Sadly, this reads dry and slow like a textbook, which is disappointing because it probably contains a lot of interesting things. After 20 pages, I had to give up because I could not stay focused due to boredom while trying to read.

This is a cleverly structured analysis of Dylan, almost like a collection of essays thematically linked through seven songs from Dylan’s songbook. The author really draws you into the past and I feel like I have a much better understanding of Dylan and his work.

With thanks to netgalley and the author for allowing me to review this great book.

Folk music is a great book, it's for both the Bob Dylan Fan and the standard music fan. I really enjoyed this book.

Folk Music; A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs by Greil Marcus was delightful book that belongs in every library! I felt so lucky to get a copy for myself! I have shared on my goodreads, bookstagram, and booktock!

This book is a must read for Dylan and folk music fans. But let me also say that you don't have to be familiar with all of Dylan's songs (or at least the 7 mentioned in this book) to appreciate Greil Marcus' book. The songs are really just a springboard to dive into cultural history, other musicians, history of folk music, etc. He is such an incredible writer that I really enjoyed going along on this journey as he took us down many delightful rabbit holes and brought us back to Dylan. In this book, you also learn about others such as the Seeger family (not just Pete but his dad and siblings Mike and Peggy). We also learn about Laurie Anderson's writing of "O Superman" and learn about Karen Dalton who was lost to history until recently when a documentary film was made about her life in 2020. I appreciated too that Marcus suggests at one point that we listen to the song "Jim Jones" to sense the rhythm of the rocking of a boat. This is just such an enjoyable read and it will enhance your appreciation of Bob Dylan and music in general.

I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Yale University Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think I needed way more of an appreciation for and understanding of Dylan to "get" this. This is a super deep dive and I stopped often to listen to the music it was referencing. If I had Bob Dylan fanatics in my life, I would recommend this. My rating is more out of respect for how well this was done even though it's not my thing.

…”Much time was spent in front of the mirror trying on one wrinkled article of clothing after another, until all came together to look as if Bob had just gotten up and thrown something on,” Rotolo wrote. “Image meant everything. Folk music was taking hold of a generation and it was important to get it right, including the look—be authentic, be cool, and have something to say.”...

Greil Marcus has written a long and marvelous study into the history of folk music and how it captivated the mind of Bob Dylan. It is amazing to me how such a young man, a boy really, could have so much focus and insight into making himself in his time. More proof of Dylan’s genius.

…”My fame was immense,” he (Bob) wrote of the time, “could fill a football stadium, but it was like having some weird diploma that won’t get you into any college,” and fame killed art: “Creativity has much to do with experience, observation and imagination, and if any one of those key elements is missing, it doesn't work. It was impossible now for me to observe anything without being observed.”...

Being a gifted musician (beginning with the piano and then moving onto guitars and harmonicas) as well as coming from a family historically engaged in the arts, Dylan had an eye for what mattered and ears for what it should sound like. Whether he was lifting old folk song melodies, or editing and revising articles in the news or blurbs on placards, Dylan wrote a multitude of songs that will forever be his legacy.

"…”You have to wonder if Johnson (Robert) was playing for an audience that only he could see, one far off in the future,” Dylan wrote in 2004 of the man who put “Come on in My Kitchen” into the world. He too could be singing to an audience only he could see, one far off in the past. With, sitting in chairs on the front porch of some general store, the likes of Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, waiting to see if he had anything to show them…"

It is also rather astounding that Dylan has kept on re-making himself whether we like it or not. There aren’t many genres in music he hasn’t covered. And he has obviously never concerned himself with our delight in what he has given us, or even our dismay over changes he had made.

"…With his own recognition that the decades following the 1960s had led to dead ends, he (Bob) finally settled into a state of being where he could take up the old songs again, and sing them as if he had written them himself and had been written by them. And he could even pass that on to people in his audience. He was now part of the tradition…"

Anyone interested in Bob Dylan would be remiss if a visit wasn’t made to Dylan’s new museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It opened in May of 2020 and it is just amazing. Hours can literally be spent perusing his artifacts, reading letters and articles, watching videos, and strolling the vast collection. It is obvious that Dylan never threw anything away. He knew all along what he was doing and made it a point to never let anyone in on his secrets. Bob Dylan is not only an American treasure, but much of the world has coveted him as well. Greil Marcus has added another volume into the life and work of perhaps the greatest artist of all time.

This is not really a biography, it’s more about how Bob Dylan and his songs fit into the history and traditions of folk music. It was an enjoyable read. I’m a fan of Bob Dylan but in no way an expert (either on Dylan or folk). The author clearly is and it was interesting to read this sprawling book. It covers a lot and works as an informative read particularly if you already know the songs.

Thank you so much for sharing this title! This was a gem. I have to admit to being a big Bob Dylan fan, so I soaked up this heavily researched book. It was so full of little stories I hadn’t heard, and the many “characters” from the folk music scene. In a perfect world, I would love to listen to this on audio with clips of the songs. But either way, I thought it was a wonderful dissection of these songs, and captured the time brilliantly.

The aspects of the book which I enjoyed: it combines folk music with social and cultural history since the 1960s to the present day. I particularly liked how the author put the running thread of civil rights throughout the book.

However, I did find the structure of the individual chapters confusing. There was a lot of jumping about between different eras. Also, the majority of the books is about Bob Dylan, but then the author will start talking about someone new without properly introducing them.

Overall, there’s lots of interesting information, but I feel it gets lost in the organisation.

A great read for Dylan fans.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

Greil Marcus has been writing about Dylan for over half a century. Some of these articles have already been anthologised in his book 'Bob Dylan: Writings 1968-2010'.
This book uses seven Dylan songs as a starting points on which to base his expositions.
The chapters are detailed considerations of each song and their historical background along with Marcus' thought on them. The book makes a fascinating addition to the many written about Dylan that are already available.