As I have mentioned recently, there is Bob Dylan collection coming….. details and pictures soon. A lot of albums! A lot of art! But also, a unique element involving many historic reviews of Dylan recordings throughout the years.
Reading those reviews in the rear view mirror, its truly amazing at how prescient some critics were… how they just seemed to “get” what was happening in Dylan’s work right away–even when they were speaking against the popular critical consensus at the time. An amazing example: Blood On The Tracks was not received with the universal appreciation one would think today. Few critics fully got it. One of the few who really did was Michael Gray… who went on to write a number of books about Dylan, including the “Bob Dylan Encyclopedia.”
As part of my journey working on this project, I had the pleasure of corresponding a little with Michael Gray, and just found out that he conducts these amazing weekends at his home in France where you can vacation, eat good, drink lots of wine, and engage in intelligent conversation with an amazing Dylan expert: Michael Gray. For anyone interested in that sort of thing… check this out:
NOVEL WEEKEND BREAK: TALKING BOB DYLAN IN FRANCE
British writer Michael Gray, a world expert on Bob Dylan and the biographer of Blind Willie McTell, is opening his home in France for themed Dylan Discussion Weekend Breaks in September.
Named after a phrase in a classic Dylan song from Blood On The Tracks, these mini-breaks are called “Slowly Into Autumn”. Three to four paying guests, or three couples, can join the author of “Song & Dance Man III”, “The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia” and “Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell”, for meals created by his wife, the food writer Sarah Beattie, followed by chats about Dylan’s work alongside wine and music. Themes will range from “Dylan & the Romantic Poets” to “Dylan’s Use of Blues & Bible” and “Dylan, Plagiarism and Bootlegs”.
The author’s house is set in deep countryside in the Southwest of France, 45 miles from the Pyrenees and the Spanish border. Every guest room is en suite, and guests are also offered use of the pool.
The cost is $610 per person, or $915 per couple sharing a room, plus flights and transfers.
Full details and bookings see:
http://bobdylanautumn.blogspot.com
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