Others say...

"This book is a failure"
When I buy a songbook, it's because I want the convenience of having music and lyrics before me that I can simply read, instead of figuring tunes out by ear. THIS BOOK IS FULL OF WRONG CHORDS, LYRICS, AND KEYS! It therefore defeats the entire purpose. Amsco Publications: Please go into a different business, you failed at this one. Don't buy this book.

"Bob Dylan"
I purchased this book for my 25 year old son for Christmas. He was really excited to receive it and actually began reading sections immediately. From his initial reaction, I'd say it was a hit!

"Definitive?"
Never write off an old guy. Whoever thought that you could produce a "definitive" Bob Dylan songbook in 2001, when the boy was not finished yet. Still, for an oldie like me, this book has all the old favourites and a whole bunch of songs I didn't even know, not to mention the "Gosh, did Bob Dylan write that?!" ones. There is also a selection of traditional songs which he didn't write, but has presumably performed at various times.
The level is not too hard for backroom guitar players, once you get over the predeliction for putting some otherwise simple songs into E flat. (Is that a little Dylan joke, or did somebody transcribe the songs by ear when the guy was a trifle out of tune?)
The book contains absolutely nothing but songs. For the background material you have to go to the massive library of Dylaniana that is out there. Actually that is refreshing. There are hundreds of songs in here so just get out the guitar, warble away, and let it mean whatever you want it to mean.

"Worth Every Penny"
This is the "must have" book for any guitar player that loves Bob Dylan's music. The large format of the book allows the pages to be well spaced and the music and lyrics easy to read. The chords have finger charts with it to help with proper finger placement.

"His Own Music For His Own Poetry: Updated"
Back in 1968 or 1969, I bought my first Bob Dylan Song Book. Published, in paperback, by M. Mitmark & Sons, it cost $4.95 and was, at the time, a reasonably thorough compendium of his songs - most of which he was still performing in something close to their original incarnations at the time. It has 46 tune in it from his earliest truly creative era. I still have and use it! Many years have come and gone - for Bob, for me and for the world we live in.

IN 2004, a volume called Bob Dylan: Lyrics was published by Simon & Schuster. (See my review of this on epinions on 7/9/06) and, unlike the earlier book I mentioned, is a compilation of lyrics only -organized one album at a time - from 1962 to 2001 - emphasizing the poetry sans music. As a tome of poetic achievement, it is a monument to one of our most prolific and generationally expressive writers. However, it deliberately did not include the music.

I recently discovered the book at hand, first published in 2001 by Amsco Publishing. It combines the best of both worlds (for an amateur musician and long-time Dylan aficionado) by laying out the melodies, chords AND full lyrics to over 325 of his songs.
This is a BIG book, even in paperback -788 pages. A full sampling (not all-inclusive) of each of his periods - from the earlier years when he modeled himself after Woody Guthrie and took up social causes, to the creative boom of the 60's when his savant-like creativity flowed like a veritable tsunami of music with meaning to the latter phases where he has continued to write - but, by his own admission, without the `magical' and inexplicable inspiration that flowed spontaneously from him earlier in his career.

Unlike the Lyrics volume, this one is organized alphabetically - so you need to know the name of a song to find it. The organization, by album, of Lyrics made it much easier to locate specific pieces. This arrangement is more like playing a DVD with the tracks scrambled randomly - so paging through it is lie a roller coaster ride in and out of eras rather than a smoothly flowing chronological presentation. This is not a major criticism as I found looking through his work in this way kind of provocative and even challenging. Also, for a person very familiar with his work, finding songs listed by title is not a problem. The black and whiter photo of him on the cover is from the late-early period: He is still quite young - probably still in his late 20's - but his gaze is a feature that has never changed and captures the forever quality of the best of his work.

For musicians and folk-music fans, this volume is the most comprehensive collection of his songs I have seen and is a worthwhile (and delightfully functional) addition to your collection of sheet music and lyrics.