Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader [Paperback]

Benjamin Hedin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2005

"The most absorbing, wide-ranging and stimulating body of writing about the mighty Bob that's ever been assembled."--Salman Rushdie

Hailed by Publishers Weekly as "not only the best writing on the ever-changing folk singer, but also some of the best writing about any musician around," Studio A presents Bob Dylan's unique literary legacy in a collection that is quintessentially Dylan: mosaic, offbeat, poetic. This "astutely chosen and intelligently annotated" collection (Time Out London) gathers over fifty articles, poems, essays, speeches, literary criticisms, and interviews; many previously unpublished. Individually, these pieces offer insight into the man and his time, but collectively they reveal the coming-of-age of American cultural criticism in their "sweeping view of both Dylan and the changing times he so eloquently captured in his music" (Publishers Weekly). With Sam Shepard, Bruce Springsteen, Allen Ginsberg, Johnny Cash, Greil Marcus, Joyce Carol Oates, Gary Giddins, Rick Moody, Tom Piazza, Barry Hannah, and Dylan himself on the list of contributors, Studio A is truly "a vital document" (New York Times) for all fans. 8 pages of photographs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As a pop culture icon, a literary figure and perhaps even the physical and spiritual embodiment of the tumultuous 1960s, Bob Dylan has taken on more roles and shapes than any other musician. Dylan, according to Hunter S. Thompson, became "the voice of an anguished and half-desperate generation." Now, 43 years after Dylan recorded his first album, Hedin has gathered together not only the best writing on the ever-changing folk singer, but also some of the best writing about any musician around. More than just a hagiography of a celebrated musician, his well-balanced collection mixes harsh criticism and unabashed enthusiasm, drawing from the works of great writers and artists—like Greil Marcus, Sam Shepard, Allen Ginsburg, Joyce Carol Oates, David Gates, Nat Hentoff, Robert Christgau, Anne Waldman, David Hajdu and Barry Hannah, to name just a few. The breadth and depth of Hedin’s selection is wonderful, but the book’s greatest coup may be its elegant chronological structure, which allows for a sweeping view of both Dylan and the changing times he so eloquently captured in his music. In his introduction, Hedin points out that in 1961, when Dylan’s first record debuted, "Elvis was at the movies, Buddy Holiday was dead, Chuck Berry had been out of the Top 40" for two years, and the Beatles still hadn’t come to New York. In those days, rock n’ roll didn’t reflect life’s complexities, Dylan once told an interviewer, it was all "put on a happy face and ride Sally ride." How things have changed since then. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Bob Dylan has written many of the most significant songs and recorded many of the most lasting albums of the past 40 years, and they have inspired a wealth of equally inspired writing. This valuable collection gathers nearly 50 pieces--critical essays, reviews, interviews, book excerpts, poems, and even a Sam Shepard one-act. Hedin presents them in rough chronology, tracing Dylan from his 1961 debut on the folk scene through his transformation into a rock innovator to his latest comeback with the acclaimed Love and Theft. Among the more notable contributors are Allen Ginsberg, Johnny Cash, Joyce Carol Oates, and Hunter S. Thompson. Altogether, the pieces form a collage illustrating and illuminating Dylan's career and strongly attesting his enduring legacy and continued relevance. As Bruce Springsteen said on Dylan's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "To this day, wherever great rock music is being made, there is the shadow of Bob Dylan." Libraries' Dylan shelves may already be groaning, but Studio A must be added to them. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (November 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393327426
• ISBN-13: 978-0393327427
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #961,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Dylan Resource, July 2, 2009

By 

William Bottini (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader (Paperback)

Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader is all you could really ask for in terms of a Bob Dylan reader. As a music writer myself, I checked this book out for some Dylan research. It has proved much more helpful to me than other Dylan resources, even the 1,000 page Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. The materials you'll find inside range from interviews to reviews to poetry to literary analysis. I would have liked to have read more analysis, but that is just personal taste. I would say that Hedin chose the pieces very well, skirting the line between an actual college-level "reader" and something that is entertaining to read. It reminds me of the Popular Philosophy series that is out now (like Battlestar Galactica & Philosophy, Seinfeld & Philosophy, Radiohead & Philosophy, etc.), but it is more extensive and more interdisciplinary.

I recommend it.