Dylan Chronicles. (1 Viewer)

[Ockeghem]

Amazon.com: Chronicles, Volume 1: Bob Dylan: Books

I'm about 5/6ths of the way through the audio version. His narrative prose is as discursive as are many of his songs, but not impossible to follow. He does leap around in time, however. There are chapters on the recording of Oh, Mercy (a successful album from 1989) and a lot of material about coming to New York City in 1961. There is some information about songwriting (good); some about the pressure he experienced from the media (very subjective, not every successful performer has the same troubles); and some information about how important his family was/is to him.

Dylan's view of things is Dylan's view of things. Yes, he was hunkered down defending his family during the period 1965-1977, when he was divorced from Sara (wife 1). He is also now divorced from wife 2 (Carolyn), who is featured prominently in the narrative with regard to the recording of Oh, Mercy.

I don't know how this material was compiled (it flows like audio recordings of speech), or how it was selected. It might be interesting to learn more. I hope he does a vol II.

 

[Michael Elliott]

The book certainly bounces around a lot but I loved it. This was suppose to be a three-part deal so hopefully other topics will get discussed. I'm really dying to hear him comments on the infamous religious tour, which had many crazy events going on. The best part of the book was how he got into the "Never Ending Tour", which is still going on today.

I'm not sure if he's written anything yet but he has a new album out next month, doing another Euro tour followed by an American one, apparently doing some painting plus getting involved in other activities. He's going to be very busy so I'm not sure how much writing he's getting done.