Director Jon Favreau–best known for Elf and Iron Man–delivers the first Star Wars movie in seven years. I found The Mandalorian and Grogu short on story and long on violence. Essentially, the movie lurches from fight scene to fight scene. Of course, Grogu (aka, “Baby Yoda”) steals every scene he’s in. Pablo Pascal plays The Mandalorian (with two other actors credited: Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder) under the helmet that supposed to never be removed. Sigourney Weaver, a leader in The New Republic, has about two minutes of dialogue in this two hour movie. And, inexplicably, the famous Martin Scorsese provides the voice of four-armed Ardennian shopkeeper Hugo. Go figure…

Jeremy Allen White voices Rotta the Hutt, the target of the deadly duo of The Hutt Twins, siblings and successors to deceased crime-lord Jabba the Hutt. The Twins promise to provide information to The Mandalorian but only in exchange for his rescuing Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt from a criminal syndicate run by former Empire Lord Janu. The Mandalorian receives a new Razor Crest-ship as a pre-payment for this mission.

The AMC Theater was full of Star Wars fans–some in costume!–when Diane and I watched The Mandalorian and Grogu. But, on exiting, it seemed that most were as disappointed as we were. GRADE: B-

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the first four books in the Detective Sergeant George Cross series (you can read my review here). I’ve read the fifth and sixth books in the series and can’t wait to read more!

The Monk (2023) is my favorite George Cross mystery so far. A brutally beaten body is found near a monastery. Cross and his forensic team determine the murder victim was a monk from that monastery. Why would anyone murder a beloved monk?

Cross comes to believe the motive for the murder lies in the monk’s Past. He and his team dig into the talented young man who made a fortune working for a 300 year old bank in London…and suddenly quit to become a monk. Sifting through the Past is one of Cross’s strengths and he finally comes up with evidence that makes the murder understandable. GRADE: A

The Teacher (2023) is an 80-year-old retired teacher who is found stabbed outside his room in a stairway. Cross is struck by the number of people who hated the teacher. As a headmaster of a private Catholic school, the teacher was a brutal disciplinarian, beating the young students with his sticks (which he named). The teacher’s son, a young man who had success with a hedge fund and then became a member of Parliament, now is a disgraced figure. He hopes to resurrect his political career and impedes Cross’s investigation of his father’s death. Cross also has to deal with an investigator from Kent who sexually attacks one of Cross’s team.

Having a murder victim with a plenitude of suspects who hated the man makes Cross’s investigation complicated and far reaching. A serial abuser of young children under the guise of “discipline” is not a sympathetic victim, but Cross moves to find the killer in his usual detailed way. GRADE: B+

“The ‘core four’ figures of Springsteen, Seger, Petty, and Mellencamp are familiar and important, but this book also examines the lives and work of musicians who never truly broke through to mainstream audiences. As heartland rock has long been consider the domain of white men, I’ve also sought to hight the vital contributions of women and people of color.” (p. 3)

Erin Osmon’s Won’t Back Down (2026) explores the 1980s music scene and focuses on four key figures who dominated much of the music of that era: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, and John Mellencamp. “Working-Class Rock” (aka, Heartland Rock)–epitomized by songs like Mellencamp’s “Small Town” and Seger’s “Against the Wind”–“unlike American folk music, heartland rock was highly commercial, broadcast on nearly every radio station, and sold in every shopping mall, truck stop and local record store.” (p. 11)

MTV and VH1 helped fuel heartland rock by playing Springsteen, Seger, Petty, Mellencamp, and other music videos of that genre in heavy rotation.

“The best heartland rock songs make the listener sentimental for a youth they never had. John Mellencamp’s ‘Jack & Diane,’ Bob Seger’s ‘Night Moves,’ Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Glory Days,’ Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Can’t Help Myself,’ Tom Petty’s ‘Even the Losers,’ Lucinda Williams’s ‘The Night’s Too Long,’ Don Henley’s ‘The Boys of Summer,’ Bruce Hornsby’s ‘Mandolin Rain.’ Each evokes a specific time and place to the artist, but are rendered to such a tender and evocative way that they become personal, cozy even, to the listener. These songs imprint on the psyche like a handknitted scarf or a mother’s lasagna.” (p. 132)

I’m impressed by Erin Osmon’s Won’t Back Down and the ride it takes the reader down Memory Lane in the 1980s. Are you a fan of Heartland Rock? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — 1

1980 Running Against the Wind — 7

1981 Ugly Truths and Hard Promises — 30

1982 Machines of the Year — 56

1983 Hometown Heroes — 88

1984 New Patriotism — 111

1985 The Year of Aid — 139

1986 The Way It Is — 175

1987 Growing Pains — 206

1988 Turning the Tables — 240

1989 The Storm Ahead — 264

Afterword — 283

Acknowledgements –– 291

Appendix. 150 Essential Heartland Rock Songs — 293

Notes — 301

Index — 315

TRACK LIST:

1	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	American Girl Producer – Denny CordellWritten-By – Tom Petty	3:30
2	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Breakdown Producer – Denny CordellWritten-By – Tom Petty	2:42
3	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Listen To Her Heart Producer – Denny Cordell, Noah Shark, Tom PettyWritten-By – Tom Petty	3:01
4	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	I Need To KnowProducer – Denny Cordell, Noah Shark, Tom PettyWritten-By – Tom Petty	2:23
5	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Refugee Producer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Mike Campbell, Tom Petty	3:21
6	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Don’t Do Me Like That Producer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Tom Petty	2:40
7	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Even The Losers Producer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Tom Petty	3:35
8	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Here Comes My GirlProducer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Mike Campbell, Tom Petty	4:33
9	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	The Waiting Producer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Tom Petty	3:54
10	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	You Got Lucky Producer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Mike Campbell, Tom Petty	3:37
11	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Don’t Come Around Here No More Musician – David A. StewartProducer – David A. Stewart, Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – David A. Stewart, Tom Petty	5:06
12	Tom Petty–	I Won’t Back DownMusician – George Harrison, Jeff LynneProducer – Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, Tom PettyWritten-By – Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty	2:56
13	Tom Petty–	Runnin’ Down A Dream Musician – Jeff LynneProducer – Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, Tom PettyWritten-By – Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, Tom Petty	4:23
14	Tom Petty–	Free Fallin’ Musician – Jeff LynneProducer – Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, Tom PettyWritten-By – Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty	4:14
15	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Learning To Fly Musician – Jeff LynneProducer – Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, Tom PettyWritten-By – Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty	3:57
16	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Into The Great Wide Open Musician – Jeff LynneProducer – Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, Tom PettyWritten-By – Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty	3:38
17	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	Mary Jane’s Last Dance Producer – Mike Campbell, Rick Rubin, Tom PettyWritten-By – Tom Petty	4:32
18	Stevie Nicks And Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers*–	Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around Featuring [With] – Stevie NicksProducer – Jimmy Iovine, Tom PettyWritten-By – Mike Campbell, Tom Petty

TRACK LIST:

1		Roll Me Away Engineer – Shelly YakusGuitar – Waddy WachtelMixed By – Greg EdwardOrgan – Craig FrostPercussion – Bobbye HallProducer – Jimmy IovineSynthesizer – Michael Boddicker	4:36
2		Night Moves Backing Vocals – Laurel Ward, Rhonda Silver, Sharon Dee Williams*Drums – Charlie Allen MartinEngineer – Brian ChristianGuitar – Joe MiquelonMixed By – Jim BruzzesePiano, Organ – Doug RileyProducer – Jack Richardson	5:25
3		Turn The Page Drums – Charlie Allen MartinElectric Piano – Bob SegerGuitar – Drew AbbottMellotron – Robyn Robbins*Mixed By – Jim Bruzzese, Jim Bruzzese	5:01
4		You’ll Accomp’ny Me Backing Vocals – Ginger Blake, Laura Creamer, Linda DillardOrgan, Synthesizer – Bill PaynePercussion – Sam Clayton	3:59
5		Hollywood Nights Backing Vocals – Julie Waters*, Luther Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren WatersGuitar – Bob SegerOrgan – Bill PaynePercussion – David Teegarden	4:59
6		Still The Same Backing Vocals – Clydie King, Shirley Mathews*, Venetta FieldsOrgan – Robyn Robbins*Percussion – David TeegardenPiano – Bob Seger	3:19
7		Old Time Rock & Roll Backing Vocals – George Jackson (3), James Lavell Easley, Stanley CarterEngineer – Greg Hamm*Piano – Randy McCormickWritten By – G. Jackson/T. Jones IIIWritten-By – G. Jackson*, T. Jones III*	3:12
8		We’ve Got Tonight Arranged By [Strings], Conductor [Strings] – Jim Ed NormanBacking Vocals – Clydie King, Shirley Mathews*, Venetta FieldsEngineer – Steve MeltonKeyboards – Barry BeckettLead Guitar – Pete CarrRhythm Guitar – Jimmy Johnson (4)	4:38
9		Against The Wind Backing Vocals – Bob Seger, Glenn FreyGuitar – Drew AbbottPiano, Organ – Paul Harris (2)Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Bill Szymczyk	5:32
10		Mainstreet Engineer – Jerry Masters, Steve MeltonKeyboards – Barry BeckettLead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Pete CarrMixed By – Jim BruzzeseRhythm Guitar – Jimmy Johnson (4)	3:42
11		The Fire Inside Acoustic Guitar – Steve LukatherBass – Bob GlaubEngineer – David Cole (4), Thom PanunzioOrgan – Jai Winding	5:53
12		Like A Rock Acoustic Guitar – Dawayne BaileyBacking Vocals – Douglas Kibble, Izora Armstead, Martha WashCo-producer, Mixed By – David Cole (4)Engineer – Shelly YakusOrgan – Craig FrostPiano – Bob SegerSlide Guitar – Rick Vito	5:53
13		C’est La Vie Engineer – Gerard SmerekGuitar – Bob SegerMixed By – Ed CherneySaxophone [Additional] – Crystal Taliefero, Jimmy Romeo, Tomo ThomasWritten-By – Chuck Berry	2:58
14		In Your Time Backing Vocals – Donny Gerrard, Laura Creamer, Rosemary Butler, Shaun MurphyEngineer – David Cole (4)Guitar – Tim MitchellMixed By – Ed CherneySynthesizer – Bob Seger

David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer’s The Space Opera Renaissance, a 941 page mammoth volume from 2006, is divided into six sections.  I’ve already reviewed Section 1 (you can read my review here) and you can read my review of Section 2 here and Section 3 here.

Dan Simmons, once a resident of Western New York, scored Success in Science Fiction with his Hyperion Cantos (winning a Hugo Award), and Success in the Fantasy/Horror fields with novels like A Winter’s Haunting (2002). “Orphans of the Helix” deals with a distress call that leads to a First Contact situation. GRADE: B

Colin Greenland, a British SF writer best known for his Plenty series, delivers a canny story of the Future of artistic endeavors with “The Well Wishers.” GRADE: B-

Peter Hamilton started his Science Fiction career in the early 1990s with three SF detective novels: Mindstar Rising (1993), A Quantum Murder (1994), and The Nano Flower (1995). Hamilton’s story, “Escape Route,” has the same flavor with a crew of a spaceship for hire contracting to take an “investment” team into a remote area to search for an asteroid full of gold. But appearances are deceptive… GRADE: B

David Weber is best known for his Honor Harrington series: 15 primary novels with the main storyline beginning with On Basilisk Station (1993) and concluding its current arc with Toll of Honor (2024). Weber has written that he has based his Honor Harrington series on C. S. Forester’s Hornblower series.

Honor Harrington is a young woman who rises through the space navy while confronted with many problems and crises. “Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington” tells the story of Harrington’s first assignment–on the starship, War Maiden, a heavy cruiser. Harrington has to contend with a bullying senior officer and a space battle to prove she belongs. GRADE: B+

Catherine Asaro’s “Aurora in Four Voices” blends space opera and romance into a suspenseful adventure. GRADE: B

R. Garcia y Robert’s “Ring Rats” presents an entertaining space pirate story. GRADE: B

Allen Steele’s “The Death of Captain Future” won the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novella. Steele would go on and write Avengers of the Moon (2014)–you can read my review here–as a homage to Edmond Hamilton’s wonderful character. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

IV. Volunteers: Revisionaries (early 90s)

“Orphans of the Helix” by Dan Simmons — 311

“The Well Wishers” by Colin Greenland — 344

“Escape Route” by Peter Hamilton — 379

“Ms Midshipwoman Harrington” by David Weber — 415

“Aurora in Four Voices” by Catherine Asaro — 493

“Ring Rats” by R. Garcia y Robertson — 524

“The Death of Captain Future” by Allen Steele — 557

I have an aversion to mysteries where cats, dogs, and other creatures solve crimes. So you can imagine my reaction when Diane said, “Let’s go see The Sheep Detectives.”

Life is all about compromise–and Diane is coming with me to see The Mandalorian and Grogu later this week–so away we went to our local AMC Theater. Diane will watch anything with Hugh Jackman in it and I feel the same way about Emma Thompson.

Hugh Jackman plays a Shepard named George who loves his sheep and names all of them. His favorite is Lily. George reads mystery novels to his sheep and Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) can solve the mystery before George gets to the Big Reveal every time!

(Mild Spoiler Alert!) George gets murdered and the sole policeman–Officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun)–in the small English town of Denbrook…is baffled. So Lily and her sheep pals of the flock– Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) and Mopple (Chris O’Dowd)–to help him find the murderer.

The suspects include an innkeeper (Hong Chau) with a crush on George, a minister (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) who was accepting large cash payments from George for an unknown reason, a neighboring shepherd (Tosin Cole) who George considered a “Bad Shepherd”, a butcher aptly named Ham (Conleth Hill), and George’s not-seen-in-many-years daughter from America, Rebecca (Molly Gordon).

Based on Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, The Sheep Detectives follows a the similar pattern as Babe. Director Kyle Balda (an animation specialist who has co-directed three features in the “Despicable Me” universe), went with a throwback feel to the movie with the exception of the digital sheep. Diane and I both enjoyed the verbal interplay between the sheep as they worked on their investigation. If you’re looking for something different, give The Sheep Detectives a try. GRADE: A

It’s Graduation Season and Jodi Kantor’s slim 100-page book, How to Start: Discovering Your Life’s Work (2026), shows up at exactly the Right Time. Jodi Kantor, a New York Times investigative reporter, won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service by revealing the Dark Side of Harvey Weinstein’s abuse of women. When Columbia University, her alma mater, asked Kantor to deliver the Graduation Address, she agreed. When Kantor reached out to Columbia students about to graduate, she found them in a panic.

Cuts to internships, programs, and scholarships reduced options for students. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the job market–effectively eliminating many entry level professional positions–caused many students to wonder if the years spent at Columbia University–and the money–were wasted.

Jodi Kantor uses her own career experience to deliver some sensible advice to these Columbia Graduates. Kantor originally went to Harvard Law School after graduating from Columbia University. But Kantor soon realized she wasn’t interested in becoming a lawyer. Her true passion was to become an investigative journalist…so she dropped out of Harvard to the dismay of her friends and parents. Instead, Kantor launched her successful career.

If you know some student who is graduating from college, I can’t think of a better gift than How to Start. It’s a book filled with practical suggestions, success examples, and…hope. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction –1

Craft — 17

Need — 31

Money — 41

How to Start — 53

Why to Start — 85

Acknowledgements — 93

Yes, that “CONGRATS YOU HAVE GRADUATED FROM COLONOSCOPIES!” was the highlight of my PROCEDURE SUMMARY after my colonoscopy.

Last November 2025, at my annual physical, my doctor noted, “You’re due for a colonoscopy.” So I called my gastro guy (who had done the previous three colonoscopies) and talked to his scheduling nurse. “I’d like to book a colonoscopy appointment, but not during the Christmas and New Year’s season.” She laughed and said, “Our earliest date is May 10, 2026.”

So I took it. But in February 2026, I got a letter saying: “We have to reschedule your colonoscopy appointment. The doctor will be out of town.” So I called again and was told, “Our earliest opening is May 14, 2026.” So I took it.

Before I knew it, it was May 13 and I was taking 2 Dulcolax tablets and drinking a mixture of 64 ounces of Gatorade and 238 grams of MiraLAX. Self-induced Diarrhea is No Fun!

Diane and I got up at 5:45 AM the next morning and I drove to Sisters Hospital. We checked in at 7:00 AM and by 7:15 I was ushered into the Colonoscopy Suite. After my nurse, Megan, checked my vitals, I was gowned up and taken to the Operating Room. A nurse hooked me up to an IV and as soon as the Versed hit, I was unconscious. I woke up in the Recovery Area and before I knew it, I was dressed and wheel-chaired out to Diane’s waiting vehicle. I came home, had some toast and coffee and went back to sleep.

I have recovered and I’m happy that I have a No Colonoscopy Future! What’s your colonoscopy situation?

As I recovered from my colonoscopy, the anesthesia (Versed) fogged my brain so I decided, since reading was impossible, to watch some series on Disney+. The Punisher: One Last Kill starts with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) about to end his troubled life, but a hallucination stops him. Then, Castle is confronted by crime lord Ma Gnucci, the matriarch of the Gnucci Crime Family, who seeks revenge for Castle’s murder of her husband and three sons. Gnucci reveals that she has placed a bounty on Castle’s head, attracting every common criminal in the area.

That triggers a massive attack where Castle has to fight for his life against dozens of thugs out to kill him for the Gnucci bounty. Nothing subtle, nothing fake: just out and out violence. GRADE: B

Daredevil: Born Again is a revival and continuation of Daredevil (2015–2018), an earlier series produced by the previous Marvel Television production company and originally released on Netflix.

Charlie Cox reprises his role as Matt Murdock / Daredevil. Both The Punisher and Daredevil are vigilante crime fighters with special skills sets–but no Super Powers.

Blind lawyer Matt Murdock retires his Daredevil identity, but circumstances cause him to bring Daredevil back to fight a new menace. If you’re looking for more Marvel Cinematic Universe series, here are two that might entertain you. GRADE: B

CLINK THE LINK BELOW:

https://www.google.com/search?q=THE+PUNISHER%3A+ONE+LAST+KILL+disney+trailer&sca_esv=0d82fdce82ae5c26&biw=1589&bih=1199&sxsrf=ANbL-n7gwDKlDBYVOINXVQqTUc-rXyJQdQ%3A1778871269930&ei=5WsHauW8OK-i5NoP5KDXyAg&ved=0ahUKEwilw5Tx-7uUAxUvEVkFHWTQFYkQ4dUDCBI&uact=5&oq=THE+PUNISHER%3A+ONE+LAST+KILL+disney+trailer&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKlRIRSBQVU5JU0hFUjogT05FIExBU1QgS0lMTCBkaXNuZXkgdHJhaWxlcjIFEAAY7wUyBRAAGO8FMgUQABjvBTIFEAAY7wVI5tABUPAGWIbOAXACeAGQAQCYAXSgAdcdqgEENDUuM7gBA8gBAPgBAZgCKaACqRjCAgoQABhHGNYEGLADwgIHECMYsAIYJ8ICCBAAGAgYBxgewgILEAAYgAQYigUYhgPCAggQABiABBiiBMICBhAAGAcYHsICBhAAGAgYHsICBRAAGIAEwgIKEAAYCBgHGB4YCsICCBAAGAgYHhgNwgIEEAAYHsICChAhGAoYoAEYwwTCAggQIRigARjDBJgDAIgGAZAGCJIHBDM5LjKgB7OBArIHBDM3LjK4B6IYwgcGNS4yNy45yAdegAgB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f78c1aa0,vid:oSeqs_xeqv4,st:0

I started reading Ray Bradbury in the early 1960s. Dan Chaon–no slouch as a writer today–wrote Bradbury in the 1980s, sending him some of his stories. Bradbury offered practical advice and boosted Chaon’s hopes of becoming a writer.

FAHRENHEIT 451 had a big impact on me. So did The Martian Chronicles and DANDELION WINE. In Zen in the Art of Writing, Bradbury takes the reader through his writing process and points out key elements in being creative.

There’s plenty here to ponder and reflect upon. Reading a great writer sharing his writing wisdom is spectacular! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION by Dan Chan — xi

PREFACE –1
THE JOY OF WRITING — 7
RUN FAST, STAND STILL, OR, THE THING AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, OR, NEW GHOSTS FROM OLD MINDS — 13
HOW TO KEEP AND FEED A MUSE — 27
DRUNK, AND IN CHARGE OF A BICYCLE — 41
INVESTING DIMES: FAHRENHEIT 451 — 57
JUST THIS SIDE OF BYZANTIUM: DANDELION WINE — 65
THE LONG ROAD TO MARS — 73
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS– 79
THE SECRET MIND — 89
SHOOTING HAIKU IN A BARREL — 99
ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING — 109
… ON CREATIVITY — 123

Acknowledgements — 137

“Eight years between Tempest (2012) and Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). This Bob Dylan is a man in his early fifties through this early eighties who revitalized himself and his art with a fresh, brilliant, intensified collage-style of crafting songs, vast, staggering concert tours–over three thousand shows from 1991 through 2024, writing books–Chronicles, Volume One (2004) and The Philosophy of Modern Song (2022); creating a movie, Masked and Anonymous (2003) and inspiring other other movies, I’m Not There (2007), No Direction Home (2005), and A Complete Unknown; hosting a weekly radio program, Theme Time Radio Hour (2005-2009); and exhibiting his paintings and welded sculptures in galleries and museums across America, Europe, and Asia.” (p. xvi)

“Everything was smashed, I had no connection to any kind of inspiration. …My own songs had become strangers to me, I didn’t have the skill to touch their raw nerves, couldn’t penetrate the surfaces. It wasn’t my moment of history anymore… The mirror had swung around and I couldn’t see the future–an old actor fumbling in garbage cans outside the theater of past triumphs. I had written and recorded so many songs, but it wasn’t like I was playing many of them. I think I was only up to the task of about twenty or so. The rest were too cryptic, too darkly driven, and I was no longer capable of doing anything radically creative with them. It was like carrying a package of heavy rotting meat…” (p. 16)

Robert Polito’s AFTER THE FLOOD: INSIDE BOB DYLAN’S MEMORY PALACE (2026) focuses on Bob Dylan’s career and the “higher mysteries” of Dylan’s output, spanning from Good as I Been to You (1992) to Shadow Kingdom (2023). Of course, in order to do an effective analysis, Polito refers frequently to the Bob Dylan of the 1960s and 1970s.

If you’re a Dylan fan, you’ll learn a lot from Robert Polito’s deep dive into Dylan’s career. Where many musicians retired from the music scene, Bob Dylan continued to tour and record new albums for decades.

Bob Dylan sold his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group in December 2020 for an estimated $300-$400 million. Later, in January 2022, he sold his entire recorded music catalog (master rights) to Sony Music Entertainment for an estimated $150-$200 million, covering his work from 1962 onward. 

Will Bob Dylan and his music stay relevant? I think so. What do you think? Do you have a favorite Bob Dylan song? GRADE: A (for both the book and the CD)

TRACK LIST:

		Blowin’ In The Wind	2:46
		Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right	3:37
		The Times They Are A-Changin’	3:11
		It Ain’t Me, Babe	3:32
		Maggie’s Farm	3:51
		It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue	4:14
		Mr. Tambourine Man	5:26
		Subterranean Homesick Blues	2:17
		Like A Rolling Stone	6:07
		Positively 4th Street	3:53
		Just Like A Woman	4:50
		Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35	4:34
		All Along The Watchtower	2:31
		Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)	2:18
		I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight	2:39
		Lay, Lady, Lay	3:17
		If Not For You	2:40
		I Shall Be Released	3:02
		You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere	2:44
		Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door	2:30
		Forever Young	4:56
		Tangled Up In Blue	5:41
		Shelter From The Storm	5:02
		Hurricane	8:33
		Gotta Serve Somebody	5:24
		Jokerman	6:15
		Silvio	3:06
		Everything Is Broken	3:13
		Not Dark Yet	6:28
		Things Have Changed	5:08

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface: Shadows are falling — xv

A (“Admittedly, lies, fear, muddle, fury, the dead and their ghosts…”) Rough and Ready Ways — 1

B (“Backdrop: One version of my boo’s story goes…”) Overview — 14

C (“Chronology and facts aside…”) By HIs Own Account — 26

D (“Dylan live–or as some of his tour posters….”) Live #1 –40

E (“Everything Dylan put into practice…”) Time Out of Mind –53

F (“False impressions, Figmens, Fragments, Phantoms…”) Bootlegs/His Ghost World — 66

G (“Gatsby…? First take note of the obvious…”) Love and Theft — 77

H (“Hell…first with a small ‘h’…”) Masked and Anonymous — 93

I (“I wish someone had mentioned that to me earlier…”) Chronicles — 111

J (“Just when you thought…”) Live #2 — 130

K (“‘Kiss you, or kill you…'”) Art Noir — 140

L (“Latin at Boston College High School…”) Modern Times — 152

M (“Momento Mori…”) Tributes/Obits — 177

N (“Night…it is always at night…”) Theme Time Radio — 183

O (” ‘Oh! I have suffered/With those I saw suffer…’ “) — 196

P (“Piano. Who’s playing...?”) Live #3 — 220

Q (“Quotations– a too partial…”) Backdrops and Parallels — 230

R (“Rewrite O. It was to be the section…”) Otherworldly Inclinations — 238

S (“Sinatra, and not just once, but three distinct spins…”) Dylan and the Great American Songbook — 250

T (“Trial runs, false starts…”) Early Road Tests — 260

U (“‘Unless, of course, he dies first…'”) The Nobel Prize in Literature — 265

V (“Venice. The Grand Canal. The Palazzo. Chandeliers. Mirrors on mirrors…”) The Body — 275

W (“Where were we? After a nearly two-year suspension…”) Live #4 — 282

X (“X the unknown variable, but X rays, too…”) Hidden in Plain Sight — 292

Y (“You walk into the room…”) His Tulsa Archive — 303

Z (“Zero hours? Zero hour– Bob Dylan’s late albums tend…”) But not where it ends — 312

Acknowledgements — 325

Bibliography/Works Cited — 329

Index — 339