Is Bob Dylan Still a ‘Complete Unknown’?
The Book Review11 Feb 2025

Is Bob Dylan Still a ‘Complete Unknown’?

Elijah Wald’s 2015 book, “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night That Split the Sixties,” traces the events that led up to Bob Dylan’s memorable performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The book is about Dylan, but also about the folk movement, youth culture, politics and the record business. For the writer and director James Mangold, Wald’s work provided an opportunity to tell an unusual story about the musician.

“You could structure a screenplay along the lines of what Peter Shaffer did with “Amadeus,’” Mangold told the Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz. “I don’t really know what I learned about Mozart watching “Amadeus.” But I do know that I learned a lot about how we mortals feel about people with immense talent.”

Mangold’s film “A Complete Unknown” is a chronicle of Dylan’s early years on the New York folk scene, and it avoids easy explanations for the musician’s genius and success. “What if the thing we don’t understand, we just don’t want to understand,” said Mangold, “which is that he’s actually different? That he’s just a different kind of person than you or I?”

In the second episode of our special series devoted to Oscar-nominated films adapted from books, Cruz talks with Mangold about making a film centered on one of music’s most enigmatic figures.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Avsnitt(585)

Inside The New York Times Book Review: The Future of Work

Inside The New York Times Book Review: The Future of Work

This week, Barbara Ehrenreich discusses “Rise of the Robots” and “Shadow Work”; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; Andrew Solomon talks about Oliver Sacks’s new memoir, “On the Move”;...

15 Maj 201534min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘A God in Ruins’

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘A God in Ruins’

This week, Tom Perrotta discusses Kate Atkinson’s “A God in Ruins”; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; Ruth Franklin talks about Shirley Jackson; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller ne...

8 Maj 201528min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘The Life of Saul Bellow’

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘The Life of Saul Bellow’

This week, Sam Tanenhaus talks about Zachary Leader’s new biography of Saul Bellow; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; Emily Bazelon discusses Jon Krakauer’s “Missoula”; and Gregory Cow...

1 Maj 201546min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: Mass Murder in Norway

Inside The New York Times Book Review: Mass Murder in Norway

This week, Eric Schlosser discusses Asne Seierstad’s “One of Us”; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; Meghan O’Rourke talks about Elizabeth Alexander’s “The Light of the World”; and Greg...

24 Apr 201537min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘Spinster’ and Public Shaming

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘Spinster’ and Public Shaming

This week, Kate Bolick discusses “Spinster”; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; Jon Ronson talks about “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamel...

17 Apr 201541min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘The Brothers,’ About the Boston Marathon Bombers

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘The Brothers,’ About the Boston Marathon Bombers

This week, Masha Gessen discusses “The Brothers”; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; Gretchen Rubin talks about “Better Than Before”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela P...

10 Apr 201544min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘Becoming Steve Jobs’

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘Becoming Steve Jobs’

This week, “Becoming Steve Jobs” and three new books about neuroscience. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app ...

3 Apr 201540min

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘Becoming Steve Jobs’

Inside The New York Times Book Review: ‘Becoming Steve Jobs’

This week, Brad Stone talks about “Becoming Steve Jobs”; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; Amanda Schaffer discusses three new books about neuroscience; and Gregory Cowles has best-sel...

3 Apr 201540min

Populärt inom Fritid

somna-med-henrik
uggla-ugglas-podcast
man-i-grupp
svenska-fpl-podden
roda-vita-rosen
elbilsveckan
rss-livsreglerna
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
jordkommissionen
travpodden
rss-vara-klassiker
billgren-wood
sexet
avsuttet-med-elsa-johanna
rss-horrujeje
rss-speljuntan
rss-algjagare-emellan
spokhistorier
rss-odla
rss-okrystat