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11 reviews for:
Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913
Daniel Wolff
3.76 AVERAGE
11 reviews for:
Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913
Daniel Wolff
3.76 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Lots of fascinating stories about
Dylan and Guthrie. I enjoyed learning more about both of them. The tie in to the Calumet disaster seemed pretty speculative. Don’t think the stories/theme held together very well. Seemed disjointed.
Dylan and Guthrie. I enjoyed learning more about both of them. The tie in to the Calumet disaster seemed pretty speculative. Don’t think the stories/theme held together very well. Seemed disjointed.
An excellent triple braided history of the American labor movement and the biographies of Dylan and Guthrie. Nothing "mysterious" as the subtitle suggests; it's all there for inquiring minds to discover. However, the line it traces from early 20th century labor struggles through the Great Depression, the 1960's and early 21st century economic injustices is revelatory.
informative
sad
medium-paced
While this book contains plenty of interesting labor history, the underlying idea connecting Dylan and Guthrie's songs through the idea of rage feels tenuous and disjointed. I especially am confused by the authors choice of 'like a rolling stone.' is it really an angry song? I never got that feel from it, and even if there's a bit of sarcastic anger, pretty far from rage. Weird book overall
I would probably give this 3 1/2 stars, but I’m into grade curves. The structure is interesting, as are the three stories it’s telling (Dylan’s, Guthrie’s, and the 1913 Massacre). It just doesn’t all gel as well as the author thinks it does. It’s definitely a story for our times, though, and I recommend it to anyone who has that adult anger at our current society.
The subtitle is only part right: the book is about Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913. However, it fails to make the case for the "connected mysteries" part. I did learn a lot about labor history in the US, which is very relevant currently. Glad I read it, but not quite what I'd hoped for.
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
Take away: Three stories, decades apart, woven into a historical narrative about labor with music in the background. This book was much different than I expected, but very engaging. It fits into my research on labor unions, and gave me insight into Guthrie and Dylan as well. At the heart of the book is the sad, sad story of those who died at a Christmas party because anti-union thugs yelled "fire" in a crowded hall.
Narration: Dennis Boutsikaris - a wonderfully engaging voice. I must have listened to him previously.
Normal Speed- Accelerated Speed
New - Second - Third - Committed
Series - Non Series - Non-Fiction - Author
Listening to this book was a chore.
I'm glad I listened to this book.
I didn't want this book to end.
I could not wait to be done with this book.
Average, but better than anything I've written.
Narration: Dennis Boutsikaris - a wonderfully engaging voice. I must have listened to him previously.
Normal Speed
Series - Non Series -
Listening to this book was a chore.
I'm glad I listened to this book.
I could not wait to be done with this book.
Average, but better than anything I've written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This is a book about Bob Dylan – you know, your favorite band’s favorite singer-songwriter – and Woody Guthrie, the folk singer a young Dylan set out to emulate. The book is also about the tragic (and quite likely sinister) death of 73 people in the small mining town of Calumet, Michigan in 1913.
The chapters about Dylan are fascinating, as are the chapters about Guthrie. And the chapters about the lives of miners in the late 1800s and early 1900s constitute a heartbreaking education. But I’m not sure what to make just yet of Wolff’s claim that the Calumet tragedy is a secret key that unlocks the political anger in the music of Guthrie and Dylan.
Grown-Up Anger is a weird book that doesn’t all add up for me. But I will say this: I haven’t wanted to put it down.
The chapters about Dylan are fascinating, as are the chapters about Guthrie. And the chapters about the lives of miners in the late 1800s and early 1900s constitute a heartbreaking education. But I’m not sure what to make just yet of Wolff’s claim that the Calumet tragedy is a secret key that unlocks the political anger in the music of Guthrie and Dylan.
Grown-Up Anger is a weird book that doesn’t all add up for me. But I will say this: I haven’t wanted to put it down.