Preface
Part I -- Rebel Without Applause 1941-1966
Chapter 1: Hibbing
Chapter 2: Minneapolis
Chapter 3: Greenwich
Chapter 4: Fourth Street
Chapter 5: On the Road
Chapter 6: Chelsea Hotel
Part II -- Goin' Up the Country 1966-1978
Chapter 7: Woodstock
Chapter 8: Return to Greenwich
Chapter 9: California
Chapter 10: On the Road Again
Chapter 11: Renaldo and Sara
Part III -- Get on Board, Lil’ Children 1978-1989
Chapter 12. Slow Train
Chapter 13. Soul Train
Chapter 14. Love Train
Chapter 15. Mystery Train
Chapter 16. Money Train
Part IV -- Sometimes a Man Must Be Alone 1989-Present
17. Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind
18. Unplugging
19. Not Dark Yet
20. Millennium
21.N.E.T. Gains & Losses
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
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Dennis McDougal, writer for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, has won more than fifty awards for his hard-nosed coverage of the entertainment industry. He is the bestselling author of eleven books, including The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood and Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times. His book Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the LA Times Dynasty was produced as a two-hour PBS documentary.
From Publishers Weekly:
The legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan matures from “feckless,
foolish poseur” to calculating, canny poseur in this gleefully
acid-etched biography. New York Times scribe McDougal (The Last
Mogul) chronicles Dylan’s project of “‘building a character that
will sell’” by transforming himself from a middle-class Jewish boy
with nice parents in Minnesota into an ersatz orphaned carnie and
hallucinatory folk-rock oracle (and later into a country-western
balladeer and born-again Christian). Along the way, he argues,
Dylan stole the personas and stylings of other entertainers, and
plagiarized tunes, words, and paintings (sometimes copyrighting
them as originals). Amid makeovers and appropriations, the truly
authentic constants of Dylan’s character in this critical portrait
are a hard-nosed drive to succeed, self-centered betrayals of
intimates, incessant misrepresentations, and voracious appetites
for booze, drugs, and women. McDougal eschews gushing exegeses of
lyrics and other staples of Dylanolatry; while he acknowledges a
body of great music and perceptively analyzes its resonance, he’s
happier tossing jibes. (“A tale told by an idiot-savant on PCP” is
his review of Dylan’s novel Tarantulas.) Few of his revelations are
novel, but McDougal presents his caustic indictment with energy and
panache. (May)
From Kirkus Reviews:
"The biographer of Lew Wasserman, Jack Nicholson and Otis Chandler
returns with a sometimes-scholarly, sometimes-snarky life of the
songwriting and singing legend."
McDougal leaves few doubts about his seriousness in this long
account of Robert Zimmerman, who grew up in the small town of
Hibbing, Minn. Many pages feature footnotes, some of which are
substantial, others adding but a dollop of color. The author’s
admiration for Dylan’s artistic accomplishments is patent—in the
preface, he compares him with Shakespeare, Twain and Dickens—though
he does not hesitate to blast Dylan for shoddy performances, weak
records, personal coldness (even cruelty), drug and alcohol abuse,
and a serial sex life that would make Casanova’s grave glow green.
McDougal’s work is starkly traditional: He begins with family
background and marches steadily forward in 4/4 time, showing how
this small-town kid went to New York City and eventually owned it
to the core. It was “Blowin’ in the Wind,” writes the author, that
shot him to fame, distancing him from the many other wannabes in
Greenwich Village, but Dylan later abandoned protest songs (and,
soon, his acoustic guitar) and spent the next decades in a
continual reinvention—of his music and his persona. But patterns
emerged: He eventually wore out even the most indulgent of wives;
he abruptly dropped business acquaintances and fellow musicians; he
wished always to have the spotlight on him; he “borrowed” lyrics
and images for his paintings; and he remained intensely private,
probably realizing that too much exposure would remove the
“mystery.” McDougal offers engaging details about the major
records, as well as Dylan’s books and films. He even finds some
good things to say about Dylan’s dreadful performance in Sam
Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Richly detailed, though the author places Dylan on a higher shelf
in the cultural library than history may permit.
"Whether you agree or disagree with the author, you will likely
never read a book as purely entertaining about Dylan."—Tom Waldman,
nohoartsdistrict.com
Praise for Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest
Movie Star in Modern Times
"Dennis McDougal is a rare Hollywood reporter: honest, fearless,
nobody's fool. This is unvarnished Jack for Jack-lovers and
Jack-skeptics but, also, for anyone interested in the state of
American culture and celebrity. I always read Mr. McDougal for
pointers."—Patrick McGilligan, author of Jack's Life and Alfred
Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light
Praise for Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of
the L.A. Times Dynasty
"A great freeway pileup--part biography, part dysfunctional family
chronicle, and part institutional and urban history, with generous
dollops of scandal and gossip."—Hendrick Hertzberg, The New
Yorker
"McDougal has managed to scale the high walls that have long
protected the Chandler clan and returned with wicked tales told by
angry ex-wives and jealous siblings." —The Washington Post
Praise for The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA and the Hidden
History of Hollywood
"Real glamour needs a dark side. That is part of the fascination of
Dennis McDougal's wonderful book."—The Economist
"Thoroughly reported and engrossing . . . the most noteworthy trait
of MCA was how it hid its power." —The New York Times Book
Review
"Over the years, I've read hundreds of books on Hollywood and the
movie business, and this one is right at the top." —Michael Blowen,
The Boston Globe
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