Positively Main Street

"That boy . . . this fellow, Toby . . . has got some lessons to learn." -Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone, November 29, 1969 "Toby Thompson was there first." -Greil Marcus "A first-rate novelistic account of Thompsonrs"s own psyche as he uncovers the Dylan few people know . . . A new look at young Dylan done with kindness, enthusiasm and superb language." -William Kennedy, Look Magazine "Essential reading. Thompson, unprecedentedly, managed to interview not only Echo Helstrom, almost certainly the ls"Girl of the North Country,rs" but Dylanrs"s mother and brother, his uncle, his friends." -Michael Grayrs"s Bob Dylan Encyclopedia "Dylan fans will not want to miss this book." -Sioux City Journal "Enough to satisfy any Dylan fan with all the gossip hers"ll ever need." -Huntsville Times "Well worth the attention of anyone who has fallen under the spell of the boy from the North Country." -Los Angeles Times "Itrs"s a must." -Ft. Worth Press"Thompson tracked down anybody who knew "Die-lan" (as the Hibbingites called him), including the guy at the local music store, the guy at the motorcycle shop, his English and music teachers, his uncles, his brother David and even his reluctant but ultimately charmingly chatty mother. Of course, Thompson traveled into a few dead ends. But the stuff with Dylan's mom and his high school girlfriend, Echo Helstrom, is priceless.Positively Main Streetis a free-wheelin', fun and quick read that is surprisingly informative." -Minneapolis Star Tribune"Hundreds of books have been written about Minnesota's most famous songwriter; Bob Dylan's life and music has been analyzed by fans, scholars, and even himself. So, why do we need Toby Thompson'sPositively Main Street: Bob Dylan's Minnesota? Because it's a forgotten milestone. Published in 1971, it was the first biography on Dylan. Although it's been out of print since 1977, the book is, with the exception of Dylan's autobiography, perhaps the most readable and necessary volume on the folk icon. In the late 1960s, Thompson, an untested young journalist, decided that he would take on the mother of all write-around pieces and head to Hibbing to document Dylan's roots. Inspired by Tom Wolfe and the emergence of New Journalism, Thompson wrote his first-person account of diving into his hero's murky past and how it changed Thompson as a fan and writer. His interviews with Dylan's former babysitter, relatives, and ex-girlfriend Echo Helstrom (the inspiration for "Girl from the North Country") give us equal insight into the singer's past and the writer's devotion. Most of the information about Dylan in the book has become common knowledge since it was published. But as this year's reprinting attests, the book's enduring appeal is Thompson's excited voice and willingness to test New Journalism's early possibilities." -City Pages In the late sixties, Toby Thompson enthusiastically took off for Hibbing, Minnesota, in search of Bob Dylanrs"s roots. Thompson grooves on the story of Dylanrs"s beginnings, meeting the locals who knew Bobby Zimmerman the loner, not Bob Dylan the legend. With unprecedented access to Dylanrs"s English and music teachers, his high school girlfriend Echo Helstrom, and countless neighbors and relatives, Thompson discovers the real person behind the mythology Dylan created. This updated version includes an interview with the author, previously unpublished photographs, and a new preface by Thompson.