Planned scholarly book of essays centered around Bob Dylan’s 2001 and 2006 albums Love & Theft and Modern Times, arguably two of his best and most important works since 1975’s Blood on the Tracks.

Essays to be edited with an introduction by Eric Hoffman.

Tentative title: From Love & Theft to Modern Times: Bob Dylan and the Twenty First Century

Possible topics to include:

• Love & Theft and Modern Times in context: modern rock, the baby boom generation, in contrast to Dylan’s other works, etc.
• Song structure: Dylan’s use of the American songbook
• Lyrics: Dylan’s use of various texts including Peter Green’s Ovid translations, Saga’s Confessions of a Yakuza, etc.
• Political content in Dylan’s late work
• Love & Theft and musical blackface: Dylan’s self-conscious “borrowings” of American roots music

Please send your papers to: diamondjoecity@gmail.com

Suggested length: 7,500 words.

Deadline for abstracts: June 2012
Deadline for final papers: October 2012