Customer Reviews

Bob Dylan: Inspirations

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Sized slightly larger than a double CD set, this is not really a book in a traditional sense, except that it is made of paper and bound between two hard covers. This is an assemblage of black and white photos with random thoughts generated by Dylan on various subjects (Example: "God is woman. You take it from there." This is superimposed over a b&w photo of a naked, anonymous, headless woman tastefully covering her torso with her arms.). The quotes are completely without context, except a context imposed by the book's designer, Grant Scott, via the selection of accompanying photo subjects (Allen Ginsberg, Dylan at various ages, Earth as seen from space, etc.)
For hardcore collectors or Dylan worshippers only.

This is basically an itty-bitty coffee table book (oxymoron, no?) with very little content. Format: Picture and on each facing page a large print quote from Dylan. That's it. Not very many pages, either. If you are inclined to meditate upon each thing he ever said, this may be your book, but I would suggest something with a bit more substance.

Are you a Bob Dylan fan? If so, pick up Inspirations by Bob Dylan. These are words said by Bob himself, including his thoughts on God, stardom, songwriting, the motorbike accident, Elvis...a little of everything, accompanied by some nice photos. Here he says he never wanted to be a prophet (Elvis, maybe), that some of his songs simply don't make sense, no matter how hard you look into them, and that we all like motorcycles to some degree. It's a great read, and one with Bob's typical twisted sense of humor. Buy it if you like Dylan.

If you like looking at images of Bob Dylan, you will undoubtedly love this book. And if you love the writings of Bob Dylan, you'll enjoy it a little more. Each page contains either an image or multiple images of Mr. Dylan, and most pages contain a blurb uttered by or written in a song by him. Considering the vast Bob Dylan songbook and the veritable sea of words Dylan has written, I would have expected more verbiage than what is presented here. I'm not complaining, mind you, just observing. There is only one Bob Dylan, and I'm glad he's here with us, sharing his extraordinary perspective. That's also why books like this one can exist.