Michael Gray

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Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan

Michael Gray

Synopsis:
This massive third edition of an established classic (the first edition was published in 1972) has been long-awaited by scholars and Dylan afficionados alike. It provides a definitive appraisal of the entire body of work of one of the 20th Century's most significant artists. This new edition incorporates an enormous amount of fresh material and analysis--the text is four times as long as earlier editions--and is unique in its scope and integration of literary critical, musical and biographical approaches, and provides a substantial, authoritative wealth of information for detailed research and casual browsing. This huge book studies the work of an artist whose writing and music challenge and cross many boundaries: not least in fusing the poetic power of traditional folk balladry with the force of electric music, in his astonishing use of blues lyric poetry, his surprising use of nursery rhyme, his inward and prolific use of the King James Bible, and his blend of radical creativity and conservative tendencies, making for almost 40 years' worth of multi-layered work that can bear the weight of a traditional lit.crit. scrutiny and yet also responds keenly to post-structuralist ideas. Bob Dylan is also interesting for his oscillation between periods of enormous international popularity and periods of being dismissed as 1960s Man--through all of which he has maintained an obdurate refusal to become "showbiz", and has drawn in new young listeners in generational wave after wave. (There is always a significant number of students and other young people at his still-unpredictable concerts.)

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Other editions: Softcover - 2009, Hardcover - 2009, Softcover - 2008, 2006, Softcover - 2005, Hardcover - 2005, Softcover - 2005, Hardcover - 2003, Softcover - 2003, Softcover - 2003