Bob Dylan the Gun Lover

[GWB]

The knockin' on Dylan's Door

In fact, Dylan says he had two pistols and a rifle in his upstate Woodstock home to protect his family from his rowdiest fans.

His home was once a quiet refuge, but after his success, "road maps to our homestead must have been posted in all fifty states for gangs of dropouts."

"At first, it was merely the nomadic homeless making illegal entry - seemed harmless enough, but then rogue radicals looking for the Prince of Protest began to arrive - unaccountable-looking characters, gargoyle-looking gals, scarecrows, stragglers looking to party, raid the pantry," he writes.

"The authorities, the chief of police (Woodstock had about three cops) had told me that if anyone was shot accidentally or even shot at as a warning, it would be me that would be going to the lockup," Dylan says. "Not only that, but creeps thumping their boots across our roof could even take me to court if any of them fell off. This was so unsettling. I wanted to set fire to these people."

[Zeno]

I like the 'agonies of fame' line. Sounds like the book may be an interesting read and that fan projection onto famous people is often misplaced, misguided, and, for the most part, rather silly.

Bob 'Zimmerman' Dylan also should have kept a shotgun in his home, in addition to his two pistols and rifle. But all in all, Bob was a smart man.

-Zeno

[andyfox]

That does it, I'm not voting for him.

[Boris]

The left wing critics of popular culture will now declare Dylan as passe, old news and never that good to begin with. This is what they did to Milan Kundera when it was decided he was a bit too anti communist and that his male literary characters liked to have too much sex with women.

[Blarg]

Dylan has always been known for being hilariously mean to his fans. What would you expect though -- he barely even opens his mouth to sing when he shows up at a concert. It's like he regrets giving forth every breath to his fans.

I remember him talking about one fan who came up and was in a friendly way saying he really loved one of his songs. "Who is this guy? I don't know him. I think I could prove that in any court," he said, grimacing with annoyance.

He'a pretty hilarious that way. A real peach.

Living in Los Angeles, I used to meet stars all the time at a bookstore I worked at. Plenty were surprisingly humble and nice, and others...yeesh, being around them was like breathing a low-level poison.