Robert Shelton met Bob Dylan when the young singer arrived in New York. He became Dylan's friend, champion, and critic. His book, first published in 1986, was hailed as the definitive unauthorised biography of this moody, passionate genius and his world. Of more than a thousand books published about Bob Dylan it is only this one that has been written with the Dylan's active cooperation. Dylan gave Shelton access to his parents Abe and Beatty Zimmerman — whom no other journalist has ever interviewed in depth; to his brother, David; to childhood friends from Hibbing; to fellow students and friends from Minneapolis; and to Suze Rotolo, the muse immortalised on the cover of Freewheelin', among others. No Direction Home took 20 years to complete and when it was finally published the book received widespread critical acclaim. Two decades on, Dylan's standing is higher than at any time since the 1960s and Shelton's book is now seen as a classic of the genre. This new edition, published to coincide with Dylan's 70th birthday on 24th May 2011, includes key images of Dylan throughout his incredible, enduring career, updated footnotes and Bibliography, and a new, selective, Discography.
