Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript (Hardcover)

by Bob Dylan (Author), Barry Feinstein (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Surfacing for the first time after more than forty years, Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric is a remarkable, long-lost manuscript written by Bob Dylan in the 1960s, inspired by renowned photographer Barry Feinstein's portraits of Tinseltown. These twenty-three prose poems are thoughtprovoking, witty, and thoroughly unexpected observations of a bygone era, and through the lens of Feinstein's camera they speak volumes about the faces and places that have graced the City of Angels. Images like those of Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, and Steve McQueen resonate with our collective memory, while photographs of hopeful starlets, movie studio backlots, and sunny, palm tree'd boulevards evoke the timeless allure of all things Hollywood.

Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric marks a unique collaboration: With his unerring eye, Barry Feinstein captured unforgettable moments in stunning black-and-white, such as Marilyn Monroe's swimming pool on the day she died, and Frank Sinatra celebrating at John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Ball. In the provocative accompanying text, Bob Dylan's quixotic, expressive lyricism redefines silver screen nostalgia.

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, when he became something of a chronicler of the American conscience and cultural unrest. His remarkable career in music and literature continues to this day.

Barry Feinstein's photography has appeared in Life, Look, Time, Esquire, Newsweek, and scores of other magazines and album covers. His photographs of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Janis Joplin, and others are considered classics of the genre.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439112509
• ISBN-13: 978-1439112502
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #210,635 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars long time comin', November 24, 2008

By	Southern Belle (Savannah, Georgia) - See all my reviews

With the photos by Barry Feinstein and the poems by Bob Dylan laid away to age like wine, now is a fine time to crack open this book with a foreward by Luc Sante and an introduction by Billy Collins, of all people.

The photos are sometimes raw, sometimes dark, sometimes light, always a delight, and Dylan's poems are, as Billy Collins says in the introduction (that you might almost miss; Collins and Sante don't get a mention anywhere) "marked by unexpected bursts of surrealism, lines that seem pulled out of a hat or caught falling from the sky rather than simply written down."

Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric is a coffee table book that you will actually want to sit down with and savor, one you will actually want to read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last, December 19, 2008

By	James T. Dickson (Costa Mesa Ca.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had the pleasure of working for Barry Feinstein in his custom lab in the early 60's and have been waiting for this book ever since. Having previously seen some of these photos and their original meticulous prints, it is a little sad that the publisher did not show the proper respect for Barry's work with their less than careful production. I will, none the less, treasure this book, and recommend it to anyone that enjoys great photography. Barry's work is sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt, but always shares a unique viewpoint. I know I will spend a lot of time with this book. (Dylan doesn't need comment from me.)

Jim Dickson

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is poetry (an I, mama, am no genius), February 21, 2009

By	Todd Stockslager (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

Early 60's photos of Hollywood by Barry Feinstein narrated by Dylan's prose poetry (is it poetry? Don't ask him, as the interviewer did in the too-brief interview in the front of the book).

The stark photos show Hollywood dying--Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, The Hal Roach studio, the famous sign--first from a distance, then approaching, then close enough that

then I can even
see
what holds each part of it
up
an I, mama,
am no
genius

The spare language frames the pictures perfectly with the anger, humor, and Biblical portent of any Dylan lyric, and the words and pictures repay reexamination as the eye rests and then moves between them.

I was left wishing for more of the photographs and the text, a true measure of any classic work of art.