This is the best Bob Dylan book I have ever seen. Why? Because it is different, it shows the Hibbing roots of Bob Dylan which echo through so much of his work, in songs most obviously but also in paintings, sculpture, prose and films. Cars, motorbikes, mining, labour politics, unions, small town America, weather extremes, films, films and films again. The film theatres in this book evoke a time in the past when taking a date to a film was magical.
Especially with access to a crying room! And to see the seeds of Bob’s fashion sense, I love the pic of Gus Hall in his hat and the similar hats of Bob Dylan in the images to each side. And Curly’s Bar, you can picture Bob there, underage, listening to the poetry, with friends all drinking, thinking that they’ve got it made… The Finnish club and the Finns he befriended at a time when there was bizarre racial prejudice against Finns. This book is not an analysis of songs and meanings.
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Bob Dylan’s Hibbing (EDLIS Café Press Series)
It is not an exposé of anyone’s personal life. It is not a remake of the many predictable books on Bob Dylan. It is instead about the origins, the myths, the speculation that in the final end shows you why Bob Dylan came out of that little Minnesota town. When you next share a room with Bob Dylan and see him onstage you may be surprised how many of the images in this book you still have in your mind as they are shown to you in his performance. You will see them shine. A large book. Lavishly illustrated. Buy it. You won’t regret it.