A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties

This is a really good read--whether for a look back at the early folk scene in Greenwich Village (starring Bob Dylan, of course) or for a casual history of that still important time that spawned the "youth movement" in the U.S. The hook to read this book is that it is written by Bob Dylan's girlfriend during his early career. But soon into the book, the reader realizes that it is not going to be a tell-all about the famous singer with anecdote after anecdote exposing Dylan's life at this very crucial stage. So, should the reader continue? I wasn't sure if it would be worth the time investment to hear Suze Rotolo's story. I did continue on and am I glad I did. What we have here is the story of the '60's by a remarkable, sensitive, intelligent,loyal girl who refused to be swallowed up by the cult of celebrity worship so prevalent in our society today. Yes, it was certainly alluring for her to be Dylan's girlfriend--with all of its glamour and power-- but she knew that she would lose her soul and never discover her own self-worth if she were to remain with him, despite being in love with him (and he her). Rotolo writes in a breezy style with the vernacular of the early sixties. She captures well what is like to be a teen/young adult during any epoch and adds the specifics of the turbulent sixties. A long list of characters(most from the folk and music scene) make an appearance in this story: Dave Van Ronk, Ian and Sylvia, Joan Baez, Trini Lopez, Phil Ochs, John Hammond, Jerry Rubin, Raul and Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Ramblin Jack Elliott to mention a few. My favorite anecdote in the book is a short one that reveals a most endearing quality of Rotolo. Speaking to an audience in Cuba just after the Revolution, she tells them that she is alienated with the constant use of the terms the proletariat, blue-collar workers stating that she was the only one among the American speakers who was actually from a blue-collar background. "My father,who had worked in a factory, never referred to himself as 'a proletariat'." Highly recommended for those who were young during this period, or anyone interested in the genesis and milieu of the young Dylan and his art.

Most people will probably be drawn to this book because they are fans of Bob Dylan. Others will be drawn to it out of an interest in, or nostalgia for, Greenwich Village in the sixties. Those were certainly the reasons that I purchased it. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. Like other reviewers I journeyed to the Village in search of freedom from suburbia, first as a commuter and later as a resident, albeit half a decade after Ms. Rotolo left it. Time and again as I was reading it I recalled places and feelings from those times, made alive once again by Ms. Rotolo's splendid prose. And there was plenty of Dylan, as seen through Ms. Rotolo's eyes, as well as many of the other figures, some famous, some not, that played a role in shaping the those times. But what I was not prepared for was how intrigued I was by Ms. Rotolo's own story. And even more by her reflections on the events of those years. Through these pages she has transformed herself from "the girl on the cover" to an individual of profound insight and feeling. From her memories of growing up in a communist household during the McCarthy era to her days as a "slum goddess" she has her own fascinating story to tell. Ms. Rotolo ends her book by noting that the Greenwich Village of which she writes is no longer physically there. But she goes on to remind us that the real Village is a state of mind where "A compelling and necessary idea will always find a place to plant itself. The creative spirit finds a way." That creative spirit reveals itself in this book. If you are nostalgic for the past or hopeful for the future I urge you to read this book.