About this title: The first volume of the long-awaited Bob Dylan autobiography, CHRONICLES, is a first-person journey through three decades. Dylan travels in time from his Minnesota youth to his 1960s Greenwich Village early years--a period of cultural upheaval whose idiosyncrasies and charming eccentricities he describes in stunning detail--and the equally rich ...
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Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Volume 1. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Volume 1. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780743228152ISBN:0743228154
Description: Good Condition in Fair jacket. 293 pages. Ex-library with typical marks, tight book; clean pages otherwise. The dj has a piece cut away from the back, wrapped; taped to boards. "...book exploring critical junctures in his life and career. Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. " Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 2 lbs 0 oz. ISBN: 0743228154 Inventory No: 079834. read more
Edition: Reprint.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780743228152ISBN:0743228154
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 293 p. Bob Dylan Chronicles, 1. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: 11th ptg
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, New York
Date Published: c2004
ISBN-13:9780743228152ISBN:0743228154
Description: Don Hunstein dj photo. very good+, nf dj, gray & white bds. Tight, attractive. 293 pgs, ISBN: 0-7432-2815-4. Some pencilled underlines. Autobiography of the famous folk singer. read more
Description: Very good. Simon and Schuster, 2004, 7th printing, a nice hardcover in a very good unclipped dust jacket, no owner's mark or underlining. read more
"Dylan is a hero of mine, but I never expected this book to be this good. The parts where he describes his experiences as a young folksinger on the streets of New York City in 1960-61 are amazing. Here is this "complete unknown" from the wilds of Minnesota landing in the NYC coffee houses, learning his craft as a performer, and then, with no ambitions greater than adding some new material to his act, beginning to write songs. It's fascinating as he brings to life Dylan before he was Dylan, before he had ever written a song, before he became the greatest songwriter ever and the most elusive and enigmatic cultural icon, when he was just another anonymous folk singer on the NYC streets at a time when the fuse was being lit for what was to be the greatest cultural explosion in our history, an explosion that would resonate with the echo of his voice. "Blowing in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changing" have become the definitive, archetypical protest songs, theme songs for any attempt to promote and preserve humanity. "Like a Rolling Stone" captured the dissonance, the restlessness, the anger and the chaos of a world in change, while "Mr. Tambourine Man" poetically described where this chronicler of time and space landed after the explosion, bruised, exhausted, and longing for escape ("To dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free / silhouetted by the sea / circled by the circus sands/ with all memory and fate / driven deep beneath the waves / let me forget about today until tomorrow"). Before Dylan was Dylan, pop music was Perry Como, folk music was the Kingston Trio, and the Beatles were singing "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Dylan recaptures where he was during this time with an amazing recollection of detail, and with a rhythm and voice of a seasoned novelist.
Dylan has spent much of the past forty years trying to deconstruct the myth and icon he has become. It's fascinating that here, in his autobiography, he traces the origins of that myth, and, in many ways, embraces it, by describing the neon-lit wintry New York nights, the various couches and floors of apartments he slept in and their stuffed bookshelves from which he fed his new found intellectual appetite, and the coffee houses and clubs where the metamorphosis from a young anonymous mid-western misfit to the mysterious and misunderstood genius who would change the course of popular music and culture forever would occur. In doing do, Dylan seems to be accepting that our need for the myth and underlying mythology is just as important as his need to break free from it."
"Chronicles is hard to describe; although beautiful comes to mind. This is one of the cases of two of my interests aligning and drawing me like a moth to a flame.
First I want to say, Bob Dylan is not an amazing writer of novels. I think that he is an amazing song writer and that he does magic with words, but he generally applies this magic to music. In Chronicles Dylan takes his stlyistic prose and tells a story.
Chronicles is not chronological, it seems to follow the trails of Dylan's mind, and, in doing so, takes the reader along. It tells of his childhood, his wife, his family, his strife to become a musician as well as the later years of his life as a musician and the troubles he finds with this occupation. By far I found the most interesting aspect of the book the hero-worship that Dylan was subjected to when he wanted nothing more than to live with his family.
Chronicles is a beautiful story about an amazing musician and gives insights into who he really is and what he has been through while being told through his unique perspective (wow, that sounds cliche. But it's true, I swear). If you are not a fan of Dylan then I don't recommend this book, but if you are, then I can't see how you can go wrong."
"I read Down The Highway (a biography about Dylan) about seven years ago. It was interesting enough, but it made me like Dylan as a person less. This book completely turned all that on its head. It was brilliant, meandering, and just an amazing read. It's great because he writes like he's talking and he's talking a little like he sings. He jumps around and gets caught up in little details and skips over huge events in his life.
You wouldn't expect him to divulge personal information about his private life if you met him face to face, and he doesn't give you anything like that in this book. What he does give you is really amazing. He gives a feeling of what it was like to be a young kid looking to make it in New York in the 60s and what it was like to be a young boy growing up in a small town in the 50s, what it was like to be a family man whose fame is driving him crazy in the 70s and a living legend trying to make a decent album in the 80s. Mostly, you just get a sense of Dylan himself."
"Some people have said this book doesn't reveal enough about Bob Dylan's personal life and that it skips around too much. I feel differently. Far as self-disclosure goes, Bob Dylan will never write a tell all, because that's just not the kind of person he is. I was very happy with the many personal thoughts and experiences he did share in Chronicles; he was way more open that I expected. This book does not read like a normal story. It's true. Bob doesn't always stick to a chronological line, but in no way does that detract from this unique and wonderful book. The joy in reading this autobiography doesn't lie in seeing Dylan neatly connect the dots. For me, it is just in taking each thought as it comes and enjoying it. Bob explains everything he's seen and done down to the most minute detail. In the book Dylan claims to "never forget a face," and I believe him. He certainly has close to a photographic memory. He remembers things from 30 years ago that I would have forgotten about yesterday - he's a professional observer if there ever was one. It's really unbelievable. It's easy to see that he's a very well read individual. This you will see in the book, as he elaborates and gives interpretations on the works of author after author, poet after poet. His unique personal writing style is no doubt a result of these many influences. I enjoyed this book more than anything I've read in a long time. I eagerly await Chronicles, vol. 2. and if you find Bob Dylan fascinating, I'd highly recommend Chronicles, vol. 1."
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