Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Tarantula

By: Bob Dylan
Narrated by: Will Patton, Dennis Boutsikaris - Preface
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.49

Buy for $13.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Never before on audio! Music legend Bob Dylan’s only work of fiction - a combination of stream-of-consciousness prose, lyrics, and poetry that illuminates the creative process of one of the most influential musicians and songwriters of our time - finally comes to audio in a magnificent performance by award-winning narrator Will Patton!

Written in 1966, Tarantula is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of its time and provides a unique perspective on Bob Dylan’s creative evolution. It captures Dylan at a crucial juncture in his artistic development, showcasing the imagination of a revolutionary musician who was able to combine the humanity and compassion of his folk music roots with the surrealism of modern art and the intensity of the Delta blues. Angry, funny, and elusive, the poems and prose in this collection reflect the concerns found in Dylan’s most seminal music: a sense of protest, verbal ingenuity and spontaneity, and a belief in the artistic legitimacy of chronicling everyday life and the rhythms of the street and in the air.

©1994 ©1966 Bob Dylan. ©1971 The Macmillan Company.
Copyright renewed ©1994 Bob Dylan. All rights reserved.
(P)2019 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. (P)1994 Simon & Schuster Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Tarantula

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wildly imaginative 

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too Old

Should have listened to this when I was 19, Not 75. Maybe I would have understood and enjoyed back then.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful