This book explores Bob Dylan's significance in American music and culture through four lenses: his complex relationship with blackness, the often-overlooked impact of his singing style, and his intriguing portrayal in films.
Icons of America Series
This series delves into American history and culture through the lens of iconic individuals, events, objects, or phenomena. Each book is crafted by leading scholars, critics, and writers, offering fresh and innovative perspectives. It explores the defining elements that have shaped the American experience. Readers will discover compelling new narratives about pivotal moments and enduring symbols.
Recommended Reading Order
No Such Thing as Silence
- 272 pages
- 10 hours of reading
First performed at the midpoint of the twentieth century, John Cage's 4'33, a composition conceived of without a single musical note, is among the most celebrated and ballyhooed cultural gestures in the history of modern music. This title offers the reader both an expert's analysis and highly personal interpretation of Cage's most divisive work.
As the New York Yankees' star centre fielder from 1936 to 1951, Joe DiMaggio is enshrined in America's memory as the epitome in sports of grace, dignity, and that ineffable quality called 'class'. But his career after retirement, starting with his nine-month marriage to Marilyn Monroe, was far... číst celé
Inventing a Nation
Washington, Adams, Jefferson
"Gore Vidal, one of the master stylists of American literature and one of the most acute observers of American life and history, turns his immense literary and historiographic talent to a portrait of the formidable trio of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson." "In Inventing a Nation, Vidal transports the reader into the minds, the living rooms (and bedrooms), the convention halls, and the salons of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and other key figures who helped found the American Republic. Vidal's splendid and percipient prose animates key moments of decision in the birthing of our nation, and we come to know these men in ways we have not until now - their opinions of each other, their worries about money, their concerns about creating a viable democracy. Vidal brings them to life and illuminates the force and weight of the documents they wrote, the speeches they gave, and the institutions of government they fashioned. Above all, Inventing a Nation presents a powerful, compassionate, immensely moving portrait of George Washington, whose resolution, integrity, and intelligence rescued the fledgling Republic many times in its early days."--Jacket.
Inventing a Nation
- 208 pages
- 8 hours of reading
One of the master stylists of American literature, Gore Vidal now provides us with his uniquely irreverent take on America's founding fathers, bringing them to life at key moments of decision in the birthing of the nation.