Arguably the most suc­cess­ful Jew­ish per­former of this gen­er­a­tion, Bob Dylan arrived in New York one win­ter morn­ing in 1961. His music and spir­it would go on to cap­ture the hearts and minds of a gen­er­a­tion, but what no one knew then was that, like so many before him, Dylan was con­ceal­ing his Jew­ish ori­gins. 

Yet Dylan’s Jew­ish roots, dri­ve, and deter­mi­na­tion to suc­ceed are the key to grasp­ing how this com­plete unknown burst onto the scene and rein­vent­ed not only him­self but pop­u­lar music. 

Har­ry Freedman’s insight­ful biog­ra­phy traces the heady atmos­phere of the 1960s and the folk-rock rev­o­lu­tion spear­head­ed by Dylan. Right up until the moment in 1966 when Dylan stepped out onto the stage and went elec­tric — explor­ing how his musi­cal deci­sions, genius for rein­ven­tion, and his Jew­ish­ness go inescapably hand in hand.