For fifty years, the music, words, story, and fans of Bob Dylan have fascinated David Gaines. As a son, a husband, a father, a teacher, and a passionate lover of the literary in all its guises, he has pursued the poetic fusion of knowledge and emotion all his life. More often than not, Dylan鈥檚 lyrics and music have expressed that fusion for him, and so he has encouraged others to acknowledge the musician or writer or painter or director or actor or athlete who matters deeply (perhaps a bit mysteriously) to them, and to deploy that enigmatic passion in service of self-knowledge and social connection. After all, one of the central reasons to be a fan is to compare notes, explore mysteries, and riff with fellow fans in a community of exploration.
Gaines鈥檚 personal journey toward creating such communities of passionate knowledge encompasses his own coming of age and marriages, fatherhood, and teaching. As a devoted fan who is also a professor of American literature, questions about teaching and learning are central to his experience. When asked, 鈥淲hy Dylan?鈥 he says, 鈥淗e鈥檚 the writer I care about the most. He鈥檚 been the way into the best and longest running conversations I have ever had.鈥 Talking with students, exchanging Dylan trivia with fellow fans, or cheering on fan-musicians doing Dylan covers during the Dylan Days festival, Gaines shows that, for many people, being a fan of popular culture couples serious critical and creative engagement with heartfelt commitment. Here, largely unheralded, the ideal of liberal education is realized every day.
鈥淎 life within a life. David Gaines鈥檚 portrait of one of our great artists is at once an appreciation, an assimilation, and a stirring memoir of a very fine writer so very deeply touched by another.鈥濃擳. C. Boyle, author, The Harder They Come
鈥淔or decades of his well-lived life, David Gaines has found Bob Dylan鈥檚 music an excellent companion and a bountiful inspiration for study. He鈥檚 now a reputable citizen of that motley place called Dylan Town, and he proves a fine guide for us fellow villagers and newcomers, too.鈥濃擭ina Goss, author, Dylan at Play
鈥淭his engaging book is an intelligent fan鈥檚 examination of the object of his fandom鈥擝ob Dylan鈥攐f Dylan fandom overall, and of fandom鈥檚 nature. It is also a memoir of a life of university teaching about American culture, and an important scrutiny of learning and of modern America.鈥濃擬ichael Gray, author, The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia
