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List Price: $14.99 | | Publisher: Rough Guides
Salesrank: 496634
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| Our Price: $8.66 |
| Used Price: $7.39 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
In his seventh decade and still going strong, Bob Dylan is the ultimate singer-songwriter - hugely revered, baffingly idiosyncratic, an enigma and a music legend responsible for a staggering number of classic songs. Now in it''s second edition, the Rough Guide clarifies the mysteries surrounding the man and the music, looking at the lyrics, the influences, the legends and the musicians he worked with. Features include: The Life - from Minnesota to Manchester, from the Albert Hall to the Never Ending Tour, The Music - 50 essential Dylan songs and the stories behind them and Dylanology - the movies, the sayings, books and websites.
The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan 2 (Rough Guide Reference) Reviews:
The single most readable and useful Dylan book 
2009-02-06 - The best book for newcomers to Dylan, but useful even if you already have a Dylan library.
If you are just getting into Dylan, this accessible, balanced book has a straightforward biography, an overview of Dylan's career (all the albums to 2005 with careful dates and sensible assessments), a brief analysis of 50 outstanding songs, and smart suggestions for further exploration. It's peppered with lots of fun and factual one-page 'boxes' on issues such as Dylan and The Beatles, Dylan and Allen Ginsberg, Dylan and Joan Baez, Dylan and drugs--you name it! No other book comes close to it as an introduction to the man and his music, and it's a pleasure to read.
It's useful, too, even if you already have a larger Dylan collection. I have many books on Dylan--I've been listening to him for 45 years, teach a university course on him, and enjoy access to tons of Dylan recordings, books, and films. Whenever I have a quick question, this is the book I always check first (and usually last). To get the facts of the biography, of the official and bootleg recordings, of whatever, it's a convenient and reliable reference.
For anyone interested in Dylan, a great book to have on hand.
Rough Guide to Bob Dylan review
2008-11-04 - Excellent book on Dylan. Very informative
Sections on books on Dylan, sections on each album, and a list of the best songs by the man
Nice small book, but a very good read!
Solid overview 
2008-05-05 - Nice overview of Dylan and his career and puts a lot in perspective. Not suggested for Dylan freaks, but casual fans will learn plenty.
Not Too Bad 
2007-07-01 - Somehow the author missed the essence of what Bob Dylan was for many of us and I suppose that is why the book was kind of disappointing. I had a rather old-fashioned teacher who used to say that boys needed heroes, and now that I'm old I see that that is quite true. All the talk about individuality, becoming who you are and so forth, is really irrelevant for most people: most of us need role models, someone to imitate, to play the role the saints, Jesus and Mary in Christian mythology played centuries ago, ideals and aspirations, at least until you can accept what you are. Bob Dylan was this kind of mythological figure for me and a lot of other kids my age. He was a kind of modern saint, something to aspire to be: charismatic, poetic, seemingly free of norms and conventional opinions, someone devoted to a higher calling. Of course, in many ways he wasn't and isn't, but he was and is genuinely inspired, and that seems to me much more interesting than the mundane account of his marital problems and all the rest.
And of course, I would have liked the book better if I had agreed with the author's musical assessments. I don't agree that Dylan's best work was the three albums beginning with Bringin' it all Back Home, though I guess many people are with the author here. I think the albums beginning with Oh Mercy to the present are the best. But more importantly, I think he has missed the significance of what Bob Dylan brought to American music: intelligence and deep feeling. If you listen to Leadbelly's version of House of the Rising Sun, for example, and compare it to Dylan's, there is a definite qualitative difference. This is true of a great many songs: he transformed them into much more meaningful works. This is true of his original songs as well all of which, of course, derive from something else, everything in life does. "Creativity" isn't really making things from nothing as the "Creator" may or may not have done, but more a searching for expression, a matching of inner feeling to outer form. Bob Dylan has extraordinary capablities in this regard. Personally, I think that ought to some extent exempt him from the run of the mill rock n roll, Entertainment Tonite bio, but hasn't here.
Anyway, he is undoubtedly a celebrity and subject to the rather superficial examination celebrities get, and that is what this is. It's not awful, but it's not anything like what the great body of work he has given us deserves.
Rough Guide to Bob Dylan 2
2006-12-27 - Anyone who has even the slightest interest in Bob Dylan will enjoy this book. It is a very easy read and a complete resource for all fans of the Great One. The sources are clearly noted and the writer goes into great detail. I loved the book.
