Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads

Sardonic, bitter, threatening, compassionate, gleeful, and most of all loud, 'Like a Rolling Stone' is much more than a song. Six minutes and six seconds in length, it was released by Dylan despite the received wisdom of the day as to what constituted a single. Greil Marcus' book reconstructs the context in which the song first appeared, in terms of Dylan's own career (his controversial transformation from folk singer into rock 'n' roll singer) and the world at large (Vietnam and the counter-culture of the time). An analysis and critique of an artist at the height of his creative powers, it affords a unique insight into the mistakes and inspirations that come together only in the very highest cultural moments.