Tarantula [Paperback]

Bob Dylan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 5, 2004

Bob Dylan wrote Tarantula in 1966. It existed for years only in dog-eared bootleg copies, but was eventually published in 1971. The book captures the tone and spirit of the turbulent times in which it was written.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Chronicles Volume 1: 'Takes its place next to "On The Road "...as an essential record of an American artist's manifest destiny.' Observer 'Like discovering the lost diaries of Shakespeare... Maybe the most extraordinarily intimate autobiography by a 20th-century legend.' Daily Telegraph 'There are enough bizarre and entertaining snippets of information sprinkled throughout to fascinate the most jaded Dylan obsessive.' Independent 'Entertaining and surprisingly deprecating..."Chronicles Volume " is tautly written, vividly cinematic, and funny'. Financial Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Bob Dylan is one of the most lauded and greatest-loved songwriters and performers of all time. His particular brand of music first caught the public’s attention in the 1960s. He has released thirty-five studio albums with hits ranging from “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone” to “All Along the Watchtower,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” and “Make You Feel My Love.” His remarkable career in music and literature continues to this day.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Revised edition (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743230418
• ISBN-13: 978-0743230414
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the subtitle ("Poems") July 17, 2000

By Howard Sauertieg

Format:Paperback

Tarantula is in the stream-of-consciousness style of Dylan's liner notes to Highway 61 Revisited and Bringing It All Back Home. The publisher did our beloved author a great disservice in labeling these writings "Poems." These short pieces - interspersed with pseudo-missives - are literally unbridled prose, brimming with wit, sarcasm and absurdities. Only Dylan can say for sure what they're all about. A poet is not necessarily one who writes rhyming verse, but formlessness is not poetry either. To call Tarantula "poetry" is to turn a blind eye to Dylan's assault on traditional prose narrative forms. That said, I think Tarantula is a great book to have on the shelf, but it's not easy or especially rewarding reading unless one is primarily interested in the author. Because it's Dylan's only book (aside from published lyrics), it's a rather important book. Likewise, Dylan admirers should see D.A. Pennebaker's classic mid-60s Dylan documentary, "Don't Look Back."

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Bob Dylan, a timeless book from a true genius! January 28, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I'm 17 and I've listened to Dylan for about 5 years. Over this period of time I've grown more and more impressed with Dylan's poetic genius. His songs are undoubtedely his claim to fame but I feel that "Tarantula" is the key to understanding his writing. "Tarantula" proves that Dylan was and still is a modern blend of Whitman, Rimbaud, Genet, Ginsberg, Guthrie, and Picasso. "Tarantula's" cut up style has been called "a muddled stream of self conciousness" but I beg to differ. If there has been any writer in our time that has captured the language of our times and helped us examine the world we live in I think it is Dylan. I hope he eventually receives the Nobel Prize for literature that he truly deserves. He is living proof that poetry can touch "the masses", he defies the narrow definition of a poet that ivory tower intellectuals have forced on people for years. The language of Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, albums that changed the way people perceived songs, reaches new heights in "Tarantula".

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hurricane October 5, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

He plays with the words like a hurricane, he is better here than in some records. It is not beat poetry, it is Dylan's own style.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential for Dylan fans January 7, 2002

By Bill R. Moore

Format:Paperback

Dylanophiles have long tired of (..) literary critics saying that Dylan is "not really a poet; this book does something to put the lie to the accusation. It IS poetry, though not in the "conventional" sense. The majority of the book is written in a style of prose poem/poem/prose poem (repeating the cycle for however long the poem is), and then closing the piece with a written letter signed by some character from Dylan's imagination. As you may have surmised, the prose poems are of the type that Dylan wrote for the linear notes to Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. And yes, the poems are in the style of the poems that Dylan wrote for The Times They Are A-Changin' and Another Side. Precious little of it is literal; it is almost wholly written in the rambling, seeming stream-of-consciousness style that Dylan introduced in the aforementioned prose poems. He was highly into writing allegerical fables at that time, and this book abounds in them. Dylan fans will certainly enjoy this book a lot. It gives a peak into his creativity and writing process like nothing else really does. This is Dylan unpolished, not buried beneath the stream of re-writes that produced such masterpieces as "Visions of Johanna." There are references to many of his songs and lyrics within the poetry - whether this came from those, or vice versa, is anyone's guess, but it's a fascinating glimpse into Dylan in any case. You can get something out of these poems. They are fun to read, and have a quick, rolling meter and cadence that all of Dylan's poetic works seem to have, and this makes for interesting and thought-provoking seat-of-the-pants reading. Dylan fans will revel in it. Probably, those who are not already taken with the author will not be converted by this book.... This book is actually a less-than-stellar book in the eyes of many (admittedly, by Dylan himself, who held off publishing it for 5 years), and, though interesting and thought-provoking, it is a very ornate and abstract work, without also offering the insights into life that his lyrics have always offered. So the merits of this book for those who are not already Dylan fans is questionable. On the other hand, it is certainly essential for Dylanophiles, and it certainly is a further contribution from Dylan to the field of poetry, and a more legitimate one in the eyes of many. Here's hoping that it helps Bob win the Nobel Prize for Literature that he so geniunely and truly deserves. It is not a cultural opinion, but indeed a fact, that Dylan did more for poetry than anyone else in the 20th century - at least in the sense of bringing it to the masses. And he certainly re-defined popular music as we know it. This book is a further gem in his canon, and helps show a small part of the reason for why Dylan means so much to so many different people. Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Go with the flow November 9, 2001

By sandy corbin

Format:Paperback

It's the best insight one can gain into the mind of a poetic genius. Biographies can explain in prose about what they think is going on with a person; They can even claim to be an expert. But, having listened to this poet's music, read his lyrics, and then have read this book, I have gained, I wont say a complete answer about Dylan, but, I feel where he is coming from, better. The book is very spontaneous and honest! If you want to know about someone, it's great to read something that gives you a hint as to how their mind actually operated. Dylan is Dylan and there will never be anyone to take his place. We can only be inspired by his thoughts, and this book is the most intelligent and interesting event, I have ever read!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Go with the flow November 9, 2001

By sandy corbin

Format:Paperback

It's the best insight one can gain into the mind of a poetic genius. Biographies can explain in prose about what they think is going on with a person; They can even claim to be an expert. But, having listened to this poet's music, read his lyrics, and then have read this book, I have gained, I wont say a complete answer about Dylan, but, I feel where he is coming from, better. The book is very spontaneous and honest! If you want to know about someone, it's great to read something that gives you a hint as to how their mind actually operated. Dylan is Dylan and there will never be anyone to take his place. We can only be inspired by his thoughts, and this book is the most intelligent and interesting event, I have ever read!