The Dylanologists: Adventures In The Land Of Bob (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Do not mistake this book as either a Dylan biography or a critical assessment of his work. While these elements are occasional components of the text, Kinney's contribution to Dylan lore is more unique and potentially more rewarding. By examining a variety of hard-core, obsessive Dylan fans, Kinney opens a potential Pandora's box of crazy. What elevates his project is his straightforward, objective portrayal of the fans and their habits and even their justifications. For the most part, Kinney's subjects come across as neither rational, nor completely irrational, but situated between their devotion to Dylan and the expression of that devotion. One need not be a fan of Dylan's work to enjoy aspects of this book. Though Kinney doesn't make the connections himself, it is a relatively easy task to think of obsessive fans of other performers or genres who are equally out-of-touch with reality. But this is not a sociological study, and Kinney's style is accessible and engaging. By far the most useful contribution Kinney makes here is his chapter on Dylan's alleged plagiarism. Kinney avails himself of the obsessive breadcrumb following tendencies of Dylan's fans to explore the artist's composition style, and to rationalize why an internationally known songwriter would cop lines from Jack London and obscure 19th-century poets (among others). It's a fascinating chapter, and a coherent presentation of differing viewpoints. Most Dylan fans will recognize aspects of their own behaviors in this book, and those interested in fan culture will encounter profiles of a variety of fanatics. Kinney also chronicles Dylan's occasional responses to these fans, both from the stage and in personal encounters. Dylan, as a subject, remains mercurial here, so one may not necessarily return to Dylan's recordings with a new ear after reading this book, but one may certainly reconsider the influence of a performer with so many devoted followers. Just as some of Dylan's songs do for the initiated, this book offers a different perspective, making Kinney's book a refreshingly unique offering. One is left to question whose behavior is more difficult to understand: the artist's or the fans'. They don't call them 'fans' for nothing. Fanatics crowd Beatle web sites wondering about the love (if any) George had for Paul or the type of microphone they used when recording 'Hey Bulldog'. Stones fans argue incessantly as to the greater guitarist - Mick T or Ronnie or Brian? But Dylan fans, as David Kinney so beautifully shows in 'The Dylanologists', are as fanatically obsessed as the Medieval Christians who sold everything for a piece of the one true Cross and whose exegesis of Scripture is an allegorical embroidery of the Old and New Testaments with the writings of the Patriarchs. For the most part, Kinney's Dylanologists people strike me as essentially unpleasant but benign, lost on a quest for something they don't really know. As anyone who saw 'Don't Look Back' will attest, Dylan from the start was a master at keeping the press at bay but he has less success in managing many of his adoring acolytes. (I exempt young obsessive Michelle Egnutt from this description. She took the challenge from one of Dylan's guitarists who once asked her 'What are you going to go an do something?' She ultimately went to law school and became a public defender.)The world that Kinney describes is so cock-eyed that Greil Marcus, himself a source of considerable hot air on the subject of Bob Dylan, sounds like a voice of reason when he is quoted as describing Dylan obsessives as, 'Not just the worst - they're the stupidest'. In most cases ( A J Weberman an obvious exception), they aren't so much stupid as lost and deluded. If you ever spent an evening debating the meaning of 'Visions of Johanna' or whether 'Slow Train Coming' represents redemption or betrayal, you will read this book thankful that your fanaticism lasted only one or two nights and that you haven't left your spouse and sold everything you own for tickets to the Never Ending Tour.
What do You think about The Dylanologists: Adventures In The Land Of Bob (2014)?
Always good to read about people who are (slightly) crazier than I am.
—swer4deaf
A book about Dylan nuts that will satisfy any Dylan nut.
—Catzsz
Smart. Honors the artist and the obsessives.
—tuffgirl
