Bob Dylan - The Essential Interviews, by Jonathan Cott

Considered to be one of the more enigmatic personalities in contemporary American folk music, Bob Dylan has rarely given interviews over the course of his 30+ year-long career. Now, Dylan expert and Rolling Stone contributor, Jonathan Cott, has compiled 31 of the most earnest and telling interviews given by this elusive folk poet.

From the moment Bob Dylan's name started buzzing around the folk scenes outside of New York's West Village, to 2004 – more than thirty years later – when his legend had long ago become far bigger than he, or anyone else, could control, The Essential Interviews tracks the career of a man who came to mean many things to many people: poet, philosopher, rebel, icon, inspiration, annoyance, artist, and enigma, to name a few.

There’s plenty of room in any interview for things to go wrong very quickly. Bob Dylan is no easy subject. Known for crafting answers that are anything from poetry to sarcasm to outright fiction, interviewing Dylan is no small task.

Cott’s choices focus on were not only handled by fabulous writers – most of whom were enthusiastic Dylan fans. Among the highlights are interviews conducted by Studs Terkel, Sam Shepard, and Playboy magazine.

Terkel addresses difficult topics and somewhat personal questions with Dylan, who seems more interested in helping Terkel along than he is with many of the other journalists.

Shepard's interview is written just as he would depict one of his plays. This lends to the feeling that Shepard may be putting the reader on as much as Dylan has in some of his interviews. Still, the piece retains some of the most honest dialogue possible within an awkward interview format.

There are two interviews that were originally printed in Playboy (in 1966 and 1978, respectively). The first features some of the most ornery moments, while the second, conducted several years later, approaches Dylan from the perspective of how the world itself had changed since he first appeared on the folk music scene.

The most interesting moments come from times when journalists dared to ask Dylan to interpret his own lyrics. He often protested, swearing that the songs were written to be sung, not discussed. Still, with this oft-puzzling poet, many fans will find it telling to be able to read the various ways he finds to explain his thick verse.

In a particularly candid moment, toward the end of the book, Dylan seems to hand the torch over to the younger generation. When Mikal Gilmore (Rolling Stone) asks him what he thought about the events of 9/11, and the world in which we now live as a result, Dylan simply quoted a few lines of poetry by Rudyard Kipling: "We have done with Hope and Honor, we are lost to Love and Truth / We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung / and the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth / God help us, for we knew the worst too young."

From protest singing to Highway 61, Blood on the Tracks, and the Rolling Thunder Tour; from his motorcycle accident to being born again; from performing for the president to commenting on 9/11, Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews takes its readers behind the scenes for an intimate, interesting, and often surprising look at one of the most memorable, influential artists in the history of American folk music.

The book may be a bit overwhelming for folks who are just learning about Dylan, or who may be curious about his career. However, for those already sold on Dylan's skills as a songwriter and musician, Essential Interviews offers a wealth of history on the man who helped to change folk and popular music forever.