Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader

By: Hedin, Benjamin

Book Overview

Hailed by Publishers Weekly as "not only the best writing on the ever-changing folk singer, but also some of the best writing about any musician around," Studio A presents Bob Dylan's unique literary legacy in a collection that is quintessentially Dylan: mosaic, offbeat, poetic. This "astutely chosen and intelligently annotated" collection (Time Out London) gathers over fifty articles, poems, essays, speeches, literary criticisms, and interviews; many previously unpublished. Individually, these pieces offer insight into the man and his time, but collectively they reveal the coming-of-age of American cultural criticism in their "sweeping view of both Dylan and the changing times he so eloquently captured in his music" (Publishers Weekly). With Sam Shepard, Bruce Springsteen, Allen Ginsberg, Johnny Cash, Greil Marcus, Joyce Carol Oates, Gary Giddins, Rick Moody, Tom Piazza, Barry Hannah, and Dylan himself on the list of contributors, Studio A is truly "a vital document" (New York Times) for all fans.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393327426
• ISBN13: 9780393327427
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Dylan Resource

Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader is all you could really ask for in terms of a Bob Dylan reader. As a music writer myself, I checked this book out for some Dylan research. It has proved much more helpful to me than other Dylan resources, even the 1,000 page Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. The materials you'll find inside range from interviews to reviews to poetry to literary analysis. I would have liked to have read more analysis, but that is just personal taste. I would say that Hedin chose the pieces very well, skirting the line between an actual college-level "reader" and something that is entertaining to read. It reminds me of the Popular Philosophy series that is out now (like Battlestar Galactica & Philosophy, Seinfeld & Philosophy, Radiohead & Philosophy, etc.), but it is more extensive and more interdisciplinary. I recommend it.