Promotional Information

Published for his 60th birthday, the first complete biography of a legend.

About the Author

Howard Sounes is the author of Charles Bukowski- Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life (1999) and of Fred & Rose(1995), the bestselling account of the lives and crimes of Fred and Rosemary West which enabled him to leave his job as a journalist with the Mirror to become a full-time writer.

Reviews

Praise for "Down the Highway"
"Sounes [has] produced [a] fascinating and finely written account of Dylan's life and times, while managing at the same time to provide interesting evaluations of his music and cultural contribution."--"The New Republic"
"Sounes . . . pieces together testimony and circumstantial evidence into a fairly detailed account of Dylan's wreck. . . . It's the kind of thing Sounes does well, opening new angles on the enigmatic polyhedron that is Dylan."--"The Nation"
"[Sounes] offers information that, in sheer quantity, supersedes prior accounts."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Sounes' book has the definite virtue of being the last one you'll ever need to read about Dylan."--"Salon"
"With little sensationalism, the inscrutable and intensely private Dylan is dissected, measured, and categorized."--"Esquire"
"[Sounes] has scoured court documents and interviewed friends, family, lovers, band members and anyone else who hads

Dylan was a pampered Midwestern teen who listened to African-American music on the radio. His father bought him a pink convertible and a Harley in the same year; his high school band appeared on television sporting mom-made cardigans emblazoned with the band name "Jokers." He dropped out of his first year of college to explore the Greenwich Village folk scene and meet his hero, Woody Guthrie, into whose hospital room young Dylan barged. "[H]e instinctively played upon his baby-faced unworldly looks, and his considerable personal charm, to make friends [who] would help him... giving him a place to stay or offering him a few dollars," attests Sounes (Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) in this exhaustive, up-to-date biography. Though the writing is uneven, Sounes delivers a judicious portrait of Dylan's foibles and virtues. Dylan, he claims, used people variously he mimicked his favorite performers and enjoyed of "the charity of kindhearted women." Much of the book traces his womanizing, from his relationship with Joan Baez to his eight years of marital bliss (before it unraveled) with Sara Lownds. Even his religious conversion was on account of the affections of his back-up singers, one of whom he had a child with and married, a little-known fact. Dylan has burned numerous bridges in his life, though many people remain loyal. Through extensive interviews Sounes aptly captures the contradictory facets of an American folk legend. (Apr.) Forecast: The 125,000-copy printing, bolstered by a $150,000 promotional budget, will sell well among Dylan's myriad fans, who will be celebrating his 60th birthday this year. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.