A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
Broadway - Broadway
Release date: 2008-05-13
Hardcover
Author: Suze Rotolo
Folk Music, New York - Local History, Biography & Autobiography, Biography / Autobiography, Biography/Autobiography, Biography & Autobiography / Composers & Musicians, Composers & Musicians - Rock, Personal Memoirs, Composers & Musicians - General, 1941-, Dylan, Bob,, Nineteen sixties, Rotolo, Suze
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A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
Date undefinedWhen I saw Suze Rotolo in No Direction Home it sent shivers down my back. You may talk of Patty Boyd, Jane Asher, and Anita Pallenberg, but Suze Rotolo inspired Boots of Spanish Leather, One Too Many Mornings, It Ain't Me Babe, Ballad in Plain D, She Belongs to Me, If You See Her Say Hello, and numerous others of Dylan's most passionate, thought provoking and beautiful love songs. In Chronicles, Dylan himself, credits her with introducing him to ideas that would spin his art in it's most fascinating directions. She is the muse of muses and when I saw she'd written a book I couldn't wait to read it. Of course when you feel like that, you're often disappointed. I read this book in one sitting totally emersed in Suze' world, the best era in my lifetime. While one might wish for more candor and more specifics, the portrait Ms. Rotolo paints of her life, her community, and the young Dylan is like no other available. She is honest without being provocative. She admits she has a problem with being the focus of attention and with analyzing her own motives. At the end of her book, She says: "My aim was to capture the emotional truth that defined the experience rather than to present 'just the facts.'" But even as I read it, I thought that 'emotional truth' was the most mercurial aspect of the story. At one point Suze says that Dylan's songs from that period are not in the least mysterious or metaphorical to her. She understands them specifically. Now that's another book, Suze, and if you write it rest assured I'll buy it and read it!
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
Date undefinedMore precisely, I'd give it 3.5 stars. Dylan fans: Don't be deceived by the book's cover or the title. It is not a book about Bob. The byline is a more accurate description of the content: "A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties". And of course - it is a book about Suze Rotolo, Dylan's girlfriend during the early stage of his career. Sure, a good deal of it deals with stories of life with Bob Dylan and it offers some insight into how he related to Rotolo, friends, family and colleagues but there are no serious Dylan revelations within these pages. Dylan fades out around three quarters of the book and I expected him to return but he, unceremoniously, never did. Suze Rotolo's writing is choppy and just as she gets going on a story, she drops it and starts on another unrelated subject without really tying things together. She makes a good attempt in the end to summarize the book but there is still that empty spot where Bob Dylan once stood. There's a little bit of ADD here and I often grew tired of a young, 20-year-old woman searching for herself in the Sixties. There are good insights into the gender culture of the times and the early history of Feminism which makes the reader wonder if that's what was behind her breakup with Dylan. Rotolo repeats herself on occasion and I am surprised her editors did not catch it. There are a lot of players to watch out for in the book and they pop up but I was disappointed I didn't get to hear more about them. The book is a good cultural history of Greenwich Village and other areas of New York City that should be appreciated by people who know the area well.
I have to say though - despite any negative comments above - I enjoyed this book and it held my interest. I would recommend it to Dylan fans as a curiosity and to those interested in life in The Village during the Sixties.
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
Date undefinedSuze Rotolo has captured the essence of the sixties in The Village with devastating accuracy. She has told my story, with all my own experiences, these many long years later, ; parts of which moved me to tears. Here I thought I was the only one who saw and remembered things this way. Her descriptions were spot on target; it was just like being back there working at the Gaslight and hanging upstairs at The Kettle of Fish.
People were enthralled by the stardom, recording contracts and the money floating around; everyone trying to grasp that "golden ring." Even though we thought we were there for such lofty ideals, it was difficult to be there too much of the time. Excellent writing; she has painted a perfect picture of hopes and dreams, some gone awry. Yet she points out that the gifted, creative force, will always find a way to survive. What happened to all of us, the children of the sixties? Where did we all go? Rotolo has done a great service to us all, reminding us that creativity and the good spirit still exists. I thought it was gone for good. * * * * *
