Anthony Scaduto (1932–2017)

The Dylan Tapes: Friends, Players, and Lovers Talkin' Early Bob Dylan is a collection of transcribed recorded interviews Anthony Scaduto had from his landmark biography of Dylan.

My rating is not about the readability of this as a single book so much as a valuation of it as a wonderful source of information as well as a wonderful example of how to interview people. Most of the interviews do make good reading, so I guess you could view this in a similar way to how you view a collection of themed essays or stories.

What I really found intriguing was how much of each interviewee's personality came through. I found myself not particularly liking a couple, liking some, and for the most part feeling like I was right there for the interview.

For the Dylan fan this offers even more insight into who he was in his youth and early years. It has been decades since I read Scaduto's biography but I think it would be interesting to see how much made it into the book and how much didn't.

While definitely a great read for Dylan fans I would also imagine that aspiring journalists and writers could learn a lot from how these interviews went. I found them engaging and it seemed like the interviewees were mostly put at ease, though someone in the field may well find things that maybe aren't recommended when interviewing. But the results presented here are phenomenal.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)

1424 Scapegoat: The Lonesome Death of Bruno Richard Hauptman, by Anthony Scaduto (read 4 Dec 1976) This book claims Hauptman was framed! I doubt anyone could read the book and at the end confidently say that Hauptman was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The book is not well-written, nor well-edited, but it certainly raises serious doubts. The most damning evidence in the case, I've always thought, was the board from Hauptman's attic being a part of the ladder found at the Lindbergh home. Scaduto says this was a frame-up--that the missing board was simply thrown away, and was not noted in numerous attic searches, and the ladder was then nailed in its place to make the nail holes match the nail holes therein match the holes in the joist. This I suppose, is the only way to get around this very damning evidence. But much of the other evidence was weak, e.g., Lindbergh's voice identification of "hey, Doctor," etc. Scaduto is too much the advocate, he goes overboard, he delights in saying someone lied, etc. Yet I am convinced now Hauptman was not guilty, and as I remember the attitude in our home on April 3, 1936, (the night Hauptman was electrocuted) I am glad it was one of skepticism that justice was done.… (meer)