In need of a hefty coffee table book? Music fan? You may want to consider the new tome The Lyrics: Since 1962, which compiles every lyrics Bob Dylan ever wrote that was featured on an album or official bootleg. As you know, few performers were as prolific as The Bard so you better have a strong coffee table: This sucker weighs in at 13.5 pounds.
Jonathan Karp, the president of Simon & Schuster, wasn't pulling any punches when he gave his analysis of the project, as more than 960 pages make it "the biggest, most expensive book we've ever published." The product, being released in a limited edition, will go for $200. An even more limited version, featuring the signature of Dylan himself, amps the price up to $5,000.
The price reflects how much work went into this thing. Just because the subject matter is prewritten lyrics doesn't mean it was as simple as copy/paste. Christopher Ricks, a Boston University professor specializing in British literature—who also wrote the 2003 title Dylan's Visions of Sin—worked with editors Lisa and Julie Nemrow, who organized the content to offset verses and choruses, allowing the lyrics to run in a 13-inch as was intended on the original vinyl sleeves (the book itself is a little larger than a vinyl sleeve at around 13 in. by 13 in.).
The publisher indicated that Dylan himself provided notebooks and material for research although the author himself tried to remain coy when asked about it by the New York Times.
Among the absurd amount of detail that goes into the book are slight variations on lyrics that alter from release to release. Rolling Stone cites a slight change in "Tombstone Blues" from the original version on Highway 61 Revisited and the version appearing on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7. Then again, you could always just check Google.
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