Monday, January 24, 2005

Idiot Wind

Dylan is so brilliant. To me, he makes William Shakespeare look like Billy Joel.
George Harrison (1943 – 2001), guitarist and former Beatle

Apparently, The National Book Critics Circle, which announced nominees for their literary prize agree with George Harrison’s quote above. Surprisingly Bob Dylan was among the contenders for this prestigious award. This is when awards shows, show how silly they are. There is no way that Dylan’s biography should be placed in the same league as Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, or Stephen Greenblatt’s biography of Shakespeare, “Will in the World.”

While his biography is engaging, it also seems a bit disingenuous. We highly recommend “Positively Fourth Street, The lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina” by David Hajdu, which as the book jacket is “A hauntingly evocative blend of biography, musicology and pop cultural.”

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