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tommyhousworth's review
3.0
An evenhanded look at Dylan obsessives, from those who follow him on tour to those who have devoted their lives to unraveling his many mysteries.
My favorite line in the book, explaining an obsessed fan's desire to buy up as many Dylan artifacts as he could afford, including Bob's childhood home: "Once you own Bob Dylan's highchair, it becomes easy to rationalize any other purchase..."
I'll stick with owning the CDs, and letting Bob be Bob from a safe distance. He likes me better that way.
My favorite line in the book, explaining an obsessed fan's desire to buy up as many Dylan artifacts as he could afford, including Bob's childhood home: "Once you own Bob Dylan's highchair, it becomes easy to rationalize any other purchase..."
I'll stick with owning the CDs, and letting Bob be Bob from a safe distance. He likes me better that way.
princesszinza's review
4.0
I think it was 1974 when Blood on the Tracks came out. Why do I say 'think'? I don't know for a fact because I'm not a super huge Dylan aficionado and I don't really care enough about Dylan to look up the date. In 1974 I was 11. Someone close to me was 15 or 16. That person fell in love with Dylan after hearing Blood on the Tracks. He became a lifelong fan and tried to convert me to the cause at a tender age. At first the repeated playings felt like torture. It was horrible to have to be forced to listen to this stuff for hours on end. It was even more excruciating to hear the obsessed Dylan devotee endlessly explain why I should love Dylan too. Eventually, I came to respect Dylan's singing, musicality and song writing ability, not through the interminable explanations but just from repeatedly hearing the albums. Dylan never became my favorite musician but I did grow to appreciate and understand the love he engendered in some. I liked him enough that when the non-indoctrinated would claim that the man could not sing, I would have to defend him. Dylan was a great singer in his time.
I picked up this book because I half expected to see my personal Dylan instructor in the pages. He did move from California to live in Minnesota after all. (I believe it was for love and employment though.) He wasn't mentioned but I did read about a lot of other people that I could relate to. Dylan fandom is really no different than Mars Volta, Bruce Springsteen, System of a Down or Counting Crows fandom. I've sent blank tapes into tape trees to get my own bootleg copies (This was pre-internet of course). I know people who have traded in videos and recordings. I've also seen super-fans who were absolutely crazy. Like everything in life, there are some people who can enjoy fandom and there are those that take things way to far.
So much of what David Kinney related in this book rang true to me. I can just imagine the angst that some of the fans felt when they discovered that Dylan was a plagiarist. I liked the way Kinney was kind and respectful to the mega fans but didn't shy away from showing the pointlessness of their lives. "Obsessives" is a perfect word for people who drop out of life to follow a rock star. Mentally ill is the word I would use for people who stalk a celebrity or believe that the rock star is speaking directly to them. Kinney tactfully explores these issues.
The bottom line is enjoy your music. Go to concerts and play your recordings. Remember, listening to music is only entertainment. It's should be one fun aspect nestled amongst all the other fulfilling things you do. Live your own life, get a job and have relationships with real people. Don't be overbearing and ram your beliefs down the throats of others. Above all don't do that to your kids. They'll figure out their own fun things. Let others come to love or hate what they want.
For the record, I also agree with those that think Dylan has completely lost his voice. The last album of his that I liked was Infidels back in the 1980's. I did see him in concert when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. He rocked. None of my children are Dylan fans but they all do love the rock and roll :).
Side note: You can read my review while listening to Emmy the Great's song "Dylan". Emma Moss perfectly describes the overbearing boy who thinks only he is smart enough to understand the great Dylan, but makes you listen anyway.
I picked up this book because I half expected to see my personal Dylan instructor in the pages. He did move from California to live in Minnesota after all. (I believe it was for love and employment though.) He wasn't mentioned but I did read about a lot of other people that I could relate to. Dylan fandom is really no different than Mars Volta, Bruce Springsteen, System of a Down or Counting Crows fandom. I've sent blank tapes into tape trees to get my own bootleg copies (This was pre-internet of course). I know people who have traded in videos and recordings. I've also seen super-fans who were absolutely crazy. Like everything in life, there are some people who can enjoy fandom and there are those that take things way to far.
So much of what David Kinney related in this book rang true to me. I can just imagine the angst that some of the fans felt when they discovered that Dylan was a plagiarist. I liked the way Kinney was kind and respectful to the mega fans but didn't shy away from showing the pointlessness of their lives. "Obsessives" is a perfect word for people who drop out of life to follow a rock star. Mentally ill is the word I would use for people who stalk a celebrity or believe that the rock star is speaking directly to them. Kinney tactfully explores these issues.
The bottom line is enjoy your music. Go to concerts and play your recordings. Remember, listening to music is only entertainment. It's should be one fun aspect nestled amongst all the other fulfilling things you do. Live your own life, get a job and have relationships with real people. Don't be overbearing and ram your beliefs down the throats of others. Above all don't do that to your kids. They'll figure out their own fun things. Let others come to love or hate what they want.
For the record, I also agree with those that think Dylan has completely lost his voice. The last album of his that I liked was Infidels back in the 1980's. I did see him in concert when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. He rocked. None of my children are Dylan fans but they all do love the rock and roll :).
Side note: You can read my review while listening to Emmy the Great's song "Dylan". Emma Moss perfectly describes the overbearing boy who thinks only he is smart enough to understand the great Dylan, but makes you listen anyway.
stewreads's review
3.0
Pretty enjoyable if you’re a fan, but ultimately fails to deliver on its promise of exploring what drives Dylan’s obsessive fans to probe his life so intimately. Still, it’s a quick read that taught me a bit more about one of my favorite artists than I already knew, so I can’t complain.
reverenddave's review
3.0
This seemed the perfect confluence: I love both Dylan and books exploring weird and obsessive subcultures. Yet, I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. While there were many interesting stories in it, ultimately it felt less like an immerse examination of the diverse world of Dylan fandom and more a series of stories of Dylan fans and their travels to see him on tour.
Still, a lot of decent stuff in the book.
Still, a lot of decent stuff in the book.
richardwells's review
1.0
Might have made a good magazine article, but it got padded into a book, and it's something of a bore.
Rehashed Dylan biography - nothing new, and that's the padding. The rest has to do with time spent with various folks who have made an obsession of Dylan. Concert followers, restaurant owners, academics, and assorted nut cases. Interesting to a point, but the point comes pretty fast.
I read it because it's hard for me to pass up on a Dylan book, and it felt like a self-inflicted punishment.
The Land of Bob is between Bob's ears - we get a glimpse when he delivers his work. The Dylanologists: etc., doesn't take you much anywhere.
Rehashed Dylan biography - nothing new, and that's the padding. The rest has to do with time spent with various folks who have made an obsession of Dylan. Concert followers, restaurant owners, academics, and assorted nut cases. Interesting to a point, but the point comes pretty fast.
I read it because it's hard for me to pass up on a Dylan book, and it felt like a self-inflicted punishment.
The Land of Bob is between Bob's ears - we get a glimpse when he delivers his work. The Dylanologists: etc., doesn't take you much anywhere.
psteve's review
4.0
Well, it's not like this is the story of my life or anything. I see myself in most every page here.
It's a well-done and readable story of Dylan and focuses on some of his more, er, serious fans and their stories over the last 40 years. It tells some of Dylan's story -- very well, and not just the well-known parts -- and how many people reacted to that story. In the 70s and 80s, it's the story of bootleg recordings and concerts, and disconnected fans reaching out to one another, and then with the advent of the near-constant touring in the late 80s, the story of many who recorded the concerts and followed Dylan around from city to city. In the 2000s, it's the story of many fan's disenchantment with both the concerts and the songwriting, especially the revelations of how much work of others Dylan borrows in his songs and books. I fall in with the camp that became disenchanted with the music after "Love and Theft" and much less pleasure in the concerts. I have met and in a case or two became friendly with, several of the people mentioned in the book, and there are some cases where I was present at some events. In all, Kinney tells this story well, from the point of view, I think, of one who has been infected with the same virus as some of those he discusses in the book.
It's a well-done and readable story of Dylan and focuses on some of his more, er, serious fans and their stories over the last 40 years. It tells some of Dylan's story -- very well, and not just the well-known parts -- and how many people reacted to that story. In the 70s and 80s, it's the story of bootleg recordings and concerts, and disconnected fans reaching out to one another, and then with the advent of the near-constant touring in the late 80s, the story of many who recorded the concerts and followed Dylan around from city to city. In the 2000s, it's the story of many fan's disenchantment with both the concerts and the songwriting, especially the revelations of how much work of others Dylan borrows in his songs and books. I fall in with the camp that became disenchanted with the music after "Love and Theft" and much less pleasure in the concerts. I have met and in a case or two became friendly with, several of the people mentioned in the book, and there are some cases where I was present at some events. In all, Kinney tells this story well, from the point of view, I think, of one who has been infected with the same virus as some of those he discusses in the book.
h2oetry's review
5.0
A book about wildly obsessive Dylan geeks for Dylan geeks. A little fun, a tad bit frightening to see the lengths some fanatics go. It certainly makes one feel at ease with their own fandom level -- "well, I didn't become a self-anointed garbologist, so I'm good."
admacg's review
4.0
In the midst of the great man's 80th birthday celebrations, I thought I’d read another book on him. I’ve a whole shelf devoted to Bob, and this one was a recent addition.
I’d consider myself a fan, having seen him in concert 25 times. But that’s nothing compared to some of the bobcats in here, where for some people it numbers into the hundreds. The book isn’t about Dylan, in the biographical sense, though there are snippets of his life – rather it’s the devotion he inspires, from the fans who never miss a gig and queue overnight to get front row, bootleggers who (make some pretty good stuff) obsessively record and trade his concerts, to those who buy and store items that have featured in his life, in a sort of Bob Museum.
It’s easy to scoff, to wonder how sad some peoples lives must be to be so obsessed. And there are lonely people in this book, but the author doesn’t ridicule them, rather he explores where this
fascination come from. Bob himself being so cryptic and elusive is part of the attraction, but it’s his music and lyrics that have touched people deeply to inspire this sort of devotion.
It’s not all Bob worship – I found the chapters on those who no longer enjoy his concerts, as well as the chapter on Bob’s ‘plagiarism’, really interesting. It's complicated being a Bob fan.
I did enjoy this, and it made me feel not so bad about my own little Bob habit. Now excuse me, as I’ve two other Bob books recently arrived to get stuck into and a recently bought ‘Love and Theft’ vinyl to enjoy.
I’d consider myself a fan, having seen him in concert 25 times. But that’s nothing compared to some of the bobcats in here, where for some people it numbers into the hundreds. The book isn’t about Dylan, in the biographical sense, though there are snippets of his life – rather it’s the devotion he inspires, from the fans who never miss a gig and queue overnight to get front row, bootleggers who (make some pretty good stuff) obsessively record and trade his concerts, to those who buy and store items that have featured in his life, in a sort of Bob Museum.
It’s easy to scoff, to wonder how sad some peoples lives must be to be so obsessed. And there are lonely people in this book, but the author doesn’t ridicule them, rather he explores where this
fascination come from. Bob himself being so cryptic and elusive is part of the attraction, but it’s his music and lyrics that have touched people deeply to inspire this sort of devotion.
It’s not all Bob worship – I found the chapters on those who no longer enjoy his concerts, as well as the chapter on Bob’s ‘plagiarism’, really interesting. It's complicated being a Bob fan.
I did enjoy this, and it made me feel not so bad about my own little Bob habit. Now excuse me, as I’ve two other Bob books recently arrived to get stuck into and a recently bought ‘Love and Theft’ vinyl to enjoy.
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