A New Edition of Robert Shelton’s No Direction Home was published on September 24, 2024

Robert Shelton published No Direction Home, a biography of Bob Dylan in 1986. After Shelton’s death in 1995, the book appeared in 3 new editions: Elizabeth Thomson and Patrick Humphries released an expanded and updated edition in 2011, the year of Dylan’s 70th birthday; Thomson produced an edited version in 2021 (Dylan’s 80th); and this year we have a third edition. Robert Shelton wrote a glowing review of Bob Dylan’s performance at Gerdes Folk City in Greenwich Village on September 25, 1961, part of a two week appearance in which he opened for the Greenbriar Boys. The review was published in the New York Times on September 29, 1961. Dylan was then 20 years old. Dylan had also played this venue earlier in the year, opening for John Lee Hooker in April. He managed to get Shelton’s attention over the summer. John Hammond signed Bob to a Columbia recording contract later that fall (October 26, 1961) and Dylan had his first studio recordings in November (his first album, Bob Dylan, was released on March 19, 1962.