Customer Reviews:
 So so for Suze August 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you have seen No Way Home, you'll have a better idea of how to take this narative. Suze Rotolo seems to be a true child of the 60's, sweet, with a very good heart.
I say this because the book reads much like the diary of a 13 year old. Lots of long walks with sketch pad and book of poetry in hand.
If you don't know a thing about the early 60s, Greenwich Villiage and the folk movement that brought you Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, et al, then you'll enjoy this book.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for the slightest insight into the enigmatic Mr. Dylan, you will be sorely disappointed.
 A beautiful memoir that stands on its own August 27, 2008
In A Freewheelin' Time, Suze Rottolo pens a beautiful and nuanced portrait of Greenwich Village in the `60s. Her position was a unique one, as she was Bob Dylan's girlfriend during his sudden rise to fame, but the book is much more than just an after-the-fact tell-all. From her Communist parents to her own acts of civil disobedience, Rottolo focuses on the spirit of a place and time, crafting a really lovely memoir.
 Warm and enjoyable, but a bit slight August 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After spending 45 years as a subject of one of America's most iconic images, Suze Rotolo is entitled to say her piece. To her credit, she says it with great humility and dignity. This is not a "tell-all" about Bob Dylan. She treats her relationship with Dylan with respect, and presents an engaging portrait of young love in general. While I enjoyed Rotolo's overall picture of artistic life in NYC in the early 1960s, it tends to be a bit slight. Her lengthy love affair with Dylan provided entree to a fascinating scene. But while her other experiences and artistic endeavors were interesting, I never felt she quite succeeded in connecting them to any larger context. Still, as a fairly small-bore portrait of the life and work of a bright young woman in an exciting time and place, the book succeeds. I pondered whether to give it three or four stars. I went with four because the book is pleasantly readable and Rotolo comes across as such a likeable person. I wanted her to end up OK, and while she doesn't bring her story beyond the 1960s, it sounds as if she did.
Multiple layers in this wonderful book. August 26, 2008
I purchased this book because I currently rent a studio in Greenwich Village and wanted to learn as much about the neighborhood as possible. Reading it served that purpose but I enjoyed the book on so many other levels as well. I learned the context of Dylan's early songs. Never a big BD fan, I bought a CD featuring his early hits and listen to it often as a backdrop to the love story of two young artists. Moreover, anyone who has ever experienced betrayal by a lover can feel Suze's almost indescribable heartbreak when she learned at a party that Bob had been with Joan Baez. Truly wrenching. Most meaningful of all to me, however, was her frustration at having feminist feelings before there was a feminist vocabulary. As a woman of the same age, I can remember and relate. I loved this book!
 Disappointment August 13, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read the book and found out pretty quickly that Suze appeared to be capitalizing on her relationship with Bob Dylan without revealing very much of anything. The writing was sincere and without any information that added a new slant. Sorry, but I think this one's a waste of time.
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