Tarantula

by Bob Dylan

Book Overview

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Music legend Bob Dylan's only work of fiction--a combination of stream of consciousness prose, lyrics, and poetry that gives fans insight into one of the most influential singer-songwriters of our time.

Written in 1966, Tarantula is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of the times in which it was written, and gives a unique insight into Dylan's creative...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743230418
• ISBN13: 9780743230414
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 137 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Odd, but highly enjoyable

if you only skim the lines in Bob Dylan's prose, it appears to be random words and phrases...however, there's a lot of meaning to be found between the lines...that being said, i've never actually listened to his music or sat and read his lyrics, but i love poetry that's full of metaphor and requires thought because why write poetry if you mean exactly what you say? the prose in this work offers something different each time it's read and it's my favorite book of poetry.

Go with the flow

It's the best insight one can gain into the mind of a poetic genius. Biographies can explain in prose about what they think is going on with a person; They can even claim to be an expert. But, having listened to this poet's music, read his lyrics, and then have read this book, I have gained, I wont say a complete answer about Dylan, but, I feel where he is coming from, better. The book is very spontaneous and honest! If you want to know about someone, it's great to read something that gives you a hint as to how their mind actually operated. Dylan is Dylan and there will never be anyone to take his place. We can only be inspired by his thoughts, and this book is the most intelligent and interesting event, I have ever read!

Hurricane

He plays with the words like a hurricane, he is better here than in some records. It is not beat poetry, it is Dylan's own style.

Vintage Bob Dylan, a timeless book from a true genius!

I'm 17 and I've listened to Dylan for about 5 years. Over this period of time I've grown more and more impressed with Dylan's poetic genius. His songs are undoubtedely his claim to fame but I feel that "Tarantula" is the key to understanding his writing. "Tarantula" proves that Dylan was and still is a modern blend of Whitman, Rimbaud, Genet, Ginsberg, Guthrie, and Picasso. "Tarantula's" cut up style has been called "a muddled stream of self conciousness" but I beg to differ. If there has been any writer in our time that has captured the language of our times and helped us examine the world we live in I think it is Dylan. I hope he eventually receives the Nobel Prize for literature that he truly deserves. He is living proof that poetry can touch "the masses", he defies the narrow definition of a poet that ivory tower intellectuals have forced on people for years. The language of Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, albums that changed the way people perceived songs, reaches new heights in "Tarantula".