Whoever it was in 1969 who named the very first Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder” may have had a mischievous streak. There are any number of ways you can interpret the title — most boringly, the cover was blank, like the Beatles’ “White Album” — but I like to see a sly allusion to “Moby-Dick.” In the seven years since the release of his first commercial record, Dylan had become the white whale of 20th-century popular song, a wild, unconquerable and often baffling force of musical nature who drove fans and critics Ahab-mad in their efforts to spear him, lash him to the hull and render him merely comprehensible. --- Bruce Handy, NYTimes ____________________________________________ I figured we can start fresh with Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist this photo of him striking a Woody Guthrie pose. Looks like only yesterday. Here is a link to the comments building up to this reading group.
Thanks for this link, Gintaras. I'll use this and Wood until my book arrives. I made the mistake of ordering it with Game Change and it's currently out of stock (already). Must be quite the book!
ReplyDeleteIn Revolutionary Characters, Wood talks about the "Madison problem" -- which as I recall relates to how to reconcile his anti-democratic feelings towards the states.
But sounds like Wills is dealing with more international questions, so I'll have to see what Adams says.
Wills definitely takes the broader view here, focusing heavily on the War of 1812, often to comic effect. Young America was lucky to have come out of that war in one piece.
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