Circle October 2025: Chris Gregory rolls out Minstrel Boy: The Metamorphoses of Bob Dylan — Volume Two, the centerpiece of his Picasso of Song trilogy, tracking Dylan’s 1967–1990 shape-shifts with a critic’s rigor and a fan’s ear.
Structured as Retreat (1967–1973), Return (1974–1978) and Rebirth (1979–1990), the book braids close reading with biographical texture and stage-side colour, tuning Dylan’s moves to folk, blues, country, gospel and rock and roll, and sounding echoes from William Blake to the King James Bible. Gregory writes with ironic humour and an openness to multiple readings, promising “the depth of academic study” in prose built for readers, not lecture halls.
The new volume follows Determined to Stand, praised by outlets from Splice Today to Americana UK for its atmosphere and sweep, while Gregory’s wider Dylan footprint—100,000-plus visits to his site From the Pen of Chris Gregory and a 10,000-download podcast, Bob Dylan: A Headful of Ideas, across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean and Buzzsprout—keeps the conversation lively. The trilogy runs in reverse; Volume Three will rewind to the early years. Minstrel Boy is set to land in October 2025.