Carole King
She Made the Earth Move
by Jane Eisner
Jane Eisner traces the professional accomplishments and personal challenges of pop icon Carole King, exploring her unique contribution to American music
Carole King’s extraordinary career has defined American popular music for more than half a century. Born in New York City in 1942, she shaped the soundtrack of 1960s teen culture with such songs as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” one of many Brill Building classics she wrote with her first husband, Gerry Goffin. She was a leading figure in the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s, with dozens of Billboard Hot 100 hits and music awards—her 1971 album Tapestry won a record four Grammys. Yet she struggled to reconcile her fame with her roles as a wife and mother and retreated to the backwoods of Idaho, only to emerge in recent years as a political activist and the subject of the Tony-winning Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Journalist and author Jane Eisner places King’s life in historical and cultural context, revealing details of her humble beginnings in postwar Jewish Brooklyn, the roots of her musical genius, her four marriages, and her anguish about public life. Drawing on numerous interviews as well as historical and contemporary sources, this book brings to life King’s professional accomplishments, her personal challenges, and her lasting contributions to the great American songbook.
Advanced praise for Carole King: She Made the Earth Move
Jane Eisner movingly traces King’s journey to become one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters of all time. This masterful biographer’s evocative interpretations of King’s music will spur readers to update their playlists to listen, with new appreciation, to her songs.”
— Pamela Nadell, American Jewish historian and author of Antisemitism, an American Tradition
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Upcoming Engagements
We are currently scheduling events — visit here often for more opportunities to hear Jane speak.
JCC Manhattan with Stephanie Butnick — September 16, 2025
92NY 2025 Online Course — September 19, 26, and October 3, 2025, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Moment Magazine Zoominar — October 23, 2025, 4:30 pm
New Lehrhaus — November 2, 2025 6:00 pm ET
Streicker Center “Women on the Move” series — November 11, 2025
Present Day Club, Princeton, NJ — March 25, 2026
