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The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait Audiobook
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(3.02) - 120 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a vivid, full-bodied portrait of one of the most influential artists of the 20th century—a man widely regarded as the most important lyricist America has ever produced.
Acclaimed poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein frames Dylan against the backdrop of four seminal concerts—all of which he attended: Lisner Auditorium, Washington, D.C., 1963; Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1974; Tanglewood, Massachusetts, 1997; Aberdeen, Maryland, 2009. Recreating each performance song by song, Epstein places them within the larger context of Dylan's life, from his meteoric rise as a young folk singer through his reemergence in the 1990s and his role as the ├®minence grise of rock-and-roll today. He explores the star's private side, including marriage and fatherhood, and his struggle to overcome substance abuse. Epstein also traces the influences that shaped Dylan's career and offers a thoughtful analysis of his work and fresh interpretations of his lyrics. Here, too, are anecdotes and insights from those closest to the man, including D. A. Pennebaker, Allen Ginsberg, Nora Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Dylan's sidemen throughout the years.
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"So far it's everything I expected and more. Written from a fan's perspective instead of an author makes it different. There are plenty of books out there about Bob Dylan. Frankly I enjoy a different perspective."
— Jane (4 out of 5 stars)
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“If you like Keith Richards’ Life, then read The Ballad of Bob Dylan. Just in time for the musician’s 70th birthday, Daniel Mark Epstein’s biography offers a vivid portrait of the visionary artist.”
— US Weekly -
“What sets Epstein’s book apart is its accessibility…Epstein is refreshingly direct and approachable, and while the author, also a folk musician, makes much of his extensive quotes from Dylan’s lyrics, it is his own clear, emotional enthusiasm that carries the tale.”
— Sunday Times (London) -
“Historian and poet Epstein structures his loose-jointed chronicle around exegeses of iconic Dylan concerts he attended, analyzing the songs and the shifting persona of the singer: in 1963, the visionary twenty-two-year-old folkie; in 1974, the bristling thirty-something rocker; in 2009, the hoarse old man growling at Fate…Epstein’s wallow in the master’s words and moods will entrance hardcore Dylanophiles.”
— Publishers Weekly
The Ballad of Bob Dylan Listener Reviews
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" I like Dylan a lot but I'm not a huge superfan, but this book def. deepened my appreciation for him. Billed as more a "historiography" than a "biography," there's a lot of nice detail here about the conditions and influences that went into Dylan the artist, but generally I wasn't a fan of hearing so much about the author's life as much, though I appreciate knowing the personal connection he had to Dylan. "
— Kat, 2/14/2014 -
" Though the author is far too fawning, this is an enjoyable read. And really, if you can't fawn over Bob Dylan, who can you fawn over? "
— Mitch, 12/20/2013 -
" I've put off reading any bio about Dylan for a long time to keep him a mystery. Good book. Insightful about his childhood and the myth he created about himself. "
— Jason, 11/27/2013 -
" Smartly weaves in and out of Dylan's life, but still meanders and drags at times --just a little, just enough to shed a star from my review. "
— Michael, 10/14/2013 -
" Has a lot of detail...learned some interesting things about Bob Dylan and his early career and personal life. Long, drawn out. If there is a Vol 2, I will more than likely skip it. "
— The, 10/5/2013 -
" I gave up after two chapters and loaned the book to someone else. I hope they enjoy it lots more than I did. "
— Gordy, 2/24/2012
About Daniel Mark Epstein
Daniel Mark Epstein has written more than fifteen books of poetry, biography, and history, including Lincoln and Whitman, which received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, named one of the top ten books of 2008 by the Wall Street Journal and Chicago Sun-Times.
About Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Pinchot, Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010, has won Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, AudioFile Earphones Awards, Audible’s Book of the Year Award, and Audie Awards for several audiobooks, including Matterhorn, Wise Blood, Occupied City, and The Learners. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he is an Emmy- and People’s Choice-nominated veteran of movies, television, and Broadway and West End shows. His performance of Malvolio in Twelfth Night was named the highlight of the entire two-year Kennedy Center Shakespeare Festival by the Washington Post. He attended the acting programs at Shakespeare & Company and Circle-in-the-Square, logged in well over 200 episodes of television, starred or costarred in a bouquet of films, plays, musicals, and Shakespeare on Broadway and in London, and developed a passion for Greek revival architecture.