Tarantula
by Bob DylanSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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recommended to Lola by:
Ilene Lush
recommends it for: Tony Nesca
recommends it for: Tony Nesca
Bob Dylan can do anything.
See Excerpt, I think it was hysterical.
"…look you asshole – tho I might be nothing but a butter sculptor, I refuse to go on working with the idea of your praising my reward – like what are your credentials anyway? Except for talking about all us butter sculptors, what else do you do? Do you know what it feels like to make some butter sculpture? Do you know what it feels like to actually ooze that butter around & create something of fantastic wo...more
See Excerpt, I think it was hysterical.
"…look you asshole – tho I might be nothing but a butter sculptor, I refuse to go on working with the idea of your praising my reward – like what are your credentials anyway? Except for talking about all us butter sculptors, what else do you do? Do you know what it feels like to make some butter sculpture? Do you know what it feels like to actually ooze that butter around & create something of fantastic wo...more
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This slim volume is interesting chiefly because it is the work of Bob Dylan. No; allow me to revise that. For "chiefly," substitute "solely."
In the mid-60s, Dylan was a star, hailed as a prophet, and very young. He got a book deal. His editors and publishers didn't care what they got as long as it was Dylanesque. They got this. It was Dylanesque, all right.
Tarantula is the work of a young man who was very much out of his depth. Interesting at times for snippets that l...more
In the mid-60s, Dylan was a star, hailed as a prophet, and very young. He got a book deal. His editors and publishers didn't care what they got as long as it was Dylanesque. They got this. It was Dylanesque, all right.
Tarantula is the work of a young man who was very much out of his depth. Interesting at times for snippets that l...more
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The Bobcat is a wild man on paper, more Kerouac than Kerouac at times (as a matter of fact.)
I've been slipping in and out of this volume of neo-retro post-absurdist Beat prose poetry for a decade or so, and while one can only handle a piece or two at a time, let me tell ya', those pieces really stick in your mind, like that chewing gum a pretty girl stole from the back seat of your theatre when you were but a slip of a stumble, and you were trying to get a Handel on things, but you got your B...more
I've been slipping in and out of this volume of neo-retro post-absurdist Beat prose poetry for a decade or so, and while one can only handle a piece or two at a time, let me tell ya', those pieces really stick in your mind, like that chewing gum a pretty girl stole from the back seat of your theatre when you were but a slip of a stumble, and you were trying to get a Handel on things, but you got your B...more
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Read in January, 2003
recommends it for:
Bob Dylan obsessives
This book is a terrific novelty item (I snagged a 1st edition!) but if you're looking for enlightenment from the Shakespeare of songwriting, listen to the records.
I can stand my ground against the thickest of surrealist writing, but the text in Tarantula, while interesting, never gets past the brain stew stage. Although, as far as phonetic music goes, its pure Dylan.
On the other hand, its Bob Dylan in 1966, hopped up on amphetamines in various smoky hotel rooms, spewing crazy shit into a...more
I can stand my ground against the thickest of surrealist writing, but the text in Tarantula, while interesting, never gets past the brain stew stage. Although, as far as phonetic music goes, its pure Dylan.
On the other hand, its Bob Dylan in 1966, hopped up on amphetamines in various smoky hotel rooms, spewing crazy shit into a...more
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recommends it for:
hardcore dylan fans only
If you thought Dylan's songs were impenetrable, this book will blow your mind. If this was any reflection of Dylan's mind back in the 60's then he must've basically subsisted off cigarettes and acid. Tarantula's a good novelty item and a good piece of Dylan paraphernalia, but it makes the surrealists look like nursery rhymes. I find the best way to read these poems is to sort of sing the words to the tune of Subterranean Homesick Blues; at least that way they'll have some semblance of meter ...more
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recommends it for:
hitchhikers and thieves
Haha umm... I really enjoyed this book, but if you're one of those people who needs a plot, storyline, characters... you might want to try out Eat, Pray, Love instead. It's a bit inaccessible, but so was Kid A and look how great that turned out. In short, if you're comfortable reading something you might not understand at first, give it a shot -especially if you're a Dylan fan, or into Beat Lit.
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Read in May, 1999
recommended to Stephen by:
Bob Dylan himselfrecommends it for: hardcore Bob Dylan fans...and only serious fans.
I am a huge Bob Dylan fan...and I can't really recommend picking up "Tarantula." Written during the heady days of 1965 and 1966 when Dylan spent most of his time strung out with a typewriter nearby, the poetry and "prose" of "Tarantula" does not resemble the magical, snarling whirlwind created by lyrics from "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde."
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
only die hard dylan fans
This is "the manuscript on his knee." You can see/hear/read so much of the ideas that went into his mid-60s albums. It almost seems like he pulled lines out of the book and re-worded them for his songs. Consider this book the Encyclopedia for those albums. As poetry, I don't know. I kind of forced myself to finish it. But I can't NOT like it. It's Dylan.
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Probably the best argument against stream-of-consciousness writing out there. Let's hear it for that thing in our heads that puts the filter on what comes out. With apologies to Andre Breton, people really aren't that interested, nor should they be, in the detritus of our imaginations.
And, no, I didn't (couldn't) read the whole thing.
And, no, I didn't (couldn't) read the whole thing.
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I love this book simply because I can not for the life of me understand it. But thats Dylan for ya. Ya know?, he waits for you to come find him. He won't patronize you and put his ideas on the low shelf. The stream of consciousness writing harkens the style of his contemporary Jack Kerouac. READ IT!
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Well this is just completely incomprehensible, hard to get through, nonsensical, a book of poetry for the sake of a book of poetry. It seems like everyone pushed Dylan so hard to be a poet that he was almost saying, "Is this the kind of bullshit poetry you people expect from me?" And I love it.
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Read in July, 2008
Weird, though expectedly so. More interesting than good. If I were less of a Dylan fan it would probably only get two stars; if I were a Dylan completist it may have gotten four. If you like his older albums and his historical significance you'll probably get a kick out of this.
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This book is really amazing. It is a book of Bob Dylan's free verse poetry. It is a lot of work to read in the style that he wrote it but truly phenomenal. Personally I think that his lyrics are better than his music. And I need the music part of a song.
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Like any pretentious highschool Bob Dylan fan, at one point I actually assumed that this collection of poems not only made sense, but actually contained profound truths. Now that I've matured, I can see the humor in this error.
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i mean, i've read what i want to from this. i'll probably go back to it from time to time. it's fun, it's crazy, it's stream of consciousness. sometimes there's connections with songs that i know... oh, bob
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Read in April, 2008
i'm a little disappointed in this - i've been listening to a lot of dylan lately and was excited to read tarantula but it seemed to be disjointed and rambling without the genius i find within his music
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In my comments regarding Raymond Chandler I said that if I could write I would write like that. Unfortunately I write more like Tarantula...so I'm able to appreciate this bunch of nonsense BS.
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recommends it for:
Bob Dylan fans
This is a very weird stream of consioucness experimental poetic novel. It is not for those who are looking for plot, theme, or any concrete meaning. If you are not a Dylan fan, forget it!
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of dylan or those with lots of patience
amphetamine ramblings from the golden age of bob. very weird, very nonsensical. if there is meaning, it is so buried beneath cryptic word play that it's anyone's guess.
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Only bother with this if you're a hardcore Dylan fan. I couldn't get into just seemed a bunch of Dylan ramblings. Def a lot better books out there about and by Dylan.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.20 (345 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.15 (323 ratings) number of reviews: 53
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"look, you know i don't wanna come on ungrateful, but that warren report, you know as well as me, just didn't make it. You know, like they might as well have asked some banana salesman from des moines, who was up in toronto on the big day, if he saw anyone around looking suspicious/..."
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