Re: Salinger and Dylan
patrick flaherty (pfkw@email.msn.com)
Tue, 08 Sep 1998 16:54:50 -0400
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Morris <winboog@gis.net>
To: Bananafish <bananafish@lists.nyu.edu>; Lomanno <lomanno@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Monday, September 07, 1998 8:21 PM
Subject: Re: Salinger and Dylan
>
>> Now I've got another fun idea: with all this talk of Bob Dylan, I
>> couldn't help but see some parallels between this "folk icon" and our
>> beloved "man-of-the-hour" Salinger. I mean, both are geniuses at
>> story-telling. They create unforgettable characters that you begin to
>> know on an intimate level. They both make comments on society through
>> their work. War plays a big part in their writing (Salinger, WWII;
>> Dylan,Vietnam). And they are both extremely reclusive and at times
>> downright rude! Dylan has only granted a handful of interviews in his
>> entire 30+ year career and has been very outspoken in his hatred of
>> journalists who ask dumb "pop star" questions. Finally, both seem
>> compelled to continue with their art even at the risk of their much-
>> needed privacy. Salinger can't seem to STOP writing, even though he
>> must know one day his work will probably be published, with or without
>> his permission. Dylan seems to hate the spotlight, yet he continues
>> to tour.
>>
>
> I'm just wondering what you mean by hating the spotlight? Objecting to
>someone poring over the garbage outside your house? Stalking your kids on
>their way to school? Or are you referring to his never ending tour that has
>been going essentially since 1989? It seems to me that Dylan loves to
>perform for folks, he just doesn't desire to live his life for those folks.
>I hardly think he shuns the spotlight. Bob is very aware of who he is in
>the greater context. He embraces those parts which appeal to him. There was
>a People magazine piece done on Bob in the early seventies about his new
>house. This house was so spectacular it was gaining a fair amount of
>notoriety from the Architectural community. The writer asked Bob if he
>thought the house would be a landmark in a hundred years. Bob replied, " I
>don't think that what I'll be remembered for in a hundred years is my
>house. " ( i don't have the ability to write in italics, but they should be
>there on the word house.)
>
> Please refrain from calling Bob Dylan reclusive or comparing him to JD
>Salinger. The man has put out about a record a year for the last thirty
>five years, and done about a thousand gigs in the last five. If your
>concern is why he isn't on the cover of US magazine this week, there's
>probably a forum for that elsewhere. If you want to understand why it is
>Bob doesn't give too many interviews these days you may want to take a look
>at Don't Look Back or read some interviews with him in the sixties to see
>the kind of asinine bullshit people asked him about. I read a lot of
>interviews with "modern" " alternative " pop stars complaining about what a
>drag it is to do interviews. At least Bob doesn't do interviews. This makes
>a lot more sense to me, than whining about it.
>
> " Mostly, I'm a delightful person." -Bob Dylan
>
>"He not busy being born is busy dying." --Bob Dylan
just thought I'd add a Dylan quote. I must agree that comparing Salinger to
Bob Dylan is a bit of a stretch.
Patrick
>