Who is that man? : in search of the real Bob Dylan

Title:

Author:

Dalton, David, 1942-2022-

ISBN:

9781401323394

Personal Author:

Dalton, David, 1942-2022-

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Information:

New York : Hyperion, [2012]

Physical Description:

xiii, 383 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Personal Subject:

Dylan, Bob, 1941-

Subject Term:

Singers -- United States -- Biography.

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2062800

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Beale Memorial Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Adult Non-Fiction	921 DYLAN BO Dal	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Northeast Branch Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Adult Non-Fiction	921 DYLAN BO Dal	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodward Park Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Non-fiction Area	782.42164 DAL	Searching... Unknown

For almost half a century, Bob Dylan has been a primary catalyst in rock's shifting sensibilities. Few American artists are as important, beloved, and endlessly examined, yet he remains something of an enigma. Who, we ask, is the "real" Bob Dylan? Is he Bobby Zimmerman, yearning to escape Hibbing, Minnesota, or the Woody Guthrie wannabe playing Greenwich Village haunts? Folk Messiah, Born-Again Bob, Late-Elvis Dylan, Jack Fate, or Living National Treasure? In Who Is That Man? , David Dalton--cultural historian, journalist, screenwriter, and novelist--paints a revealing portrait of the rock icon, ingeniously exposing the three-card monte games he plays with his persona.

Guided by Dalton's cutting-edge insights and myth-debunking point of view, Who Is That Man? follows Dylan's imaginative life, integrating actual events with Dylan's words and those of the people who know him most intimately. Drawing upon Dylan's friends and fellow eyewitnesses--including Marianne Faithfull, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Stampfel , Larry "Ratso" Sloman, Eric Andersen, Nat Hentoff, Andrew Oldham, Nat Finkelstein, and others--this book will provide a new perspective on the man, the myth, and the musical era that forged them both.

Author Notes

David Dalton is a New York Times bestselling author, founding editor of Rolling Stone , recipient of the Columbia School of Journalism Award, and winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Best Rock Book of the Year award for Faithfull . He has written some twenty-odd books, including biographies of James Dean, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Sid Vicious, the Rolling Stones, and, in 2009, a critically acclaimed biography of Andy Warhol, Pop . Dalton is the coauthor (with Jonathan Cott) of Get Back , the only book ever commissioned by the Beatles. He lives in upstate New York with his family and an assortment of llamas, horses, sheep, and a pig named Tiny (hint, he isn't).

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Bob Dylan's life and legacy have received plenty of coverage, but few biographers have had the insight and writing chops of Dalton (Get Back), a founding editor of Rolling Stone who is at the peak of his powers in this engaging examination of Dylan's ever-changing persona. Though he hits the obligatory career highlights (e.g., Dylan's quick assimilation into the New York City folk scene, his electric set at Newport, the motorcycle accident that supposedly almost cost him his life, etc.), it's Dalton's keen observations of Dylan's chameleon-like qualities that make this study such addictive reading. Fully aware of the power of the public image, Dylan carefully cultivated his influences from the beginning (many of which he would adopt outright, such as that of Woody Guthrie), skillfully crafting an image of a larger-than-life folk messiah that eventually morphed into a grumpy, hoodie-wearing recluse, and back into a formidable presence in the music world. Dalton is at his best when he's examining Dylan from a thousand feet; his retrospective audit of the artist's early years and his career path are spot-on and full of critical insight. He artfully dances between fan and critic, fully admiring Dylan's work and putting it into a cultural perspective, while remaining somewhat awestruck by the artist's talent and creativity. This approach would have crumbled in lesser hands, but Dalton does a stunningly good job. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

The mysteries of Bob Dylan captured in even-handed, never-boring fashion. Like another American dreamer, Jay Gatsby, Dylan is the product of his own myth. Unlike Gatsby, the myth--the multiple sides of which were recently displayed like museum pieces in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There--has long been part of the package. Still, no matter how calculated the mystery may be, Dylan remains a chameleon even to those close to him. According to Rolling Stone founding editor and longtime rock chronicler Dalton (El Sid: Saint Vicious, 1997, etc.), Dylan "writes compelling tales about his character in a series of self-portraits that he then peevishly paints over." In this latest attempt to lift the Dylan veil, Dalton offers less a straight biography than an inspired, imaginative investigation into Dylan's many sides: dedicated folkie, gifted poet, egomaniac, wannabe maker of abstract cinema. The author sifts the songs for real-life clues and tackles certain aspects of the Dylan story that have long been a source of controversy. Examples: Dylan did visit Woody Guthrie, there was no benediction, no passing of the torch; the dying folkie may not have even known Dylan was there. Dylan wasn't booed for going electric at the Newport Folk Festival; he was booed because he only played 15 minutes. The supposedly life-changing near-death 1966 motorcycle accident was likely no more than a minor scrape. Although the book ends in a bit of a limbo--as any book that follows Dylan in his later career is destined to do--this lively and literate attempt to read a half-century's worth of brain scans from a literal living legend strikes the right balance between admiration and skepticism.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

Dalton (Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead) is the latest in a series of eminent rock critics (Robert Shelton, Paul Williams, Clinton Heylin, Michael Gray, Greil Marcus, et al.) to take on the enigmatic Bob Dylan. Is there anything new to say about Dylan? While the musician's output hasn't slowed, critical studies of Dylan's work appear even more frequently-most recently David Yaffe's Bob Dylan: Like a Complete Unknown and Michael J. Gilmour's The Gospel According to Bob Dylan. Dalton's book is a blend of biography and music appreciation. He deftly traces the familiar contours of Dylan's career and his many shape-shifting personas. The liveliest portion of the book deals with the creative and audacious peak of Dylan's career in the mid-1960s, with brief forays into the writing of Tarantula and Dylan's relationship with Andy Warhol (that chapter is amusingly titled "Godzilla vs. Mothra"). The book is light on Dylan's recent accomplishments, though Dalton hits the highlights and assesses several later albums and live performances. Verdict Dalton's insights will be of interest to both die-hard fans and anyone who wants a good introduction to Dylan's life and art.-Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Prologue: Something Was Happening but I Didn't Know What It Was: That Afternoon with Bob	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
1 Creation Myths	p. 7
2 The Hall of Early Folk Memories	p. 21
3 Woody Junior	p. 33
4 Li'l Abner on Bleecker Street	p. 41
5 Folk Messiah	p. 51
6 The Zimmerman Letter	p. 61
7 From a Buick 6	p. 69
8 The Hallucinated Alphabet	p. 91
9 Bob Gets Wired	p. 99
10 How Does It Feel? Self-Portrait at 24 Frames per Second	p. 117
11 Ballad of a Thin Man	p. 127
12 Godzilla vs. Mothra: Two Icons of the '60s Meet Under False Pretenses	p. 141
13 That Wild Mercury Sound: What Are Shakespeare, Memphis Minnie, Jackie Deshannon, John Lennon, Achilles, Napoleon XIV, Lesley Gore, Johann Sebastian Bach Doing on This Album?	p. 151
14 After the Ambulances Go	p. 161
15 Somebody Got Lucky but It Was an Accident	p. 173
16 Fifty-Four Minutes Inside Bob's Brain	p. 183
17 Who Is Tiny Montogomery?	p. 195
18 The Cowboy Angel Rides: John Wesley Harding	p. 205
19 The Invisible Man Goes to Nashville	p. 215
20 The Amnesia	p. 225
21 How Dylan Became Dylan, Sort Of...	p. 239
22 Under the Rings of Saturn	p. 249
23 The Second Coming of Bob	p. 259
24 Bob's Wild West (Village) Show	p. 269
25 Epiphany in Room 702	p. 279
26 Down the Road	p. 289
27 When I Paint My Masterpiece	p. 311
28 The Enigma Variations	p. 323
Bibliography	p. 339
Notes	p. 345
Acknowledgments	p. 369
Index	p. 373
Photo and Illustration Credits	p. 383

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