Books: Chronicles by Bob Dylan

Self portrait

By Mike Prevatt

Reading fan reaction to the first volume of Bob Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles, you get the feeling this particularly fanatical subculture was expecting lots of big answers, only to come away asking more questions. While most of the iconoclastic singer/songwriter's devotees seemed to lap the book up, their enthusiasm is tempered by their insatiability and strange sense of irresolution. So he didn't discuss his motorcycle accident, or his born-again period, or the recording of Blood on the Tracks--were any of them honestly expecting that? It's likely most of those people wouldn't revere Dylan to such a degree if their hero were some sort of short-order artist. His stubborn artistic ideals and instincts may not have always been palpable to all, but they have formed the identity that makes him so interesting in the first place.

That sense of self is consistently on display in Chronicles, where Dylan eschews the standard chronological approach and documents a few points in his life where he met significant challenges, often overcome or tempered by various forms of inspiration. The portions of his life he unfurls in the book are superbly detailed, creating an atmosphere that complements the vivid recollections of self-education and soul-searching he has always seemed preoccupied with. By going this route, he reveals more about himself, and his experiences and internal dialogues, than if he had written the usual "Behind the Music"-style rock bio.

The major points of Chronicles include his arrival and musical coming of age in New York, stridently championing folk music and slowly venturing toward songwriting; his reclusive late '60s period spent mostly in Woodstock, rejecting his "spokesman for a generation" association and attempting to live a normal life with his family; and the New Orleans recording sessions for his 1989 Oh Mercy album, working for the first time with Daniel Lanois (who helmed 1997's Grammy-winning Time Out of Mind) and restructuring his performance methods.

Though the settings are few and specific, Dylan manages to offer a broad historical perspective through his freewheeling, stream-of-consciousness narrative. Segues usually include a reference to his various (and often academic) influences, sometimes elaborated over multiple pages. However, Dylan infuses his initial thoughts and remaining impressions throughout such asides.

This allows plenty of opportunity for his sterling descriptions. "He was passionate and stinging, sang like a soldier of fortune and sounded like he paid the price," he opines about New York blues icon Dave Van Ronk, who assisted Dylan early in his career. There are two pages of breathtaking language complimenting Roy Orbison; passages like these really exemplify how deeply Dylan feels music and the personalities behind it. These serve as consistent signifiers of his motivation, whether from Woody Guthrie--his primary muse--or wrestler Gorgeous George. In fact, Dylan namedrops so frequently it sometimes makes him look pretentious, like an old soul Bret Easton Ellis.

For anyone reading Chronicles, the big concern shouldn't be what Dylan left out, but what he included. There are several passages that speak of his flexible sense of honesty and his occasional need to shield himself with white lies (especially when it comes to biographers and the media). One has to wonder if he's duping people yet again with this book. Why believe him now?

Dylan's strongest convictions help debunk the mythology foisted upon him, accomplished through his own humanistic introspection, from his most recent albums to this book, where he always seems eager to list the commonalities he has with other people. He may never be seen as an everyman, but he tries his damnedest to convey that here. He argues that there's little in the way of ulterior motive guiding him along, that his music's backstory is that of the so-called Dylanologists. If anything, the only underlying reason is the one behind Chronicles--to get the completists off his back. Predictably, he's left them wanting more.