The Old, Weird America: The World Of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes [Paperback]

A Special Edition with a New Introduction and an Updated Discography

This is Greil Marcus's acclaimed book on the secret music made by Bob Dylan and the Band in 1967, which introduced a phrase that has become part of the culture: the old, weird America. It is this country that the book mapsthe playground of God, Satan, tricksters, Puritans, confidence men, illuminati, braggarts, preachers, anonymous poets of all stripes (Luc Sante,New Yorkmagazine). In honor of Dylan's seventieth birthday, this special edition includes a new introduction, an updated discography, and a cover featuring never-before-seen photographs of the legendary recording sessions.

This book is terminal, goes deeply into the subconscious and plows through that period of time like a rake. Greil Marcus has done it again. Bob Dylan

It is the speculative intelligence with which Marcus chases the specters and wraiths of this country's musical past that emerges as the exhilarating feat of [The Old, Weird America] . . . No previous writer has so transportingly or authoritatively revealed Mr. Dylan against receding vistas of American music and culture. Robert Polito, The New York Times Book Review

The year's best work of criticism, hands down . . . Marcus draws bold freehand loops around Dylan's music, loops so wide and loose that they take in not just the breadth of American folk music, but huge chunks of American history as well. This is the best kind of history book, one that acknowledges that mythology is sometimes the truest kind of fact. Stephanie Zachareck, Newsday

Marcus has always been set on discovering how much a performer can bring to bear on his or her material, and how much a critic can bring to bear on those performances . . . He offers his readers a breathtaking sense of freedom. Charles Taylor, Salon

Nearly everyone will be dazed at one point or another along the mystery trip that Marcus leads, becal“W