Like A Rolling Stone

Book #32 of 2005 was Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads by Greil Marcus.

Like a Rolling Stone is a book about Bob Dylan's song of the same name. Part social critique, part musical scholarship, and part esoteric rambling, the book examines the song from various angles in an attempt to examine its place on the throne as the greatest song in rock n' roll history.

There are lots of great musical references and trivia in the book mixed with moments of brilliance where Marcus provides keen insight into Dylan the man and Dylan the myth. Unfortunately for me the good moments were outweighed by longer sections in the book that seemed to wander off into unrelated topics that shed little light on the song and frankly just weren't very interesting. Unless you're a huge Dylan fan, I'd recommend saving the $25 and just reading the CNN summary instead. You'll learn a lot of the same stuff in a lot less time.

My favorite part of the book was the Epilogue in which Marcus has transcribed the tapes from the existing 'Like a Rolling Stone' recording sessions and weaved in his own commentary to help place context around the recorded dialogue. In this role Marcus' musical knowledge shines through and really gives you an insight into how the song came together. NPR's website has a nice long excerpt that contains most of the chapter, as well as a link to the song in case it's been awhile since you've heard it.

If you want to learn more about the book, MetaCritic is a good resource for more detailed reviews.