"By the middle of the 1970s, Bob Dylan's position as the preeminent artist of his generation was assured. The 1975 album Blood on the Tracks seemed to prove, finally, that an uncertain age had found its poet. Then Dylan faltered. His instincts, formerly unerring, deserted him. In the 1980s, what had once appeared unthinkable came to pass: the 'voice of a generation' began to sound irrelevant. Yet in the autumn of 1997, something remarkable happened. Having failed to release a single new song in seven long years, Dylan put out the equivalent of two albums in a single package. In the concluding volume of his groundbreaking study, Ian Bell explores the unparalleled second act in a quintessentially American career. It is a tale of redemption, of an act of creative will against the odds, and the story of a songwriter who refused to fade away. Time Out of Mind is the story of the latest, perhaps the last, of the many Bob Dylans." -- Back cover.

Time is an enemy -- Written in my soul -- A wanderer by trade -- Thunder on the mountain -- The palace of mirrors -- God said to Abraham... -- Wade in the water -- Jokerman -- World gone wrong -- Born in time -- Things have changed -- Sketches from memory -- Hand me down my walkin' cane -- Pay in blood -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.