Down the Highway Audiobook By Howard Sounes cover art

Down the Highway

The Life of Bob Dylan

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Down the Highway

By: Howard Sounes
Narrated by: Peter Markinker
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $32.21

Buy for $32.21

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Hailed as "Music Book of the Year" by Uncut magazine on publication, and a finalist for theRalph J. Gleason Music Book Award, Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist.

Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music.

Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of extraordinary personalities, including the American poet Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the singer-songwriters Paul McCartney (Fab) and Lou Reed (Notes from the Velvet Underground).

©2011 Howard Sounes (P)2014 Audible Studios Entertainment & Celebrities Music

Critic reviews

"Dylan comes alive, strumming his guitar in a studio in Nashville or hurrying down MacDougal Street with the collar of his leather jacket turned up against the wind…[Sounes] offers information that, in sheer quantity, supersedes prior accounts." ( The New York Times Book Review)
Thorough Biography • Fascinating Tale • Fabulous Reader • Well-researched Content • Intriguing Story • Good Storytelling
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Excellent biography- as far as it went. I was a bit disappointed Audible didn’t have the 2021 edition. Narrator wasn’t a good choice, but the content held me to the end.

Good - but ends at 2009

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this is a great book. maybe the most in depth of his life as any I've read so far!

thorough

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Impressive story and detail. I especially appreciated the history of his trails and trials in the 1980s. I would have appreciated a little more detail on my favorite album, Oh Mercy. Highly recommended and one I will probably visit again as I head on down my highway of life.

Oh Mercy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This tells you absolutely everything you could ever want to know about Bob Dylan's life, an although it does get a bit repetitive hearing about his many women, and lawsuits, it's still very interesting to hear about his many shenanigans and escapades! Very entertaining read! :-)

Very Interesting account

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m a fan of Dylan for over 50 years. His recordings have impacted music more than any artist other than the Beatles, who he was a major influence. Many things about Dylan are revealed for the first time. Insights into his music and his musician friends and fellow performers explain Dylan in a way that made me feel I was in the room with Dylan during his most creative times. Dylan’s quirkinesses and genius are all included in this most interesting book. I also like the narrator as the English accent made for a more objective viewpoint.

A detailed and interesting story of Bob Dylan

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Had read it years ago and has been updated through 2012 or so. Thorough, well-researched and even-handed, it does a good job telling the remarkable story of Dylan's life. The reader is very good as well. Excellent book well told.

Terrific thorough biography

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have lost track of how many times a narrator has been dinged for mispronouncing names or places. This narrator is a good reader but so many mispronounced names… it did get a bit annoying but the book s very good

Very good book, but…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A fascinating tale of one of America's great musicians. This in-depth study of a rare breed, a real troubadour who has traversed the country and the world time and time again and will do so until he dies with a guitar in his hands enthralled me from beginning to end. Not only was Dylan the musician singer and songwriter given a detailed study, but also light was cast into the dark recesses of the very private life of a very public figure. Bob Dylan the musician we have known through his music. Bob Zimmerman the man is also revealed here. Wonderfully written in concise detail and beautifully read.

The fascinating story of a real life troubadour

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
To read this story once and expect to know Bob Dylan will be a mistake.

Do it again man.....I was asleep.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's a comprehensive look at an extraordinary life, though it's about due for another updated edition.

Comprehensive

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews