Only in the audiobook world could this comparison be made, but this wonderful production of Bob Dylan’s CHRONICLES has some surprising similarities to another Simon & Schuster memoir--Chuck Barris’s CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND. Sound blasphemous? Both are riffs on the curse of celebrity, both transcend high and low art, both challenge the memoir format, and both revel in the oddities of post-WWII Americana. (Dylan credits his early inspiration to the TV wrestler Gorgeous George.) Most strikingly, Sean Penn’s beat reading shares a rhythm and tone with Barris--his is an ideal voice for a reluctant pop hero desperately trying to put the genie back in the bottle. R.W.S. 2005 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
The art of conversation is always under peril, as anyone who has ever attended a disastrous holiday dinner party can attest. It’s not just coming up with subjects, it’s somehow spinning those subjects into something everyone is interested in and can contribute to, sustaining a spirited discussion that doesn’t just pass the time but also […]
This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to musician and poet Bob Dylan, who rose to prominence as part of the 1960s folk music and counterculture scenes, and has since grown into the status of an icon. The Nobel Academy celebrates not only his “profound” musical influence, but his status as a painter, an actor, and the author of […]
It’s difficult to walk through a bookstore and not be shocked by the number of celebrities (and “celebrities”) who’ve put their life story on the page. Often you’re left wondering whether the celeb wrote a book because they have a good story to tell, or just a good book advance to cash. But sometimes, an […]