Chronicles

Dylan has been one of the most influential and the most mysterious of modern popular musicians. Although a mountain of information and speculation has been published--e.g., in Howard Sounes's Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan (CH, Nov'01, 39-1479) and David Hajdu's Positively 4th Street: The Life and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fari^D na and Richard Fari^D na (2002)--Dylan has granted none of his numerous biographers an interview. In interviews given in the early 1960s, Dylan was notorious for either inventing a past or joking around. This book, at last, appears to present Dylan's authentic memories and thoughts, although not in a traditional chronological format. In a refreshing, introspective style, he mostly covers aspects of his early life in Minneapolis and Greenwich Village, including colorful sketches of Dave Van Ronk and assorted others. He also offers an extended discussion of recording his album Oh Mercy (1988). Much is missing, but this is only the first of three projected volumes. Even without notes, bibliography, illustrations, or index, Dylan's colorful, certainly embellished memories will prove valuable to those interested in 20th-century music and folk culture. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All collections; all levels. R. D. Cohen Indiana University Northwest

Acolytes and scholars have long argued over the meaning of Dylan's often cryptic songs. Now they have a new source of unparalleled authority to guide their interpretations in the first installment of his long-awaited memoirs, which jumps around chronologically, much as Dylan has veered stylistically over the years. It lurches from youth in Minnesota to arrival in New York City in 1961 to creative slump a decade later to the stirrings of creative revival in the 1980s. Most evocative is Dylan's depiction of early '60s Greenwich Village, which paints the burgeoning folk scene so vividly that it seems to have happened last week. Among the surprising revelations is Dylan's confession that his mundane output in the early '70s was the result of withdrawal into domestic life and a conscious attempt to reject the pressure he had felt as the "voice of a generation." Another surprise is that the book is so straightforward. As opposed to his obtusely surreal novel Tarantula 0 (1971) and his famously evasive interviews, Dylan here is honest, bordering on confessional--that is, if he is to be taken at face value, always a risky proposition with this elusive artist. Dylan envisions this as the first of three volumes of memoirs, so fans shouldn't be upset that he ignores his most significant work but let the omission whet appetites for the sequels. As a concrete--and hefty--reminder of what has made Dylan such a revered figure in popular music, a new collection of the lyrics of the songs on the 28 albums from Bob Dylan0 (1962) to Love and Theft 0 (2001) and additional unreleased works has been published simultaneously with Chronicles0 . --Gordon Flagg Copyright 2004 Booklist

After a career of principled coyness, Dylan takes pains to outline the growth of his artistic conscience in this superb memoir. Writing in a language of cosmic hokum and street-smart phrasing, he lingers not on moments of success and celebrity, but on the crises of his intellectual development. He reconstructs, for example, an early moment in New York when he realized ?that I would have to start believing in possibilities that I wouldn?t have allowed before, that I had been closing my creativity down to a very narrow, controllable scale...that things had become too familiar and I might have to disorient myself.? And he recounts how, in that search for larger reach, he actually went to the public library?s microfilm archives to learn the rhetoric of Civil War newspapers. Skipping the years of his greatest records, or perhaps saving those years for the second volume of his chronicle, Dylan recalls the times when he was sick of his public persona and made more lackluster albums like ?Self-Portrait? and ?New Morning.? He then skips again to his comeback work with producer Daniel Lanois in the late 1980s. Dylan emphasizes that he was ?indifferent to wealth and love,? and readers looking for private revelations will be disappointed. But others will prize the display of musical integrity and seriousness that is evident in his minutia-filled accounts of his influences in folk and blues. Ultimately, this book will stand as a record of a young man?s self-education, as contagious in its frank excitement as the letters of John Keats and as sincere in its ramble as Jack Kerouac?s On the Road, to which Dylan frequently refers. A person of Dylan?s stature could have gotten away with far less; that he has been so thoughtful in the creation of this book is a measure of his talents, and a gift to his fans. (Oct. 5) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

There's no word yet on how far this first volume goes, but we'll bet that Dylan doesn't leave any answers blowin' in the wind. Look for the complete Lyrics (ISBN 0-7432-2627-8. $45), pubbing simultaneously. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Acolytes and scholars have long argued over the meaning of Dylan's often cryptic songs. Now they have a new source of unparalleled authority to guide their interpretations in the first installment of his long-awaited memoirs, which jumps around chronologically, much as Dylan has veered stylistically over the years. It lurches from youth in Minnesota to arrival in New York City in 1961 to creative slump a decade later to the stirrings of creative revival in the 1980s. Most evocative is Dylan's depiction of early '60s Greenwich Village, which paints the burgeoning folk scene so vividly that it seems to have happened last week. Among the surprising revelations is Dylan's confession that his mundane output in the early '70s was the result of withdrawal into domestic life and a conscious attempt to reject the pressure he had felt as the "voice of a generation." Another surprise is that the book is so straightforward. As opposed to his obtusely surreal novel Tarantula (1971) and his famously evasive interviews, Dylan here is honest, bordering on confessional--that is, if he is to be taken at face value, always a risky proposition with this elusive artist. Dylan envisions this as the first of three volumes of memoirs, so fans shouldn't be upset that he ignores his most significant work but let the omission whet appetites for the sequels.As a concrete--and hefty--reminder of what has made Dylan such a revered figure in popular music, a new collection of the lyrics of the songs on the 28 albums from Bob Dylan (1962) to Love and Theft (2001) and additional unreleased works has been published simultaneously with chronicles. ((Reviewed November 15, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

There's no word yet on how far this first volume goes, but we'll bet that Dylan doesn't leave any answers blowin' in the wind. Look for the complete Lyrics (ISBN 0-7432-2627-8. $45), pubbing simultaneously. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

After a career of principled coyness, Dylan takes pains to outline the growth of his artistic conscience in this superb memoir. Writing in a language of cosmic hokum and street-smart phrasing, he lingers not on moments of success and celebrity, but on the crises of his intellectual development. He reconstructs, for example, an early moment in New York when he realized "that I would have to start believing in possibilities that I wouldn't have allowed before, that I had been closing my creativity down to a very narrow, controllable scale...that things had become too familiar and I might have to disorient myself." And he recounts how, in that search for larger reach, he actually went to the public library's microfilm archives to learn the rhetoric of Civil War newspapers. Skipping the years of his greatest records, or perhaps saving those years for the second volume of his chronicle, Dylan recalls the times when he was sick of his public persona and made more lackluster albums like "Self-Portrait" and "New Morning." He then skips again to his comeback work with producer Daniel Lanois in the late 1980s. Dylan emphasizes that he was "indifferent to wealth and love," and readers looking for private revelations will be disappointed. But others will prize the display of musical integrity and seriousness that is evident in his minutia-filled accounts of his influences in folk and blues. Ultimately, this book will stand as a record of a young man's self-education, as contagious in its frank excitement as the letters of John Keats and as sincere in its ramble as Jack Kerouac's On the Road, to which Dylan frequently refers. A person of Dylan's stature could have gotten away with far less; that he has been so thoughtful in the creation of this book is a measure of his talents, and a gift to his fans. (Oct. 5)