THE 6 BEST BOB DYLAN BIOGRAPHIES

By: Clinton Heylin, Ian Bell, Howard Sounes, Robert Shelton, Anthony Scaduto and Toby Thompson.

See recent DYLAN BOOKS posts for details.

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THE 6 BEST BOB DYLAN BIOGRAPHIES

#1 Clinton Heylin, The Double Life of Bob Dylan, 2 vols, The Bodley Head, 2021/2023, hbk, 520 + 836pp.

Monumental. Deeply researched. Trenchant. Enriched by access to Bob Dylan Archive in Tulsa and Sony Archive.

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THE 6 BEST BOB DYLAN BIOGRAPHIES

#2 Ian Bell, The Lives of Bob Dylan, 2 vols, Mainstream, 2012/13, hbk.

High minded, well written. Commendable (if idiosyncratic) focus on the work. Places Dylan in the context of US culture.

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THE 6 BEST BOB DYLAN BIOGRAPHIES

#3 Howard Sounes, Down the Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan, Black Swan, 2002, pbk, 624pp.

Diligent research, fine writing. Sounes focuses on the life, but covers the work, too. (Updated Doubleday Books editions in 2011 and 2021.)

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THE 6 BEST BOB DYLAN BIOGRAPHIES

#4 Robert Shelton, No Direction Home: The Life And Music of Bob Dylan,
New English Library, 1986, hbk, 573pp.

Outstanding. Unparalleled coverage of 1961-1977.

Shelton hung out with Dylan, and met almost everyone close to him.

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THE 6 BEST BOB DYLAN BIOGRAPHIES

#6 Toby Thompson, Positively Main Street: An Unorthodox View Of Bob Dylan, New English Library, 1972, pbk, 158pp.

Engaging, informative, stylish, enjoyable. A key early Dylan book.

Also 2008 ed by Uni MN Press.

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