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Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript
The portrait of a very young Bob Dylan on the cover of The Times They Are a Changin is probably one of the most recognizable and famous album covers of all time. Photographer Barry Feinstein took that photo, as well as many more of Dylan throughout his career. His images have been published throughout the world many times over, and have become synonymous with our perceptions of that place and time in rock and folk music history.
Inspired by a series of photographs that Feinstein took in Hollywood during the 1950s and 60s, Bob Dylan wrote an extraordinary series of poems that have remained unpublished for decades. They are thought-provoking, witty and erudite observations of the world; through the lens of Feinstein's photographs, they speak volumes about the anonymous faces and places of Los Angeles, and offer wry commentary on images of stars and legends in the neighbourhood at the time. Photos of Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland float through the book, as do poignant images of starlets, casting couches, employment agencies and palm tree'd boulevards. Feinstein was there with a camera to capture some world-famous events, such as Marilyn Monroe's memorial service, and he photographed the forgettable moments, preserving them perfectly and timelessly. Bob Dylan's unsettling and distinctly unique perspective informs and enlivens every page, an irresistible interpretive voice narrating the visual images from photo to photo.
Inspired by a series of photographs that Feinstein took in Hollywood during the 1950s and 60s, Bob Dylan wrote an extraordinary series of poems that have remained unpublished for decades. They are thought-provoking, witty and erudite observations of the world; through the lens of Feinstein's photographs, they speak volumes about the anonymous faces and places of Los Angeles, and offer wry commentary on images of stars and legends in the neighbourhood at the time. Photos of Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland float through the book, as do poignant images of starlets, casting couches, employment agencies and palm tree'd boulevards. Feinstein was there with a camera to capture some world-famous events, such as Marilyn Monroe's memorial service, and he photographed the forgettable moments, preserving them perfectly and timelessly. Bob Dylan's unsettling and distinctly unique perspective informs and enlivens every page, an irresistible interpretive voice narrating the visual images from photo to photo.
160 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2008
About the author
Bob Dylan
586 books1,596 followersBob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician, poet, and, of late, disc jockey who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of Dylan's most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of American unrest. A number of his songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. His most recent studio album, Modern Times, released on August 29, 2006, entered the U.S. album charts at #1, making him, at age sixty five, the oldest living person to top those charts.
Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature (2016).
Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature (2016).
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 16, 2021
Let me confess straight up that I am NOT a fan of Bob Dylan. That doesn't mean I dislike him but we all have our own musical likes and for me, he is not one of them. Granted, he's also not my generation so perhaps I missed the whole bigness of it all, but, um, no. And a Nobel Prize? If Dylan can get that, then Tupac should be granted a posthumous award, because he spoke to us in a much clearer fashion.
blindly I wake
stagger t the window
yawn
truth stands perched on a hill
must be my day, mama
i stick my elbows
on the ledge
stare at it
That's Dylan's ode to the Hollywood Sign. Throughout, he uses "t" instead of "to" which is, I guess, some kind of cool folk singer's way of doing things. Didn't work for me. To be honest, it's not just the poems, it's also the photography. I expected more but many of the photos look like darkroom rejects, whether it's hands clutching Oscars (good luck figuring out whose hands those are) or snapshots of empty parking lots. Instead of identifying each picture on the same page, the reader has to go to the very end and search for who or what that photo is all about.
However, there is also something good about every book and I did admire the look at the 1960s era, when cars were cars and women had those wonky beehive hairdos. There are occasional behind-the-scene Hollywood sneak peaks, such as Judy Garland on her TV show and Gary Cooper's funeral. I mean, it's not a bad book, but it's getting donated this weekend. Hopefully, a happy Bob Dylan fan will find it and admire it, which I could not do.
Book Season = Year Round (tinglin quiet)
blindly I wake
stagger t the window
yawn
truth stands perched on a hill
must be my day, mama
i stick my elbows
on the ledge
stare at it
That's Dylan's ode to the Hollywood Sign. Throughout, he uses "t" instead of "to" which is, I guess, some kind of cool folk singer's way of doing things. Didn't work for me. To be honest, it's not just the poems, it's also the photography. I expected more but many of the photos look like darkroom rejects, whether it's hands clutching Oscars (good luck figuring out whose hands those are) or snapshots of empty parking lots. Instead of identifying each picture on the same page, the reader has to go to the very end and search for who or what that photo is all about.
However, there is also something good about every book and I did admire the look at the 1960s era, when cars were cars and women had those wonky beehive hairdos. There are occasional behind-the-scene Hollywood sneak peaks, such as Judy Garland on her TV show and Gary Cooper's funeral. I mean, it's not a bad book, but it's getting donated this weekend. Hopefully, a happy Bob Dylan fan will find it and admire it, which I could not do.
Book Season = Year Round (tinglin quiet)
December 17, 2022
I am a fan of photographic books so when I spotted this one I thought it had possibilities of being enjoyable; I was wrong for some of the photographs are a disappointment and one wonders why anyone could have decided that they would grace a book of any kind. I do appreciate that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but some of these had no beauty at all for me. In addition to work out what the photographs were the reader has to refer to the back of the book to discover what we are looking at, and sometimes a description is very definitely required, because there are no titles on the photographs themselves although there is plenty of white space on each page to display a title; even then, having used the back listing I discover that between the back free end paper and the paste down end paper there is an errata slip, 'Errata Photo Index' that relist the photographs with corrections. By then I was too disinterested to bother!
As for the words by Bob Dylan, who was not a particular favourite musician of mine, they are sometimes difficult to relate to what we are looking at and his irritating habit of using 't' instead of to is exasperating! The so-called prose-poems have a taste of Emily Dickinson in that they have no titles and a nodding acknowledgement to ee cummings in that there are no upper case letters and no punctuation.
Some of the prose-poems can be related to the photograph (but not many) and in a 'Conversation with Bob Dylan' that begins the book, he is asked, 'Do you consider these poems?' He answers, 'You'd probably have to ask some academician about that.' And then an additional question, 'But what about you?' He answers, 'But what about me? Well I would have to refer ro the academicians too. If they are poems, or if they are not poems ... does it really matter? And would it matter to?'
Well it would matter to me for I would at least want my words to reflect what the reader was looking at photographic-wise, which many of these do not seem to do. So while some of the photographs are okay, others are very mundane which makes the book overall very disappointing.
As for the words by Bob Dylan, who was not a particular favourite musician of mine, they are sometimes difficult to relate to what we are looking at and his irritating habit of using 't' instead of to is exasperating! The so-called prose-poems have a taste of Emily Dickinson in that they have no titles and a nodding acknowledgement to ee cummings in that there are no upper case letters and no punctuation.
Some of the prose-poems can be related to the photograph (but not many) and in a 'Conversation with Bob Dylan' that begins the book, he is asked, 'Do you consider these poems?' He answers, 'You'd probably have to ask some academician about that.' And then an additional question, 'But what about you?' He answers, 'But what about me? Well I would have to refer ro the academicians too. If they are poems, or if they are not poems ... does it really matter? And would it matter to?'
Well it would matter to me for I would at least want my words to reflect what the reader was looking at photographic-wise, which many of these do not seem to do. So while some of the photographs are okay, others are very mundane which makes the book overall very disappointing.
December 29, 2008
I am a huge Dylan fan. My husband got this for me for Christmas this year and I read it in about an hour.
If you are a Dylan fan...you can actually hear Dylan saying the words of each poem. It is very captivating and witty. Dylan uses short lines to convey his message and views of the photographs of old Hollywood. I think this book is going to be one that you need or perhaps should read more than once because like all poetry the meaning unfolds and comes to life as you read and re-read each line. Often the first time you read a line you are merely decoding the words and trying to establish how they were intended to sound. The second and third time one can actually begin to decipher and assign meaning and understanding. Perhaps as we read and become more familiar with each word and line you can even begin to see the people in the photos take shape and come to life.
A good fast read for any Dylan fan.
If you are a Dylan fan...you can actually hear Dylan saying the words of each poem. It is very captivating and witty. Dylan uses short lines to convey his message and views of the photographs of old Hollywood. I think this book is going to be one that you need or perhaps should read more than once because like all poetry the meaning unfolds and comes to life as you read and re-read each line. Often the first time you read a line you are merely decoding the words and trying to establish how they were intended to sound. The second and third time one can actually begin to decipher and assign meaning and understanding. Perhaps as we read and become more familiar with each word and line you can even begin to see the people in the photos take shape and come to life.
A good fast read for any Dylan fan.
August 19, 2012
I am a sucker for these books. This one is disappointing on closer inspection.
The photographs are a collection of one working photographer/photo-journalists views of Hollywood in the 1950's and 1960's. The subject material ranges from studio work to street photography to journalistic candids. The selection of images and their arrangement is partially successful. Sequenced photos, with the accompanying poetry, or with the end note commentary have an impact that is documentary. At best. At worst, some of the images are random inclusions in both subject and placement. Photos of dress/costume forms for stars, and boxes of bras for perhaps the same don't make compelling photographs. And there's a Playboy Playmate wearing a towel thrown in for good measure?
Poetry from Bob Dylan.
Well, everything he wrote is poetry - agreed? Or maybe it is just disjointed song lyrics waitin' for a tune. The poetry that accompanies these photos is mostly explained in snippets of two interviews with Dylan and the Photographer, Barry Feinstein. Very Bob Dylan phrases and pacing are evident. Dylan's sparse style is interesting to see at this stage of his life and career without a 'soundtrack' or a guitar accompaniment.
Some of the poetry is spread out in a way over several pages that it doesn't read easily or well. Some entries are only one or a partial page. Others span two or more pages with page separations for photographs. Only a ' contd ' at the top of a page marks the breaks.
The photographs have been mostly over processed and suffer. Digital noise abounds in this pre-digital era black and white film based imagery. If the images are/were that bad, others should have been selected or a different treatment of them is needed. It's sloppy work.
Two stars is about all I can muster for this work in total. Dylan researchers, pop culture enthusiasts, nostalgia buffs etc. will find some value. A few nuggets but not a lot.
The photographs are a collection of one working photographer/photo-journalists views of Hollywood in the 1950's and 1960's. The subject material ranges from studio work to street photography to journalistic candids. The selection of images and their arrangement is partially successful. Sequenced photos, with the accompanying poetry, or with the end note commentary have an impact that is documentary. At best. At worst, some of the images are random inclusions in both subject and placement. Photos of dress/costume forms for stars, and boxes of bras for perhaps the same don't make compelling photographs. And there's a Playboy Playmate wearing a towel thrown in for good measure?
Poetry from Bob Dylan.
Well, everything he wrote is poetry - agreed? Or maybe it is just disjointed song lyrics waitin' for a tune. The poetry that accompanies these photos is mostly explained in snippets of two interviews with Dylan and the Photographer, Barry Feinstein. Very Bob Dylan phrases and pacing are evident. Dylan's sparse style is interesting to see at this stage of his life and career without a 'soundtrack' or a guitar accompaniment.
Some of the poetry is spread out in a way over several pages that it doesn't read easily or well. Some entries are only one or a partial page. Others span two or more pages with page separations for photographs. Only a ' contd ' at the top of a page marks the breaks.
The photographs have been mostly over processed and suffer. Digital noise abounds in this pre-digital era black and white film based imagery. If the images are/were that bad, others should have been selected or a different treatment of them is needed. It's sloppy work.
Two stars is about all I can muster for this work in total. Dylan researchers, pop culture enthusiasts, nostalgia buffs etc. will find some value. A few nuggets but not a lot.
November 11, 2008
Even without Bob Dylan's contributions, Barry Feinstein's photographs of Hollywood in its waning days of absolute glamor in the early '60s are incredible: the Hollywood sign crumbling as Feinstein's camera gets closer, Marilyn Monroe's house on the day of her death, Marlene Dietrich at Gary Cooper's funeral, etc.. Dylan's part, poems to accompany and color the images, is stunning, too. Unlike "Tarantula," Dylan's "novel," the writing here moves unfettered. It's hilarious, beautiful, all that stuff. One great bit reads like Preston Sturges dialogue. Definitely a significant addition to the Dylan-in-print canon. Plus, it's just a beautiful book.
June 5, 2015
Early 60's photos of Hollywood by Barry Feinstein narrated by Dylan's prose poetry (is it poetry? Don't ask him, as the interviewer did in the too-brief interview in the front of the book).
The stark photos show Hollywood dying--Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, The Hal Roach studio, the famous sign--first from a distance, then approaching, then close enough that
then I can even
see
what holds each part of it
up
an I, mama,
am no
genius
The spare language frames the pictures perfectly with the anger, humor, and Biblical portent of any Dylan lyric, and the words and pictures repay reexamination as the eye rests and then moves between them.
I was left wishing for more of the photographs and the text, a true measure of any classic work of art.
The stark photos show Hollywood dying--Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, The Hal Roach studio, the famous sign--first from a distance, then approaching, then close enough that
then I can even
see
what holds each part of it
up
an I, mama,
am no
genius
The spare language frames the pictures perfectly with the anger, humor, and Biblical portent of any Dylan lyric, and the words and pictures repay reexamination as the eye rests and then moves between them.
I was left wishing for more of the photographs and the text, a true measure of any classic work of art.
August 16, 2009
This coffee table book is cool, retro and evocative of old hollywood meets Dylan on off the cuff. I read this through at the book store and still purchased it. A must have for Bob Dylan devotees.
August 30, 2009
Say WHAT, Bob!?
June 10, 2017
If Hollywood centers the universe, this book is one of its odd documents, a thing that would be a find in an overlooked vault.
Coffee-table-fit, the photos -- Hollywoodlandia, remember -- stem from the very early 1960s, the place visibly seedy and industry-tired. Barry Feinstein took them, found them in his stash. What's unique is that Bob Dylan, 1964, riffled through them and wrote short pieces attached and included, now, alongside.
Young Dylan, mid-20s, Woody Guthrie populism part of him, looking at images of daily exhaustion, So Cal dusty light, and star collapse. His words, written like thin poems with hallmark rhyming echoes sprinkled casually around, aren't lyrics.
Some of them take dialogue form, some just observe. A few condemn. More than a few joke lightly, needle more than a bit, set up first-shot, not too energetic satire.
Take it as 'found art'.
Coffee-table-fit, the photos -- Hollywoodlandia, remember -- stem from the very early 1960s, the place visibly seedy and industry-tired. Barry Feinstein took them, found them in his stash. What's unique is that Bob Dylan, 1964, riffled through them and wrote short pieces attached and included, now, alongside.
Young Dylan, mid-20s, Woody Guthrie populism part of him, looking at images of daily exhaustion, So Cal dusty light, and star collapse. His words, written like thin poems with hallmark rhyming echoes sprinkled casually around, aren't lyrics.
Some of them take dialogue form, some just observe. A few condemn. More than a few joke lightly, needle more than a bit, set up first-shot, not too energetic satire.
Take it as 'found art'.
September 30, 2024
Some nice photos with some great poetry. Dylan’s rhythmic bursts of language pair with black & white photography to cover an impressive range of emotion. Some are haunting, some hilarious. Recommend to any Dylan fan, not to the extent of Chronicles or Philosophy of Modern Song, but not too far behind.
July 13, 2020
Not much to relate to here, but the Monroe photo and poem are the best...
November 23, 2020
Hit and miss. The best photos are stunning. The best words amplify the photos but there’s too much stream of consciousness nonsense. It is a book I keep coming back to though
May 27, 2010
They pulled out all the stops on this one. There is a short interview with photographer Feinstein. A short interview with Dylan, in which, incidentally, he mentions that he does not remember writing these texts. Intellectual cachet plus street cred arrives with a Foreword by Luc Sante, and an Introduction by Billy Collins strikes a populist note, although he does use the word ekphrastic. I am not enough of a Dylan fan to care one way or the other about the poems, although they are clearly what got the book published. Barry Feinstein's photographs, however, are very good. Some are typical, on-set shots, but scenes at modeling studios, talent agencies, and the premiere of Cleopatra give a grittier view of 1960's Hollywood. Two favorites: A woman balancing a toddler on her hip as she walks up the steps to the William Morris Agency. Sue Lyon studying her American history textbook while getting her hair done for Lolita. (Of course, that last one was probably staged. But it's Hollywood. What do you expect.)
December 26, 2008
Feinstein's photographs are intriguing and Dylan's text flows perfectly with it. There is an introduction by Billy Collins addressing the question of music lyrics and Dylan's writing as poetry. There are also brief (especially in Dylan's case) conversations with Feinstein and Dylan. But, the photographs and text stand on their own. I received it as a Christmas present, sat down to read it on Dec. 26th and couldn't get up until I finished.
February 23, 2011
I enjoyed this. The poems were interesting and fun. they reminded me of dylan's liner notes from his earlier records. The photos were interesting, too, though probably more so to someone of that era that witnessed the end of that Hollywood glamour era. what I got from the oeuvre of photos was just that, the fizzling out of something grand.
June 28, 2014
Quite nice pics and some hasty Dylan scribbles in the vein of the liner notes of his early albums - some good phrases (some not) but not enough shaping.
For the completist heap of the middle aged Dylan freak, like me; and or the fan of photos of bygone time and place, like me too.
Not for everyone.
For the completist heap of the middle aged Dylan freak, like me; and or the fan of photos of bygone time and place, like me too.
Not for everyone.
January 6, 2009
"the doorway wears long pants
an slouches
no rejection
all's fair
in love and selection"
an slouches
no rejection
all's fair
in love and selection"
December 20, 2011
The photos are good, but Bob Dylan is still a little beyond me. I think he's kind of odd. It may just be because he's not of my generation and I don't get his incredible fame.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews