Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4732 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-19
• Released on: 2005-09-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

AMAZON.CO.UK
As the first volume of Chronicles, Bob Dylan’s long-anticipated autobiography, finally appears, we are given a forcible reminder how it has never been easy to be a Dylan admirer. How could the fiercely anti-establishment composer of With God on Our Side embrace (in turn) orthodox Judaism, then fundamentalist Christianity – two religions absolutely antithetical to his celebration of the unfettered human spirit ? How could the demigod of folk (and disciple of Woody Guthrie) make his controversial move into electric rock? How could this man of the streets become the arch capitalist? If no answers to these questions are to be found within the pages of Chronicles, there is nevertheless a whole host of pleasures to be encountered: literary felicities, brilliantly etched pen portraits of musical personalities he has encountered, the biting wit one might expect – not to mention a thousand surprises (how could a man hardly noted for the beauty of his vocal tones be such an admirer of composers whose work he could never tackle, such as Harold Arlen, composer of Over the Rainbow?.

Those who have loved Dylan’s lyrics (and that’s a good chunk of the academic world these days) will find the same coruscating prose here: idea and image fused into brilliant (if often opaque) word pictures, as Dylan takes us back to his early days on the New York folk scene, before he became the face of rebellion in music. There are insights into his reluctance to conform to the image his fans have of him (hence his highly unlikely conversion to religious dogmas?), and this inaugural volume of his autobiography takes the reader up to the moment of his first real celebrity. It’s a fascinating and infuriating read, of a piece with Dylan the Enigma. And perhaps answers to those unanswered questions will appear in succeeding volumes. --Barry Forshaw

Observer, October 10, 2004
‘Takes its place next to On The Road . . . as an essential record of an American artist’s manifest destiny’

Daily Telegraph, October 7, 2004
'Like discovering the lost diaries of Shakespeare . . . Maybe the most extraordinarily intimate autobiography by a 20th-century legend'

Customer Reviews

Not the autobiography
This book is to autobiography as Dylan's voice is to sweet melody. I found it a huge disappointment for it is singularly lacking in facts about his career. About the only thing I learned was the origins of his pseudonym. There is nothing about how he achieved fame, his wife or children. One does learn a little about his family background. But for the most part it is a boring ramble. I like the man's music. The cobbler should stick to his last,

For Dylan Fans only?
Like many people I am aware of (and appreciate some of) Dylans music, but wouldn't consider myself a fan. So when I was given this as a present I was interested to read it to see if I could learn a bit more about the man and his music and perhaps become more of a fan.

I was dissapointed. What you get is anecdotes from different periods in his life (more early than late). On the whole I didn't find them particularly interesting. Despite the claim on the jacket that the book is 'an intimate potrait' Dylan gives little away.

His righting style is sub-chandler, but somewhat rambling. Fairly easy to read but not particularly engaging. The is also a bit too much blowing his own trumpet in the early sections, he descibes seeing Mae West's ex-boyfriend at a party and mentions "Mae West would later record a song of mine" as if that has any importance.

The best section is probably the one on the recording of 'Oh Mercy', where he desribes he dissolusionment with his own music, rediscovering his muse and the difficult recording process.

I'm sure if I knew much more about Dylan I'd have got more out of this book. The jacket lists the many notables who chose it as their 'book of the year', they are I think all of the generation who grew up with Dylan and sawe him as a spokesman, however much he didn't want to be. I'm 10 years younger than them, for me this wasn't even book of the month. If you are not devoted to Dylan approach with caution.

Only one person could have written this book
A scintillating, rambling trawl through various (apparently) unconnected episodes in Bob's wonderful life. Full of vigour, wry humour, delightful little sketches of luminaries from the 60s music scene, many passages of unparalleled prose, and the occasional dodgy cliche or metaphor of course (wouldn't be Dylan without them).

Two things really stood out for me:
(1) The incredibly atmospheric evocation of what it was like to be in your early 20s and starting out on the music scene in early 60s New York. Hopes, dreams, and vaunting ambition; chance meetings and helpful alliances; a semi-conscious sense of vulnerability; it's all in there, and you feel it with him.
(2) The description of the painful production process (working with producer Daniel Lanois) for "Oh Mercy", the wonderful album that started his later-life renaissance after the nadir of the early 80s. He actually has at least one paragraph - often more - for each song on the album, describing exactly how it came into being. This stuff is like gold dust if you're a fan.

It's not in chronological order and it's certainly not your average autobiography, but only one person could have written this book, even if it wasn't about his own life!