Suze Rotolo’s memoir: encore

Thanks to Ian Woodward:

“I, too, am looking forward to Suze Rotolo's memoir but my impression, from the title as much as anything else, is that it will be about her life, times and activities in Greenwich Village as a whole, in the 1960s, of which her relationship with Dylan was but a part.

“Of course, a publisher is almost bound to stress the Dylan part of the book, particularly any salacious aspects, and may even have pushed her to increase the Dylan content, but I suspect the book will be as interesting for providing contextual background as detail.

“The press release, which I didn't see but it must have been a press release as quite a number of different newspapers reproduced identical texts, concentrated almost entirely on the Dylan connection. If I am right, then this press release may be understandable but misleading.”

Suze Rotolo’s memoir of life in NYC

A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir Of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, Suze Rotolo’s memoir of life in NYC with Dylan, is a mouth-watering prospect. Rotolo was easily the second most compelling interviewee on No Direction Home; I hung on her every word.

The recent PR for the book might have focused on salacious personal tittle-tattle, but that’s decidedly not what interests me. No, the interest lies purely in the insights a very intelligent woman might provide on the formative period of a great artist.

The important bit of the recent press wasn’t the personal stuff, but the claim that, by early February, Rotolo hadn’t handed in the manuscript to the publisher.

Whether Broadway Books will now be able to meet its advertised 13 May publication date is debatable: possible, but unlikely. Not that it’ll matter much: after waiting for 45 years for this potential gold dust, another few weeks will make no difference.

Make no mistake: Suze Rotolo’s memoir could be the most important topic covered by The Dylan Daily this year.

Watch this space …



Gerry Smith