I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan.
To me, there is no one that makes music that is as consistently great (not just good, but great) as he does, or has.
That's only my opinion, of course.

Chronicles: Volume One is an amazing book.
It's part autobiography, part introspective, part chronological, part documentary, part historical, part commentary, part road trip, part front-porch discussion, part revealing, part discovery and all completely interesting and enjoyable.

The fantastic autobiographical portions of the read are vivid and colorful.
So much so, it's as if you as the reader are there with him at the same time in the same place.
Mr. Dylan recounts some of his early inspirations and how he was led or followed or happened upon further inspirations and genesis' for his own music.

The journey Mr. Dylan is on throughout the book is engaging and cliff-hanging at every turn.
We all may think we know how it turns out for him, and even though he knows how it ends up for him, there is no surety in any of that as he retells it all.

In the middle of the crackling journey is a tremendous recount of how his "Oh, Mercy" album was recorded. This section made it completely clear that only certain ones of us are able to create music of any sort and only a very small selection of that group of people are able to make music that is long-standing, enduring and relevant - or as describe it plainly as, "good".
The effort, work, time, stress, strain and vulnerability needed to complete theses songs and this album is astounding.

It certainly is an eye-opener to learn how much work it takes, and how many people it takes to get good songs created and an album formed.

If you are a Bob Dylan fan, you will really love this book.

If you are not a Bob Dylan fan, you will really like this book.

The history told here is full and colorful.
The details given are engaging and page-turning.
 
To me, just like Mr. Dylan's music is packed full of wonderful layered details and ringing extraordinary lyrics, this book offers a similar experience.

In this book, Mr. Dylan reveals some of himself and ends up being not what you think he would be - just like his music that is not just what you think it is once you take the time to listen to it.

Bob Dylan's homepage.