Another Side of Bob Dylan

A Personal History on the Road and Off the Tracks

By: Jacob Maymudes, Victor Maymudes

Narrated by: Jacob Maymudes

During the years they spent together, few people outside of Bob Dylan's immediate family were closer than Victor Maymudes, who was Dylan's tour manager, personal friend, and traveling companion from the 1960s through the late 1990s. Another Side of Bob Dylan recounts landmark events during that time, including Dylan's infamous motorcycle crash; his meeting the Beatles on their first U.S. tour; his marriage to Sara Lownds, as well as his romances with Joan Baez and others; and memorable concerts. The book also provides insights on Dylan's songwriting process.

On January 26, 2001, after recording more than 24 hours of taped memories in preparation for writing this book, Victor Maymudes suffered an aneurysm and died. His son Jacob wrote the book, using the tapes to shape the story. The result is a vivid, firsthand account of Dylan as an artist, friend, and celebrity, as told by an engaging raconteur who cut his own swathe through the turbulent counterculture.

©2014 Jacob Maymudes (P)2014 Tantor

Poor narration

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

We were really interested, but got turned off by Jacob's narration.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He read in short phrases, and was not fluent in sentences. It was a huge distraction for me. I'm a teacher and have many fourth graders who could have read this better.

Too much Victor, not enough Bob

I had heard about the falling out Victor and Bob had had and the rumor was that Victor was going to pull out the long knives on Bob in his memoir. Instead, my biggest objection to the book is not any rough treatment of Bob but instead the relative absence of Bob. The book delivers a lot of Victor and a lot less Bob. And Victor, sorry Jacob, is pretty boring. Add to that the fact that Jacob is not a very good vocal performer. He doesn’t seem to understand where the natural pauses are in sentences and stops his narration at odd spots with frequency. Sorry to say this is not a great Dylan bio.

Truly another side of the story

Every Dylan fan who's ever heard of Victor Maymudes, even in passing, or noticed the name under countless photos in however many Dylan biographies should read (or listen) to this book. If ever there was a perspective worth considering here in it's Maymudes', who like his former employer, trail blazed his own storied path through a period of American culture they'll be talking about when all of the principal players have faded into modern memory. Maymudes was an iconoclast, who by the time Dylan enlisted him to join the inner-circle, already owned a happening club on the Sunset Strip, booked and supported Lenny Bruce; he constellated among legendary musicians, activists, and actors like Will Geer, Dennis Hopper, Ramblin Jack Elliot, and so many others. His son Jacob paints a rich portrait of his father and does a fine job narrating. Highly recommend this book.

A waste of a book purchase

The book is poorly written. The author drones on and on about nonsense and there really is no significance to Bob Dylan. The author is the reader lacks annunciation skills, speaking ability and proper word pronouncement. Boring and a waste of a good purchase

Absolute torture

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A decent narrator

Would you be willing to try another book from Jacob Maymudes and Victor Maymudes ? Why or why not?

Absolutely not

How could the performance have been better?

By using a decent narrator

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

The author is the son of the Bob Dylan acquaintance. The story has been put together from some tapes the father left behind when he died. The story is pedestrian and the narration (by the author) is absolutely the worst I have ever heard. He speaks in short staccato phrases with little inflexion in his voice. The pauses often break up a sentence by inserting gaps in weird places. For example: "but were only ....... acquaintances."

I found the whole thing irritating and pretty boring and gave up half-way through Chapter 6