I also wish there had been fewer characters. Thankfully the author provided a character chart at the beginning of the book, which I referenced frequently, but none of them really got their due, outside of perhaps Jake and Larry. And, the mini-episodes in each chapter never gave any of the storylines time to breathe. It was not uncommon to have jumps of months, if not years, in between chapters, leaving me wanting more depth to draw me in to attach my heart to Mitchell and her life fully. That said, the author was great at bringing characters back time and time again, providing some good continuity.
The Package is an ambitious work that is timely and does a good job illustrating the complex nature of being an ambitious working woman, particularly in an industry as fraught as the music industry. Mitchell is a complex and vibrant character, one worthy of our time and consideration. She pushes herself as hard as she can, and in the end, the conclusion of her journey to figure out what really matters in her life is quite satisfying.