Tarantula

By: Bob Dylan, Dennis Boutsikaris - preface

Narrated by: Will Patton

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Music legend Bob Dylan's only work of fiction—a combination of stream of consciousness prose, lyrics, and poetry that gives fans insight into one of the most influential singer-songwriters of our time.

Written in 1966, Tarantula is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of the times in which it was written, and gives a unique insight into Dylan's creative evolution. It captures Bob Dylan's preoccupations at a crucial juncture in his artistic development, showcasing the imagination of a folk poet laureate who was able to combine the humanity and compassion of his country roots with the playful surrealism of modern art. Angry, funny, and strange, the poems and prose in this collection reflect the concerns found in Dylan's most seminal music: a sense of protest, a verbal playfulness and spontaneity, and a belief in the artistic legitimacy of chronicling everyday life and eccentricity on the street.

The narrator nails it!

What a trip! I really love this book especially as read by this narrator. He is fantastic. I just finished listening and now I’m going to start it over again. I love Bob Dylan and I loved this book.

Should be required reading!

I don't know why I was surprised this was so good! The only thing that could make it better would be a few more hours... A classic!

A really great book

A fantastic book that stands out as a shining reminder of what it means to be a true musician. This book is relatable and fun. I found this book to further be developmental and maturative to a young man coming of age like myself. I highly recommend this book.

Wildly imaginative 

There was a great rhythm about this book something that you can tap your foot too.

Dylan at his Weirdest

Whether or not you like this book will largely have to do with your expectations of what it is. This is a surrealist stream of consciousness work from the mind of Bob Dylan.

It was written during a time when Bob was deep into drug use to both expand his creativity and cope with his grueling tour schedule. If you're interested in a novel, or an organized book of poems, or any sort of coherent reading experience this book probably isn't for you. If you're interested in getting a glimpse into the chaos of the mind of one of America's greatest laureates then this book is worth checking out.

It is fairly short at only 3 hours, and the narration is great because the written form of the book is even more of a challenging undertaking because when Dylan wrote this he sparsely used punctuation, made up a lot of words, and took liberties with spelling.

Overall, it is classic Dylan. Weird, cryptic, disjointed, with streaks of brilliance, and streaks of nonsense for misdirection.