Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan Paperback – 22 April 2021

There are way too many books and biographies of Bob Dylan and most of them say little or offer nothing new, or worse...analyse song lyrics and try to intellectualize him like he's Shakespeare. Too many also focus on his 1961-1966 years. The book market now is absolutely saturated with Bob books all of them just repeating what everyone else has already written.It was with some trepidation i got this updated edition of Howard Sounes Biography as I'd heard it was fairly unkind to Bob Dylan. Nothing could be further from the truth. Its respectful and honest and far from sensationalist or critical. I've got two bookshelves of Bob Dylan books and yet i learnt a few things i wasn't aware of in this biography. I felt it was written by a man who likes the music of Bob but doesn't put him on a pedestal, yet its certaily far from a character assassination. Its REAL! Too many authors try to second guess who or what Dylan is and even worse, try to explain him or what his songs mean. I prefer to make up my own mind and this author gives an unbiased and objective portrait of a fascianting human being. I would say this is just about as good as biography of Dylan as we are likely to get, though lacks the detail of Clinton Heylin's Behind The Shades. Truly worth buying.

This book gives a great insight into the man and his life without getting too bogged down with the details of his lyrics and songs while at the same time showing the parallels with Dylan's life as he wrote them. I really enjoyed reading this and can recommend if you just want to get to know a little more about the great man himself.

There are so many biogs of Bob Dylan one would need a row of book shops to contain them all. However, in my opinion, this is one the very best. Maybe THE best.Howard Sounes certainly does his homework. Deep research, involving many interviews with people who were "there at the time", and an obvious passion for the subject. It's a real page-turner, especially if one plays the albums alongside reading each chapter of the text.

An in depth look at the life of Bob Dylan including his conversion to Christianity. An up to date biography of one of musics greats

Brilliant just what I love about Bob Dylan I have supported him for 60 years.

Well written story of musical icon

Sounes says that he interviewed a lot of Dylan’s family & friends to write this bio & the book is well researched, but there is no interview with Dylan himself (Dylan actually criticises Sounes for constantly writing about his alcohol consumption) , so like all the other Dylan Bios it’s best read with a pinch of salt.This a an 2021 updated edition of the 2001 book, but unfortunately the last twenty years of Dylan’s life are breezed through too quickly, which is a shame as it’s the part of his life that has been written about the least.Well written, with Sounces pulling no punches & good guide if you have just discover the music of Dylan.

I have been a Bob Dylan fan for almost 60 years so it was with eager anticipation that I started this well written and well researched book. The gaining of some of the information can’t have been easy. I suppose I must’ve placed Bob on a pedestal in my mind because this book explodes everything I thought about him he doesn’t come through as a nice person at all , in fact, i’ve never seen him put on a good performance yet! Always haphazard. Audience going to the box office and asking for a refund.

Impressive curation of facts. One of the best biographies I have ever read.

Unconditional Dylan fan

A detailed biography on a very talented man who was influenced by the American Folk Music movement of the 50's and 60's. His gift is immense and he was driven to make music at any cost, to not conform to the music industries parameters. Performing how he wanted, not giving in to the corporate expectations makes him unique, which makes for a very interesting read. He is not afraid to perform his way and give his audience the inspiration of the moment, does not feel compelled to perform the same music in the same old way, truly an artist. He doesn't care what others think and has tried to be true to himself, rejecting accolades given to him from those who try to categorize his music and political leanings.

As a BOOMER many of the artist and songs are familiar . An interesting insight to his life style and eccentric behavior.However I found it rather the novel rather long

Easy to read, gossipy, overview of Dylan's career which suffers in the end, from being more a summary of what he did than an attempt to analyse or examine it. The problem for any biographer is that Dylan has lived more than one life; he's more than one person, someone making life up as he goes along, and that means anything other than what Sounes has done here is going to be subjective and limited.Revelations, as trumpeted in the book by the author himself, come in the shape of Bob's second wife and marriage - which is as gossipy and tabloidy as it gets. There's nothing revealing or new in any of what for me are the most interesting aspects of the Dylan story - his relationship with Robert Zimmerman, his Woodstock-era rejection of what he'd become, his conversion and his eighties-life, but I guess everyone who's interested in the story has their own favourite parts.In the end, this reads like a good, long article summarising Dylan's life and career. End of.