Writing Dylan The Songs of a Lonesome Traveler

Subjects:

• Popular Culture » Popular Music
• The Arts » Music (General)
• The Arts » Music Theory/Composition

Reviews:

• Writing Dylan: The Songs Of A Lonesome Traveler by Larry David Smith, distinguishes itself from other studies by making the case that the public performer Bob Dylan is actually a series of characters created by the very private Robert Zimmerman of Hibbing. Minnesota. Smith analyzes the seven periods of Dylan's career from his arrival in Greenwich Village in 1960 to his post-Christian persona of the 1990s, Jack Fate, and blends biography with a close look at his lyrics, philosophies, and movie roles. Although he praises the poetry in Dylan's songs, Smith's treatment is no dry literary deconstruction; rather it's a mix of rollicking postmodernism and gonzo rock journalism.
  —C&RL News January 2006
• In this new contribution to Dylan scholarship, Smith explores the convergence of biography, artistic philosophy and musical style in Dylan's work. Arguing that Bob Dylan is a persona carefully crafted by its maker, the former Robert Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota, Smith reveals the artist's mission-oriented approach to art. Smith interprets Dylan's narratives, characters, plots and values throughout his career and considers Dylan's cultural significance and song craft.
  —Reference & Research Book News November 2005
• Writing Dylan: The Songs Of A Lonesome Traveler provides a comprehensive, college-level study of Dylan's work, blending biography with music history and style analysis to consider how the image of Dylan was crafted by the real Bob Zimmerman. Both Dylan fans and students of modern music culture will find Writing Dylan more analytical and serious than most, using a song-by-song analysis to explore the lasting social and cultural implications of Dylan's works.
  —MBR Internet Bookwatch November 2005
• This massive volume is a definitive guide to Dylan's work. Having been granted unprecedented use of Dylan's lyrics in his analysis, the author interprets the narratives, characters, plots, and values Dylan's songs. In doing so he reveals the artist's mission oriented approach to art....[p]rovides deep insight into Dylan's artistic phiolsophy while tracing his evolution as a song craftsman, and a voice for humanity....Few artists in popular music have had as long a career or so strong an influence on social causes. This book is a comprehensive, authoritative portrait of Dylan--artist, philospher, activist and persona.
  —Metro LA October 4, 2005
• For those who just can't get enough, try Larry David Smith's Writing Dylan, The Songs of a Lonesome Traveler, an epic journey into the man's writing....[S]mith effectively, and impressively, turns the work inside out to convincingly make a case for his subject as one of the best, most influential poets of the 20th century....[S]mith succeeds at providing a cogent analysis of the work of a man whose writing deserves being looked at from every angle possible.
  —The Toledo Blade September 25, 2005
• [A] well-researched, in-depth analysis of Dylan's work, from his song lyrics to his movie roles
  —The Times Union September 22, 2005
• Drawing on a wide range of secondary sources and from Dylan's recent, and fascinating, autobiography Chronicles--and quoting from scores of Dylan's songs--the author provides detailed analyses and interpretations of seemingly the entire corpus of Dylan's songs, both those on his dozens of albums and those in numerous concerts and films.... Lower-/upper-division undergraduates and above.
  —Choice 2/1/2006

Table of Contents:

• Preface
  Introduction
  The Bob Zimmerman Story
  The Folk Posturing Period
  The Newport Mod Era
  The Americana Period
  The Crystallization Period
  The Moral Period
  The Pop Icon Period
  The Jack Fate Era
  Writing Dylan: The Songs of a Lonesome Traveler
  References
  Index