The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 2: 1966- 2021 ‘Far away from Myself’ Clinton Heylin (BOOK)

The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 2: 1966-2021. Hardback book. 848 pages.

‘Far away from Myself’
Clinton Heylin

The second instalment of the definitive biography of one contemporary culture's most iconic and mysterious figures, taking us from Dylan's 1960s heyday to his 80th birthday.

A must-read for the legions of Dylan fans - and for anyone who wants to understand why he still matters. The second instalment of the definitive biography takes readers from Dylan's 1960s heyday to his 80th birthday. Written by the world-leading authority on Bob Dylan (Heylin has been described by the New York Times as the 'the only Dylanologist worth reading').

THE BOOK:

The second volume of Clinton Heylin's magisterial biography takes us from Dylan's 1966 motorcycle accident to the present day. We meet a man who is determined to confound expectations; yet whatever he does only seems to confirm his iconic status to fans and critics alike. There are peaks and troughs. Long periods of writer's block are followed by sudden bursts of creativity that produce some of the best work of his career, including perhaps his most celebrated album, 1975's Blood On The Tracks. There is the unpredictable recording process, with Dylan often including on his albums the worst takes and leaving off the best songs altogether. On the Neverending Tour he reinvents his songbook on a nightly basis, at times without recognition. Then there are the albums and songs that reveal the genius of an artist whose lyrics draw on centuries of American culture but who refuses to be shackled to his own past. Today his voice is almost unrecognisable from his 1960s peak, and the man whose songs had been devoted to dissecting his romantic relationships has become focused on mortality, solitude and getting old. Yet his albums continue to top the charts, 2020's Rough And Rowdy Ways being his fourth No. 1 album of the twenty-first century. There is no other living artist whose creative output has remained constantly intriguing, often baffling, sometimes infuriating but always fascinating for over sixty years. Clinton Heylin's definitive, scrupulously researched and revelatory life, based on unprecedented access to the official Tulsa archive and other new sources, paints the fullest and brightest portrait yet of an iconic figure that has defined contemporary culture.

THE AUTHOR:

Described by the New York Times as 'the only Dylanologist worth reading', Clinton Heylin is the author of the acclaimed Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades (1991; revised 2001) and over two dozen other books on music and popular culture, including biographies of Sandy Denny, Van Morrison and Orson Welles, and the two classic studies of punk's origins, From the Velvets to the Voidoids and Anarchy in the Year Zero. The first volume of this definitive biography, The Double Life of Bob Dylan, was published in 2021. An ex-pupil of Manchester Grammar School, and with two degrees in History, he has been a full-time historian and critic for three decades. He lives in Somerset.

‘The definitive, scrupulously researched biography of a life steeped in mystery’ Oberver on The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 1

‘Gripping... hugely impressive’ The Times, Book of the Week, on The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 1

‘Clinton Heylin is the éminence grise of Dylan scholars’ Andrew Motion, Spectator, on The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 1

‘Painstakingly detailed... informative and well organised’ Financial Times on The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 1