Readings: Louis Menand on Bob Dylan

I've gotten more than a little weary of all the hyper-intellectual essays on Dylan in various magazines, but what a nice surprise it was to read Louis Menand's great piece in the current New Yorker, which uses Jonathan Cott's Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews as its excuse to muse about the larger significance of Dylan's music. I particularly like Menand's analysis (backed by quotes from Dave Van Ronk) of the Dylan-goes-electric moment and the whole murky idea of authenticity in music. Check it out.