Positively Main Street. An Unorthodox View of Bob Dylan

by Toby Thompson

An unbelievable but true story about the most influential singer of the century.
Who is 'the Girl from the North Country?' Who still remembers Bob Dylan in his home town of Hibbing? Who are Dylan's family, and who would believe a blue-rinsed ma and a brother in cavalry twills?
Who, really is Bob Dylan?

Toby Thompson found out. By applying the ruthless, confessional, on-the-road lifestyle of New Journalism to an unbounded love for his hero, the young, fanatical, hair-raising author has created the highest- and deepest-experience of this or any year.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History

188 pages, Hardcover

First published March 28, 1971

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gift from two of my favorite students. It's the story of the author's visit in 1968 to Hibbing, on the 'Iron Range' in northern Minnesota, to locate and interview people important in the boyhood of Bob Dylan (Bobby Zimmerman). Written in an often breezy, sometimes journalistic, occasionally free-associative style that focuses as much on the writer'e experience and feelings as on the official subject. One key theme is how Toby Thompson manages to find layers of unexpected reality in and behind some of the myth and bullshit.

This book produced an interesting effect on me as I read it. Much of the first part I found rather irritating, as the young East Coast author adopts an attititude of smug superiority toward the rubes he meets in Hibbing. Part of that reaction is my own midwestern defensiveness, part a feeling that Thompson didn't notice or realize that some of the people he met were undoubtedly putting him on a bit. But then I realized that the point of the book was largely meant to be atmospheric and 'new journalistic' in the narcissistic Tom Wolfe manner that I personally disliked heartily back when it was happening.

When the story reaches Minneapolis and Toby's encounters with Echo Helmstrom, Dylan's 11th-grade girlfriend, the book gets more interesting and a bit creepier. Thompson saw himself as something of a stand-in for Bob, a bard manqué, and even courts his hero's ex a bit. As an appendix is a revealing interview of the author (published originally in the UK 2005) offering a good retrospective and perspective on the whole thing. At the time the book and its predecessor articles in the Village Voice were published (1969, 1971) this was all revelatory material and even now it offers much interesting detail to a Dylan fan like me.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first real book about Bob Dylan is still one of the best. In 1968, Toby Thompson made at trip to Hibbing to see who he could talk to. He ended up meeting an uncle of Bob's, Bob's babysitter, Bob's brother, Bob's mother, and most entertainingly, Bob's high school girlfriend, Echo Helstrom.

One of the striking things to realize is how little time had elapsed in Dylan's career at this time, but how much he had accomplished. The book takes place only around 10 years after Bob graduated from high school, yet he's already released many works of genius and remade rock and to a lesser extent poetry.

Thompson writes very engagingly, though a couple times his style wears on you, and in many ways, it sets the tone for books to follow, with their mixture of the analytical and the gushing fanboy. Thompson is aware, as are many other Dylan writers, of the problems with the approach, but if sometimes he crosses the line here, it's well worth it for the portrait of Hibbing so long ago (now) and these people.

[David Granger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a teenager (not long after I bought my first Dylan album, "Blood on the Tracks") and I can still remember the book's first line:

"Hey, if you're a real Dylan buff, I mean tuned right into the stereo microgrooves of his soul charisma, then you'll dig this."

Needless to say, I was and I did.

[Rustam]

I took a non-fiction writing class from Toby Thompson in college! Interested to see what his book is like. peripheral note: In class, he once told us about meeting Hunter Thompson in a bar.

[Dan Ream · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book in the early 1970s when I first discovered Bob Dylan. Toby Thompson s book is equal parts his adventures in finding and exploring Dylan’s hometown ( Hibbing, Minnesota) and sharing what he learned about Dylan from the sources he met. This was in the spirit of the “New Journalism” movement started by Tim Wolfe a few years before, where the author’s experience shares center stage with the subject he’s covering. In this case, Thompson did a great job in sharing his excitement as a Dylan fan in meeting Dylan’s high school sweetheart, Echo Helstrom, his brother David , his mother and various others who knew him back when.
It was noteworthy too that in 1968-69 when Toby made these visits to Hibbing, no one else had yet done so and written about it. On rereading this book 50 years later ( reissued with a new introduction and afterword) I still enjoyed it a lot.

[Maya Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of fun to read. Toby Thompson's style is very personal in that he gets across his own excitement during the whole project. He's the only biographer who has done this that I've read, and he got interviews and so much more from Dylan's family and former friends that no one else ever got.

[Aaron Nyquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting new journalism look at Dylan and Hibbing in the late 60’s. The conversations with Rcho Helstrom are incredible to read.

[Phil Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic look back at the obsessive nature of youthful fandom. A great tale well told and a must read for all Dylan fans.

[David Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Circa 1969, Thompson had the novel idea of visiting Bob Dylan's hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota to interview people who knew him before he obscured his past. The hard information could probably be condensed to one chapter, so the book is more about Thompson and his pilgrimage. Naive, lame, a little embarrassing as he gets chummy with Dylan's high school girlfriend, but kind of fun anyway.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was 13 years-old! I've always love Dylan.

[Jay]

not just for the true tangled-up-in-blue dylan fan...the guy's a fantastically free writer, and it tells as much about '60s culture and minnesota culture as it does about bobby die-lan.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprint of a 1971 book. Writer went to Hibbing and Mpls in 1968 seeking Bob Dylan's history.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of the funnest reads about Dylan.

[Nancymimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dylanography has just about become it's own genre. This was fun to read - my mom's from the next town and I am familiar with a lot of the places he writes about.

[Danielle]

You went there; sat in his chair. Lucky you!

[Stephen Hero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Top Three (of all time) with the Nickname “Wrong Way”

03. Capt. Peter "Wrong Way" Peachfuzz
02. Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels
01. Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in the 1970s and loved it. A unique approach to a book on Bob Dylan. Well written.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought a copy of this on 24 May 1973 but must have lost it.