DYLAN BOOKS Monthly

March 2026

Welcome to the fifth issue of DYLAN BOOKS Monthly, a compilation of recent DYLAN BOOKS social media posts.

IN THIS ISSUE

Is Bob Dylan’s later work really “his most ambitious and accomplished”?

New: fresh perspectives on Dylan’s creativity

The smallest Dylan book

Dylan MOJO Essentials - newly updated

Bob Dylan films praised by important new book

New today - UNCUT Dylan cover

Bob Dylan’s musical roots - impressive catalogue from ISIS

IS BOB DYLAN’S LATER WORK REALLY“HIS MOST AMBITIOUS AND ACCOMPLISHED”?

After The Flood, Robert Polito’s outstanding new book, covers Dylan’s “second act”, his work from 1991’s Grammy “defiled” speech to the RARW World Wide Tour 2021-2024.

Polito’s study is impressive: original. comprehensive, well-informed, richly detailed, revelatory, witty, beautifully written… .

In 26 short essays, he reviews Dylan’s prolific output - albums, touring, films, prose, radio, Nobel Prize et al - and identifies multiple links. I particularly enjoyed reading Polito on “Love And Theft”, TTRH, RARW, Masked and Anonymous and Chronicles.

Shortcomings? Very few. His four chapters on live shows didn’t grab me; and his coverage of Dylan’s voluminous visual art is sketchy.

Polito regards Dylan’s 1991-2024 work as “his most ambitious and accomplished”. I’m not so sure, but I suspect that a second reading of his powerful advocacy could help to sway me.

NEW: FRESH PERSPECTIVES ON DYLAN’S CREATIVITY

Author Kevin Kane has a commendably clear aim: to analyse Dylan’s creativity. He’s impressive discussing the wider culture: Emerson to Jackson Pollock, Elvis to Keats, Henri Bergson to Groucho Marx… .

And he offers some interesting perspectives on Dylan and, more generally, on aesthetics and the creative process.

That said, his book’s a little too discursive for me. And it deserves a more relatable title. You might disagree on both points - it’s worth checking out.

THE SMALLEST DYLAN BOOK

While The Lyrics Since 1962 (see recent post) is the biggest, heaviest, least usable Dylan book, the smallest, most user-friendly Dylan book in my collection is The Little Guide To Bob Dylan: How Does It Feel? compiled by Lisa Dyer (OH, hbk, 2024, 192pp).

It’s a pocket-sized collection of Dylan quotes. Recommended.

DYLAN MOJO ESSENTIALS - NEWLY UPDATED

MOJO Essentials are commendable introductions, aimed at newer fans. The updated version of the Dylan issue, first published in 2023, will please Bobfans pulled in by A Complete Unknown. Grizzled Boomers won’t learn much from it.

The Boomer Rock mags from London are currently gung-ho about Bob - the new MOJO Essentials follows hot on the heels of the Dylan cover of the new UNCUT, featured here last week.

BOB DYLAN FILMS PRAISED BY IMPORTANT NEW BOOK

Bob Dylan’s film catalogue is generally derided.

In his impressive new book, Bob Dylan As Filmmaker - No Time To Think, Michael Glover Smith re-assesses Dylan the film director/writer/actor. A working film-maker as well as knowledgeable Dylan fan, Smith has the ideal CV for the job. And he delivers.

He focuses on the three films directed/co-written by Dylan - Eat the Document, Renaldo and Clara, and Masked and Anonymous, with briefer consideration of others bearing marks of Dylan’s involvement - Rolling Thunder Revue, Shadow Kingdom, and A Complete Unknown. Two long appendices list Dylan’s multiplicity of links with the film world.

I found Smith’s book original, perceptive, meticulously researched, impressively grounded in Dylanlit and well written. He’s comfortable both on Dylan and the context of his film work - German Expressionism, film noir, Hitchcock, Italian Neorealism, French New Wave, Poetic Realism… .

Many creative giants produce credible work in a variety of media. In Dylan’s case, I sense that non-musical works like Tarantula, Masked and Anonymous, and Drawn Blank are due for a radical re-assessment.

I confidently expect Eat the Document and Renaldo and Clara - hitherto commercially unavailable - to get an early official release. Smith’s thoughtful new book makes the case.

NEW TODAY - UNCUT DYLAN COVER

Thin Wild Mercury: Dylan 1966, the forthcoming Bob Dylan Center exhibition, is the focus of the new (“April 2026”) UNCUT, on sale today in the UK. The two page preview is the centrepiece of 13 pages of Dylan content, fronted on the cover by the exquisite Olle Lindeborg polka dot shirt portrait.

UNCUT is a key Dylan cheerleader - this is its 18th Dylan cover. I’ll repost the composite pic of my complete collection next week.

BOB DYLAN’S MUSICAL ROOTS - IMPRESSIVE CATALOGUE FROM ISIS

Exploring Dylan’s deep roots in American popular music, ISIS editor Derek Barker’s encyclopædic catalogue discusses 550 songs that Dylan has played on stage, in recording sessions and on released recordings, up to 2008’s Tell Tale Signs. A supplement continues the story to 2020, with 188 more songs, notably adding Dylan’s celebration of the Great American Songbook.

Derek Barker, Bob Dylan Under The Influence: The Songs He Didn’t Write,

Chrome Dreams, 2008, pbk, 509pp.

Derek Barker, Bob Dylan Under The Influence: The Songs He Didn’t Write - A Supplement, ISIS, 2020, pbk, 143pp.