Bob Dylan: New York

Bob Dylan turns 70 in May 2011. The man himself may pay it little heed - 'age don't carry weight', he sings in a recent song - but a lot of other people will mark the occasion. One place that's sure to see some parties is New York City, where 50 winters ago a scruffy kid called Bobby Zimmerman blew into town. During the subsequent decade or two, New York returned the favour, inspiring, provoking, and liberating the kid to become what he could not have become anywhere else. As detailed in this book, Dylan created sounds and words that redefined the possibilities of popular music in the basements, studios, and cafes of Manhattan. This is the only book devoted to examining the role that New York City played in the creation of Dylan's music, the evolution of his creative process, and the continual reinvention of his public persona. Packed with information, savvy insights, and surprising facts, "Bob Dylan: New York" not only chronicles where he lived, worked, and played (and where he still plays from time to time), but also offers evocative portraits of different facets of the city, especially its folk scene during the 1960s. The book features more than 50 sites - fleapit hotels and avant-garde clubs, tiny coffee-houses and vast concert halls, landmarks of one sort or another in Dylan's New York odyssey. Street maps let the reader navigate from the Cafe Wha to the Chelsea Hotel; from Columbia's Studio A, where he recorded songs such as "Desolation Row" and "Positively 4th Street", to the Decker Building, where he hung out with Warhol and Nico; from the Delmonico Hotel, where he introduced the Beatles to marijuana to the Bitter End, where he spent much of the summer of '75 playing pool and guitar. This is fascinating reading for anyone who likes listening to Bob Dylan or visiting New York. It's essential reading for anyone who loves doing both.

"The city influenced the man and the man helped shape the city in the early '60s, and you can read about all of that in this informative and fanciful book." --www.curledup.com "Sawyers' compact book is a primer for those who are unfamiliar with Bob Dylan and a cherry atop a hot fudge sundae for those who can recite every lyric to every song." —www.examiner.com (May 24, 2011) "Good for basic armchair amusement and for adding factoids to your Dylan-lore; as a Dylan fan . . . you'll absolutely adore Bob Dylan New York." —www.antimusic.com (May 11, 2011) "A must-read for any music fan visiting New York . . . both an entertaining story and an excellent practical guide." —www.suite101.com (April 27, 2011) "The author brings the Greenwich Village of the '60s to life." —David Luhrssen, www.expressmilwaukee.com (May 15, 2011)