Bibliofemme News
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06/10/2004
Long awaited Dylan autobiography launched in US
Although Bob Dylan's long awaited autobiography hits American bookstores today, the reclusive musician has not abandoned his mystique.
The 293-page Chronicles: Volume One, the first of a planned three-volume set, is not a typical autobiography.
There is no index and the book is not written in chronological order with Dylan instead offering anecdotes from his life about people like boxer Joe Dempsey, David Crosby of the Byrds and even a chance encounter with John Wayne.
He also talks about U2 frontman Bono, saying that he has "the soul of an ancient poet".
The duo had a Guinness-fuelled conversation in the late 1980s during which, Dylan says, "We talked about fame and both agreed that the funny thing about fame is that nobody believes it's you."
The book is divided into five chapters, dealing with his early adult days in Minnesota and New York City, and the making of two later albums - New Morning and Oh Mercy.
But the autobiography is more remarkable for what it has left out - no details about his relationship with folk singer Joan Baez, nothing of his controversial switch from acoustic to electric sound, his conversion to Christianity, or the end of his marriage to Sara Lowndes, which inspired his 1975 album 'Blood on the Tracks'.
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