The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956-1966 Review

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(More customer reviews)Bob Dylan scrapbook.
This is a wonderful trip down memory lane.
The text of the book
The book basically a narrative of the years from 1956 to 1966. It provides a nice insight to Bob Dylan before the fame up to Blonde on Blonde. Most of it the true Dylan aficionado would already know, but it is very well written. The book is only 64 pages in length and can be read in a couple hours if you don't stop to examine the scraps.
The Scraps.
These are special. The book is heavily laced with reproductions of memorabilia from advertisements for Zimmerman furniture and electric,concert tickets, photos, newspaper clippings taped to the pages to advertisments for shows. My favorite scraps are the reproductions of hand written lyrics for Talking New York, Blowin in the wind, It ain't me babe, Chimes of freedom, Gates of Eden, Like a rolling stone and She's your lover now.
The CD.
This contains about 45 minutes of interviews that are chopped up into short segments. Sometimes you get to hear the interviewers question and sometimes you don't but you can usually figure out what the question might have been based Dylan's answer. On the CD Dylan will ramble on a little but it is all good. During some of the interviews when he speaks it seems like it is the same cadence as Like a rolling stone and other times more in the cadence of MR Tambourine man which is something I never realized until I listened to this CD. Some of the interviews are actual interviews from that time period and some are newer and are of Dylan reflecting on that time period.
Summary:
This is a really interesting to read, look at and listen to. A nice ride on Dylan's magic swirling ship. You will not be disapointed, a five star book all the way.


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Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan Review

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Forever Young is a collection of pictures of Dylan taken by Douglas Gilbert in the summer of 1964. These were to have been published in a Look magazine feature article which was killed when the editors determined that the appearance of Dylan was "too scruffy for a family magazine". Released forty one years later, the images provide an intimate portrait of the artist as a young man.
Dylan is seen pecking away at a portable typewriter, hanging out with Allen Ginsburg and John Sebastian, and riding around Woodstock on his Triumph motorcycle. There's a great shot of him sitting in a driveway with a little kid in a Davey Crockett jacket, and another in which he tilts back in a rocking chair, watching Dean Martin on a TV incongruously placed in a window. In another one he peers interestedly over a cup of coffee at his future wife Sara Lowdnes, who is working on a needlepoint at the Café Espresso.
Unfortunately, the accompanying text by Dave Marsh is rambling, pretentious, and often irrelevant. Here is an example:
"The idea that art deserves respect only if it reaches the most sublime status results mainly in hype, as we try to explain why we love things that aren't quite that fine".
There's no need to explain why we don't love this kind of writing which mars the natural and easygoing flow of what is otherwise an enjoyable book.


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Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (33 1/3) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read a handful of the 33 1/3 line of books, each devoted to a landmark album, and Polizzotti's may be the best.
For starters, it's well-researched, adds original research by Polizzotti himself-- including interviews with the Highway 61 session musicians-- and seeks to settle any mysteries or contradictions extant in previous sources (like who played second guitar on Desolation Row). This is unsurprising, as Polizzotti has proven himself a rigorous scholar in such works as Revolution of the Mind: The Life of Andre Breton, which was clearly assembled from a mountain of primary sources and original research (and done in French, no less!).
But in addition to solid research, Polizzotti has written an intensely personal book on his history with and interpretation of Highway 61. He walks a fine line, never letting his obviously large vocabulary lead him too far into questionable interpretive territory. His interpretations are convincing, or at least always well-reasoned and explained. When it's impossible or difficult to say what Dylan means by a certain lyric or song (which, as Dylan fans know, is often), Polizzotti has no problem admitting it. He does not force or stretch his interpretations over Dylan's many enigmas.
And this, I believe, is what makes this the perfect 33 1/3 book. If Polizzotti were writing a traditional biographical or journalistic account of Highway 61's creation, his personal descriptions and interpretations would intrude on the narrative. But here, they are not only welcome but epitomize the spirit of the 33 1/3 line. An excellent piece of Dylan scholarship and a fine read for anyone seeking to decode Highway 61 (as far as such a task is possible).

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Highway 61 Revisitedresonates because of its enduring emotional appeal. Few songwriters before Dylan or since have combined so effectively the intensely personal with the spectacularly universal. In "Like a Rolling Stone," his gleeful excoriation of Miss Lonely (Edie Sedgwick? Joan Baez? a composite "type"?) fuses with the evocation of a hip new zeitgeist to produce a veritable anthem. In "Ballad of a Thin Man," the younger generation's confusion is thrown back in the Establishment's face, even as Dylan vents his disgust with the critics who labored to catalogue him. And in "Desolation Row," he reaches the zenith of his own brand of surrealist paranoia, that here attains the atmospheric intensity of a full-fledged nightmare. Between its many flourishes of gallows humor, this is one of the most immaculately frightful songs ever recorded, with its relentless imagery of communal executions, its parade of fallen giants and triumphant local losers, its epic length and even the mournful sweetness of Bloomfield's flamenco-inspired fills. In this book,MarkPolizzottiexamines just what makes the songs on Highway 61 Revisitedso affecting, how they work together as a suite, and how lyrics, melody, and arrangements combine to create an unusually potent mix. He blends musical and literary analysis of the songs themselves, biography (where appropriate) and recording information (where helpful). And he focuses onDylan's mythic presence in the mid-60s, when he emerged from his proletarian incarnation to become the American Rimbaud. The comparison has been made by others, including Dylan, and it illuminates much about his mid-sixties career, for in many respects Highway 61 is rock 'n' roll's answer to A Season in Hell.>

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Queen's Champion: The Legend of Lancelot Retold (From the Lion Fairytale Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)Everybody is familiar with at least some part of the Lancelot -King Arthur-Guinevere story, but when authors write about it, the novels almost always focus on King Arthur or Guinevere. It's about time someone wrote about Lancelot and portrayed him as something other than an adulterer.
The research that's gone into this book is truly amazing. Every detail feels real and that's only helped by Ed Beard's fantastic cover painting and Ron Rousselle's wonderful pen-and-ink drawings which grace the interior of the book.
In this version of the legend, Lancelot and Guinever are childhood friends, raised together by the Lady on the isle of what is probably Avalon, although it's never specified as such. Their other childhood companions included Gawain and Galehaut. This latter character is another historical figure who is often overlooked in the legends. His friendship with Lancelot borders on devotional and it's a real pleasure to see a companionable friendship with such depth portrayed within the context of this legend.
The King Arthur of this novel is much more the warlord and much less the godlike figure that most writers seem compelled to portray. His marriage to Guinever has less to do with love than it does to do with securing a strong military position in the north and expanding the sphere of his influence.
The book, which includes an incredible chapter recounting Lancelot's childhood with the Lady, comes into focus when the main characters are adults and Arthur is duped by a scheming Regina -- Guinevere's half-sister -- into thinking that the woman he's married is not the true Guinevere, despite all evidence to the contrary. When Arthur tries to install Regina on the throne, chaos errupts and threatens the fellowship (a.k.a. the Round Table although it's not called that here).
This legend of the False Guinevere is just as prevelent in the lore and mythology as the other legends of this time period, but since it's an often overlooked one, it makes for a great retelling.
If you're looking for something that is truly set apart from the same old Arthur-as-God motif, you'll love this book. It's beautifully written and fully realized and is one of the best novels about this time I've ever read.

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A sensual and stunning retelling of Lancelot's life andlove for the Lady Guinevere. Based on historical fact and meticulouslyresearched, this incredible tale is sure to dazzle and amaze. Thesecond in the From the Lion series: retold classic tales for openminded adults.

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