Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Though it's nice to see Bob receiving the Cambridge Companion treatment, I was wondering what might be said that hasn't already been covered in my five-foot plus shelf of Dylan biographies, analyses, and compendiums. As it turns out, not a whole lot. This collection of essays should, however, make a decent text for a college course in Dylan, since it covers all the major aspects of his work and career in a brisk albeit surface-like manner. Unsurprisingly, the liveliest writing comes from music critics, while the stodgier prose is the result of academics, with a few exceptions. There were, however, enough new insights into Dylan and his work to make me go back to some of the recordings and listen with fresh ears. A stronger editorial hand might have spared us numerous repetitive passages in the different essays (many factual aspects of Dylan's career are reported in a similar manner in several of the essays), and I was surprised to find so many typos and other errors in a work from Cambridge University Press. Standards slipping, chaps? I hope these will be corrected in any future printings. For newcomers to Dylan's work, this is a good enough introduction, but for those of us who've read many volumes on the Bobster, there's nothing flashingly brilliant here. Recommended for beginners and completists.
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A towering figure in American culture and a global twentieth-century icon, Bob Dylan has been at the centre of American life for over forty years. The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan brings fresh insights into the imposing range of Dylan's creative output. The first Part approaches Dylan's output thematically, tracing the evolution of Dylan's writing and his engagement with American popular music, religion, politics, fame, and his work as a songwriter and performer. Essays in Part II analyse his landmark albums to examine the consummate artistry of Dylan's most accomplished studio releases. As a writer Dylan has courageously chronicled and interpreted many of the cultural upheavals in America since World War II. This book will be invaluable both as a guide for students of Dylan and twentieth-century culture, and for his fans, providing a set of new perspectives on a much-loved writer and composer.
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