After the Flood

In Robert Polito's hands, Bob Dylan's recordings, performances, films, and writings, especially of the last thirty-some years, open up like plants caught in time-lapse photography. You see how they take shape, hear the different languages they speak, until the maze of allusions that makes up the work resolves itself into a single body--in Colson Whitehead's words on all the variants of 'John Henry, ' 'a whole country of songs.'--Greil Marcus Probing ineffable matters of the heart and mind and ear, Robert Polito eloquently interweaves memory and cultural history in this brilliant analysis of Bob Dylan's later career. A uniquely incandescent book; a book that's hilarious, humane, generous, often poignant; a book about Dylan, and about us; and a book not to be missed.--Brenda Wineapple Robert Polito's explorations of human duality--in the esoteric poetics of James Merrill, in Jim Thompson's pulpiest fiction, and in his own chilling poems--have primed us for this grand tour of Bob Dylan's memory palace. Part biography, part explication, this is a brilliant, consequential, deliciously encyclopedic foray through the winding artistic corridors of one of the most surprising and controversial recipients of literature's most honored prize.--Lloyd Schwartz Robert Polito's After the Flood is the last word on the second half of Bob Dylan's career. Encyclopedic yet concise, it is an ideal listening companion and a definitive guide to Dylan's many reinventions. Unlike much Dylanology, it's also a lot of fun.--Lucy Sante