Dylan: A Biography [Paperback]

Bob Spitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1991

"No other book captures it so well, understands so well.... "—Greil Marcus

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Writer Bob Spitz, author of Barefoot in Babylon, the story of the 1969 Woodstock festival, spent years researching Bob Dylan's life, interviewing people who had known him ranging back to his earliest days in Hibbing, Minnesota. Spitz did get people to talk on the record, and while his book collects myriad quotes from Dylan associates, the overall tone of Dylan: A Biography tends to veer toward being unaccountably mean-spirited. The book does document the recollections of some people important in Dylan's life, but it's an uneven read thanks to the persistently negative tone and Spitz's penchant for writing scenes in a hipster style that usually tends to work against the subject (who is, after all, more than hip enough on his own). --Robert McNamara

From Publishers Weekly

This overlong biography of Dylan (ne Robert Zimmerman) leads up to a thin, 25-page section on his life following his conversion to Christianity in 1979. Preceding are some 526 cliche-ridden pages on his youth in Minnesota, early stardom as a folksinger, 1965 metamorphosis with Highway 61 Revisited and the Newport Folk Festival, relationships, marriages, children, drink and drugs, ill-conceived tours and lazy recording-studio habits, bitter friendships and unabashed opportunism. There's lots of gossip, some sophomoric analysis and a whole mess of preposterous descriptions ("the guys in the Band were frisky little devils"). Spitz ( Barefoot in Babylon ) covers no new ground here, and writes in a mean-spirited manner, as elements of racism ("those big black mothers"; "the ill-tempered greaseball") and sexism ("the object of Dylan's affections was as devoted to him as a cocker spaniel in heat") mingle freely with potshots at critics, the folk-music community, record buyers, John Lennon, David Bowie, Joan Baez, etc., along with Dylan himself. Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393307697
• ISBN-13: 978-0393307696
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spitz' Writing Misunderstood, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dylan: A Biography (Paperback)

(This was written for a course assignment.)

Though already ten years old, "Dylan - A Biography" by Bob Spitz is an incredible, often uncomfortable look into singer/songwriter Bob Dylan's life. "Uncomfortable" because Bob Dylan, admired and even idolized by so many, named the spokesman of his generation in the early 1960s, and supposedly a prophet of peace and goodwill, is uncovered as a frequently complete and utter jerk. But at the same time, Spitz writes with an understanding pen. "Dylan" is by no means a tabloid-style hatchet job, Spitz having set out to "unmask the hero." If anything, "Dylan" shows us that Bob Dylan, the man, the myth, is indeed both a man and a myth. He is and always has been a human being, and one with his fair share of faults.

Reviews of "Dylan" on the Internet are rather critical of Spitz, using terms such as "mean-spirited." Due to Spitz having dramatically different reviews for his other works, it seems as though these other "Dylan" readers don't want to face the idea that their icon is not the quintessential humanitarian, despite the legend. Spitz interviews and quotes countless people from Dylan's past who give first-hand accounts of his own mean-spirited dealings with those who've cared about him. In doing so one feels foolish thinking of Dylan as among the world's greatest humanitarians.

Lack of personal knowledge created the void that "Dylan" was hoped to fill. Two topics in particular were eagerly awaited to be expounded on. These included Dylan's mid-1960s & life-altering motorcycle accident and Dylan's flirtation with Christianity, followed by his return to Judaism. Neither topic was satisfactorily covered, though it appears that the second part of the latter simply occured after the book was published a decade ago. As for the first topic, it appears due to the less-than-heavy emphasis and the implication that the accident was not nearly as serious as the public was lead to believe that it is for this that the topic was given little concentration.

The 550 pages that make up the main text of the book, including the prologue, chapters, and epilogue, certainly comprise a work that is significantly longer than easier-read alternatives for the topic, but it was hoped that the book would live up to its promise. At the bottom of the cover is a quote from esteemed writer Greil Marcus, "No other book captures it so well, understands so well..." An autobiography by Bob Dylan was also available, but to get the objective story, it is best to stay away from such self-promotion. In the author's notes preceding the prologue, Spitz writes that he was offered exclusive interviews with Dylan as well as access to countless treasures including photographs in return for allowing Dylan control over the final manuscript. Based on Dylan's notorious history of publicizing half-truths and outright lies about himself, Spitz refused.

"Dylan" is a recommended read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A facinating biography of Bob Dylan, November 27, 2009

By 

Arthur Glauberman (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dylan: A Biography (Paperback)

A few months ago, I read Bob Spitz's biography, The Beatles. When the Beatles first came to America in 1964 the one person they wanted to meet was Bob Dylan, who according to Spitz turned them on to marijuana as the Plaza Hotel. I found Spitz's book so entertaining and engrossing that I ordered his biography of Bob Dylan, even though it was published in 1985.

As a teenager growing up in the 1960's, Bob Dylan was one of my great folk heroes. I was also a great fan of Pete Seeger, Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Peter Paul and Mary and of course Joan Baez. Bob Spitz's biography of Bob Dylan takes us on the incredible journey as Robert Zimmerman travels to New York to reinvent himself as Bob Dylan. One of the problems of reading a detailed biography of a famous person is that there are risks that as you turn the pages of the book, you may discover unsettling and disturbing facts about the main character.

If you need to perceive Bob Dylan as a kind and empathetic person to enjoy his music, don't read this book. Spitz reports how Bob would use his friends, steal from them and manipulate and abuse the people who loved him. He also examines his genius of writing and performing songs that transformed the music business. I loved the book and while Bob Spitz showed me the dark side of Bob Dylan he also has whetted my appetite to revisit and listen to many of his CDs'.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Spitz takes the wrong perspective, again and again., June 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dylan: A Biography (Paperback)

The author seems concerned only with Dylan's popular appeal in his analysis of the man's career. For instance, if an album sells well, then it is great. If it does not sell well, then it must be awful. Amazingly, Spitz refers to the brilliant Basement Tapes as "awful."

His conclusions seem to cast Dylan as a washed-up has-been from about 1976 onward. Of course, this leads Spitz to discount some very good later works, and to generally belittle the many variations of Dylan's career.

The only reason this book doesn't get one star is because of the early chapters detailing Dylan's childhood, which were well-written and very interesting.