''The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan'' is a book published in 2009 by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

intended to analyze the work of American singer-songwriter

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. It is the fourth book of ''Cambridge Companion to American Studies''. This book is edited by Kevin J. Dettmar and contains seventeen essays, each written by a different person. The whole book is divided in two sections. The first one ("Perspectives"), containing nine essays, attempts to describe different sides of Dylan's work. The next section ("Landmark Albums") describes eight landmark Dylan albums. The collection includes contributions from

Michael Denning Michael Denning (born 1954) is an American cultural historian and William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American Studies at Yale University. His work has been influential in shaping the field of American Studies by importing and interpreting the w ...

, David Yaffe,

Anthony DeCurtis Anthony DeCurtis (born June 25, 1951) is an American author and music critic, who has written for ''Rolling Stone,'' the ''New York Times'', '' Relix'' and many other publications. Career DeCurtis is a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', ...

Alan Light Alan Light (born August 4, 1966) is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for ''Rolling Stone'' and the editor-in-chief for ''Vibe,'' ''Spin,'' and ''Tracks''.http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/11/18/new_music_ ...

, R. Clifton Spargo, novelist Jonathan Lethem and musician Carrie Brownstein.

Reception

Kieran Curran of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' gave the book 5 stars out of 10, and stated: "it's an interesting read for the academically inclined budding Dylanologist .. even if it is lacking in a pop musicology sense. For the unconverted to Dylan though, there would be no point in picking this up – every essay is built upon the assumption that Dylan is worthy of extended proselytising."

References

2009 non-fiction books Books about Bob Dylan Cambridge University Press books English-language books Music books {{Music-bio-book-stub