Bob Dylan

Renowned culture critic Ron Rosenbaum discovered not only the world-changing music of early Bob Dylan, but the man himself in the 1960s, when Rosenbaum was a young journalist living in Greenwich Village and working for the legendary alt-newspaper, The Village Voice. Rosenbaum, in fact, lived around the corner from Dylan, and shared mutual friends. It was the time, and the place, where an essential idea of Dylan's character was formed - that of the whip-smart, angry, too-cool-for-school icon, a kind of James Dean in denim. The raspy voice, not to mention the brilliantly cutting lyricism, only somehow added to his cultural dangerousness. Dylan has had many changes of character since then, and throughout, Dylan would tell people, 'I'm not that person anymore,' whatever previous character he was asked about. In a probing and personal literary appreciation, Rosenbaum deep-dives into Dylan's lyrics and writings and his infrequent interviews (including Rosenbaum's own 10-day interview of Dylan in 1978) from throughout his career. What sparked the various conversions and adaptations? And what precisely did Dylan's Jewishness, his mysticism, and his visits with psychics have to do with it all? As Dylan continues to tour the world nonstop with his band and continues to compose new songs, while refusing to play old songs the same way, Rosenbaum offers a moving and involving portrait of an icon who may have been more constant than it appeared.