Product Description

'I met Bob Dylan in 1961 when I was seventeen years old and he was twenty,' begins Suze Rotolo's wonderfully romantic story of their sweet but sometimes wrenching love affair and its eventual collapse under the pressure of Dylan's growing fame. It is Rotolo who is pictured with Dylan on the famous and iconic sleeve of his album The Freewheelin Bob Dylan. She has never written about her time with him, and this memoir is therefore very eagerly anticipated.Set during the time when Dylan was writing the soundtrack to the cultural revolution of the 1960s, this is a unique and remarkable narrative of a place and time when art, culture and politics all seemed to be conspiring to make America freer, better and more equitable. With a supporting cast that includes Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez and Andy Warhol, this is the book not only Dylan fans but also anyone fascinated by the sixties will have been waiting for.This is an eagerly awaited memoir by the woman closest to Bob Dylan in the sixties. Every Dylan fan will be intrigued to read this book. Suze Rotolo has never written before about her time in the sixties - indeed, has been famously elusive to Dylan biographers. The news event of this book's publication already trailed at length by national newspapers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168281 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 378 pages

Review
'A mouthwatering prospect. Rotolo was easily the second-most-compelling interviewee on No Direction Home; I hung onto her every word... The interest lies purely in the insight a very intelligent woman might provide on the formative period of a great artist' --The Dylan Daily

'Of all the unwritten books on Dylan, the most thoroughly documented musician of his era, this is perhaps the one most desired by his fans.' --The Guardian, August 16th 2008

'A welcome, page-turning perspective conspicuously absent from the plethora of books on Dylan and the folk era of the 1960s: that of a woman witnessing it all from its cultural and political epicenter.' --Todd Haynes, screenwriter and director of I'm Not There

Review
`Of all the unwritten books on Dylan, the most thoroughly documented musician of his era, this is perhaps the one most desired by his fans.

Review
'A welcome, page-turning perspective conspicuously absent from the plethora of books on Dylan and the folk era of the 1960s: that of a woman witnessing it all from its cultural and political epicenter.'

Customer Reviews

A wonderful book
This is a wonderful book, hugely evocative of NYC in the 1960s. It is written as a life story that just happens to include a relationship with Bob Dylan, rather than as a my-life-with-Bob 'kiss-and-tell' memoir.

Suze is extremely respectful of others, and never writes anything bitter or unkind. That's not to say this is bland or sappy. Far from it: it's colourful, rich in detail and beautifully written. There's a lightness and freshness here that makes most books about this era seem cliched and uninspired.

Rotolo comes across as compassionate, funny, wise and philosophical. Great company, in other words.

If you have any interest in New York, the 1960s or Bob Dylan, you will enjoy this book. You certainly don't need to be a Dylan fan or to know his music to get a lot out of this.

Dawning of A New Era
This is a fascinating memoir. True, most will attracted by the links to Dylan (the title clearly exploits this connection) but there is so much more to the book than this.

In fact you should be able to enjoy this book even if you can't stand Dylan.

Suze Rotolo lived in a remarkable time, in a remarkable place amongst remarkable people. It is quite easy from the comfort of 2009 to forget just how different the world was in the late 50s/ early 60s.

Suze's generation believed it could change the world, and some of its aspirations may seem naïve now; but in fact they DID change the political, social and cultural attitudes of the entire planet.

Suze was at the centre of an incredibly creative and volatile "scene" in Greenwich Village. Her observations and memories, as a full participant, are insightful, intriguing and entertaining. She does go off into slightly bizarre flights of fancy occasionally, but this is a minor fault.

For anyone who wants to understand the transition from the essential conservatism of the 1950s West to the cultural changes and political freedoms established in the subsequent decade this book is essential reading.

A Freewheelin' Time
An absolutely brilliant book. It brings into our understanding just what REAL life was like in Greenwich Villiage and surroundings during the 60s. A great, great read.