It's Alright, Ma, I'm Only Reading

The general ambivalence of American reviewers over Dylan's Visions of Sin continues, as John Jeremiah Sullivan tells Newsday readers "possibly the most interesting question about the British expatriate critic Christopher Ricks is why one can tolerate reading him at all," then goes on to suggest that Ricks actually makes a persuasive case for Dylan's poetic preeminence. Meanwhile, in Slate, Tim Riley is glad that Dylan's getting academic props, but also finds the book "overly pleased with itself, Old School straining to sound New School, and, at 500 pages, an arduous read even for Dylan fanatics." He also points out that Ricks gives the musical component of Dylan's genius inexcusably short shrift.

On the more upbeat side, let's remember last week's praises from Jonathan Lethem in NYTBR, which suggests that "Ricks makes the book a seductive primer in his own methods" of close reading even as it acknowledges the professor's "sheer goofiness."