This is really a (the) great book for the base of a Dylan book
collection. Each of the 112 pages comprising this paperback
has at least one photograph, and many pages have two or three!
In my mind the pictures alone are worth a binding of their own. They
include many of his co-workers, and famous peers. After looking
at all of them for the first time, you really get a "feel" for
the environment in which he has been working (living) for the
last 30 - 40 years.

The entire collection of quotes (quotes and pictures are all you get, folks)
are catagorized by a plethora of topics, which enables quick referencing,
so you really should learn ALOT about his PERSONALITY.
I say "personality" because the quotes are in
conversational mode, candid, ranginging from silly quips and
understatements to very sincere and thoughtful comments; the way
I imagine he shares with intimates. This is not a stilted,
unemotional, professional collection of aphorisms, and I feel better informed
as a result.

Bob Dylan fans will enjoy this book that features over 100 pages of Dylan quotes on subjects ranging from music, the 60's, drugs, love, his idols, songwriting, and more. Everybody knows that Dylan was a wily and occasionally malicious interviewee, and this book reflects that. I laughed out loud several times at his witticisms directed back at the hollow questiosn that were put to him. However, there are some very pointed answers that he serves up here as well, that seemingly give a real insight into his persona, his life, and his views. There are also a lot of high-quality pictures. My only complaint is that the book is a little short-you can easily read it all in one setting, though it's probably a book that you'll go back to time and again to see what Dylan offered up on a particular subject-it would have been nice, for instance, if it had a section where Dylan commented upon particular songs of his, such as was done in the Leonard Cohen book in the "In His Own Words" series. Still, Dylan interviews are always hard to come by, and this is the best copendium you'll find featuring them.

This book contains a compilation of Dylan's own words, transcribed from interviews, press conferences, radio, and TV shows. Complete with scores of pictures, In His Own Words is a must for any Dylan fan. Dylan dons persona after persona, and the results are quite entertaining.

Bob must appreciate the illustrations in this book. My nieces and nephews do. We get a kick out of listening to the song on the CD and reading the text along with it. The drawings are appealing and only a bit bizarre. Gives the kids an antidote to Berenstain Bears.
Grown ups would like this books, too.

My son is only a few months old, and he really responds to the vivid colors in this book. More than any other book we have, the pictures truly excite him. We strongly recommend it.

A first edition must for the Bob Dylan fan. Bob's classic is pieced together nicely by illustrator Scott Menchin. My three year old son, Tyler, enjoys the story line & pictures very much. He loves to follow along while Bob does his stuff. A new generation of Dylan fans are born.

This is great Dylan songbook! The best starting point for a Dylan fan who wants to learn how to play those legendary songs. Simply the best songbook there is!

Bob Dylan's music has touched the hearts of millions over the decades and this collection is a wonderful gathering of his masterworks. Whether you're looking to sing, strum, or tickle the ivories, this collection is a must.

An excellent guide for a road trip, or pilgrimage to Hibbing. It gives a lot of information on the history of Hibbing and its culture. Also quite a bit more info on Dylan's childhood and family history than I have seen anywhere else, including numerous photos. Picked it up on New year's Eve afternoon last year, devoured it overnight, and on New Year's Day--at 4a.m.--left for Hibbing and felt as if I had been there before when I got there and "watched the sun come rising from that little Minnesota town." Found all of the Dylan sites listed with the help of the book, but should have picked a better day. (Zimmy's was closed, the Dylan museum was closed, and it was rather chilly to be wandering around old Hibbing.)

Think of it as a highly detailed tour guide to Dylan's Hibbing, whether or not the reader actually goes. Adds a lot of weight to references in songs like North Country Blues, etc.

I grew up on the Mesabi Range within 25 miles of Hibbing, Dylan's boyhood home. I've been a fan of his for 26 years. This is the definitive book on his early years. Full of photographs, some never before published, this book covers all aspects of his youth...his faith, his family, his town, his friends, and how he grew into who he became. Delightful reading for the true Dylan freak!

A fine addition to your Dylan library. One of the few books to deal with Dylan's output with the respect and insight it deserves. Thankfully the book is on the songs rather than the life of Bob Dylan.

With the insight of an academic yet using fully accessible, virtually jargon free, prose Mr. Hinchey's takes us on a journey through Bob Dylan's 1960's work answering the question "How Does It Feel".

A convincing thesis is laid out in the introduction and expounded in the following chapters. You don't have to agree with all the interpretations to still get a lot out of them. Having said which I have rarely agreed with as many.

It's great to finally read a serious, subtle reading of Dylan's evocative but often mysterious lyrics. Hinchey regards Dylan as a major poet, and his book provides powerful support for that view. Classics heard many times like "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" take on richer, brighter colors after reading "Like a Complete Unknown."

The author has done a splendid job of organizing a discussion of Dylan's lyrics around interesting themes. Well worth picking up a copy - the best Dylan lyric analysis in print. Bill Parr

This book is by far the BEST Dylan biography out there! Its way better than Marsh's Glory Days (which - for some reason seems to be more about Springsteen than Dylan!). Just get it!

this is a in depth, comprehensive review of the poetry of dylan. gray's interpretation of the lyrics and how they coincide with the events taking place in dylans life really hit home. an insightful account of how each phase of dylans music shows his growth spiritually and can predict where he is going. it covers the beginning of dylans career up to and including his conversion to christianity. i've read hundreds of books about dylan and recommend this one as one of the best.

This book is incredible. If you own more than one Bob Dylan CD, you should rush out to buy this book. Why? Simply put it gives you the words, clearly and plainly. When you put that together with the music, its as if another world has opened up to you.

Plus, this book is put together in a really nice way. Not only does it have all the lyrics, but it has lyrics to songs that maybe the diehard fan has heard on bootleg or live or on albums like biograph. It takes these gems and tells you which recording session they were a part of, which is really nice to know.

This is the most incredible book of poetry I have ever come across. Bob Dylan's lyrics are truly incredible, and it is obvious from reading this book just how much his songs mean to me... and to others. This book covers all of his album up to Empire Burlesque (including unreleased tracks, some extended poems, linear notes, and drawings.) It contains the whole of the 1971 book "Writings and Drawing", plus 120 additional writings that weren't yet out at that time. Dylan has written some song lyrics that stand up as some of the greatest poems of the century. "Chimes of Freedom" and "It's Allright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding" are undisputed classics of prose. "Desolation Row" remains rock's greatest poem. There are literally hundreds of songs included here in this book that stand head and shoulders above the lyrics of mere mortals. His lyrics really do stand up as WORDS, as written prose, and that is an unusually profound characteristic. And he covers every topic. As he said in a recent interview, "I always had a song for any occasion." Whether it be social protest, personal demons, politics, or, of course, love, Dylan puts it all across here in terms that we can all relate to; in ways that we wish we could do. Bob Dylan is an iconoclast, a spokesperson for an age, and, perhaps, the greatest, or at least most important, poet of the 20th century. This book proves it aptly.

The cover of this book is not the most inviting, but please don't let that fool you. Lyrics, 1962-1985 by Bob Dylan is a must-have for anyone in love with this man's work. When I bought my first copy of this book, I was far from being a Dylan fan. I simply wanted it for the poetry. While I didn't much care for his music, I always enjoyed Dylan's prose. This was quite a few years ago, and since, I have come to appreciate his music as much as his words. This has to be the most comprehensive book consisting of the art of Bob Dylan. It includes not only almost every published lyric from his vast repertoire, but many of his drawings, which, until the original publication of this book, probably never saw a proper forum for display to the public. Craig Grossman, Minneapolis, Minnesota

If you are a fan of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, then this book is something you probably can't wait to read. If you are a poor soul who has never sat down and listened to "Live at Carnegie Hall"...well you'd better get busy. You have a lot of reading and listening to do, and I envy you for it. This book is simply beautiful to read. Mr. Clancy has the Irish way with words in the truest sense, and its a wonder he waited so long to begin a literary career (I always enjoyed his liner notes!) The story of his life and career is well worth reading to fans of his music and to fans of good memoir writing as well. Read this book and you will feel as though Mr. Clancy is speaking only to you. He evokes memories of family, home, and childhood with amazing grace and ease. In addition, be sure to get the reissue of his solo album "Liam Clancy" which is availble from this site. God bless the Clancy Brothers!

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AWARD

Audio: Listen Up Awards 2002Audio: Listen Up Awards 2002
By Lynn Andriani and Shannon Maughan -- 1/6/2003

NONFICTION

THE MOUNTAIN OF THE WOMEN: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadour by Liam Clancy, read by the author (Random House Audio). Irish folk musician Clancy masterfully recounts more than "40 years of acting, singing and great foolishness" with a powerful, melodic voice and guileless magnetism.

Liam Clancy portrays a poignant, honest, and sometimes irreverent portrait of the life of a young man growing up in the Ireland of the 40s and 50s. His prose is as lyrical as his music, sprinkled with laughter and pathos.

I read, and understood his struggle living in a country of which he said had one foot in the twentieth century and the other in the Middle Ages. From provincial Ireland to the fast pace of New York's Greenwich Village in an era of coffee houses, folk singers, booze and (Playboy) bunnies, the multi-talented Liam Clancy comes out a survivor, unapologetic and charming.

My only problem with this book is that it ended too soon.

Will we be treated to a sequel, Mr. Clancy?