On The Road With Bob Dylan (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
A speed freak's EXHAUSTIVELY detailed account of life on the road with Dylan's mid-70s Rolling Thunder Revue. This is the phase of Desire and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, etc. By this point in his career Dylan had learned to insulate himself from hangers-on like the author, so much of the book is bogged down in tedious, meticulously recounted dialogue with the tour manager. ("Dammit, Ratso, you're gonna get yourself thrown off the tour!" "C'mon, man, I just need one more quote from Bob!" "Bobby don't need to be bothered with this right now!" and on and on and on.) The interesting stuff is truly interesting, though. Dylan comes across as a guy who'd learned to accept the unique, borderline mystical place he'd assumed in American culture. You get a glimpse of his insecurities ("I don't think Kinky Friedman likes me, man"), and thankfully Sloman brings the same obsessive attention to detail to the show descriptions as he does to his own behind-the-scenes plight. It's a good book. Trim some of the Ratso and it'd be great.
This account by a rock journalist was annoying because he often drifted into the third person and was obviously way too much of a fan of Dylan to be objective (funny for me to say). He came off like an over-eager teen, but maybe he wanted to. It was interesting to get the behind the scenes on the tour and his dialogues with other musicians like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen are great, as well as his discussions with Rubin Carter. His observations on the whole situation of "the Hurricane" are entertaining, particularly his comments on media hype and manipulation. Not great, but not bad either.
What do You think about On The Road With Bob Dylan (2002)?
obnoxious, unfocused and poorly written, "Ratso" Sloman expends so much energy trying to get Dylan to read his shitty poetry, or get Roger Waters to buy him dinner, or bang desperate hippie chicks that he never manages to give any insight on what made the first Rolling Thunder tour so legendary. "On the Road" should be taken literally, as the author basically lives in his car the whole time after he's kicked off the tour caravan. "with Bob Dylan" should be taken more as a joke. Dude would make hanging out with A.J. Weberman seem like a good time.
—Jesse
