"Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews charts Dylan's public transformation, from the early sixties to the present day, as he repeatedly re-creates himself. Dylan expert and longtime Rolling Stone contributor Jonathan Cott has compiled thirty-one interviews that, taken together, present the evolution of a brilliant young man evading fame and its attendant invasion of privacy into a seasoned professional who has learned how to impart truth to those questioning him without giving away too much of his private self." Included in Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews are all six major interviews Rolling Stone conducted with Dylan, by Rolling Stone founder Jann S. Wenner, Mikal Gilmore, Kurt Loder, and Cott himself.
Mostly a picture book (and what beautiful pictures they are) but Jonathan Cott's brief essay on Dylan's career, up through 1983's 'Infidels,' is well-written and has surprising depth.