"Dandelion: Memoir of a Free Spirit" by Catherine James blipped back on the radar recently when news about a lawsuit against Bob Dylan was reported. While Catherine James is not believed to be the plaintiff in that suit, this book contains preposterous content regarding her interaction with Dylan, and also other musicians. Her claims can be easily debunked by more authoritative sources and historical facts. Google is your friend Catherine, you clearly failed to use it before conceiving tall tales for this manuscript.

Here all this time the public believed Dylan was a moody and difficult man, even when surrounded by his entourage, when in fact he was just a peach of a guy who took Catherine, aged 13, to a carnival and won a stuffed animal for her! He talked with her for hours by the fire! Jimmy Page, the year he married his young and beautiful second wife from Brazil, invited CATHERINE to be his date when Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Jackson Browne loved her madly but her jealous ex tore up all the photographs of Catherine and Jackson together so no proof remains! She hung out with Jimi Hendrix right before his death! Her expired visa to stay in England was extended by six months by British customs because Mick Jagger was waiting for her at the gate! It just goes on and on. The only indisputable fact is that Catherine begat an illegitimate child off Denny Laine who in the broad picture of rock history is a somewhat minor figure. When this manuscript was optioned by a publisher at the time when “groupie books” were the rage, a short relationship with Denny Laine was insufficient to sell a book, hence the very obviously embellished encounters with more famous names.

Was her mother abusive and neglectful? Probably. Was it as extreme as described? Unlikely. What is the truth behind her placement in an “orphanage” while she had two living parents? Perhaps her own behavior and incorrigibility? It is suspicious that while Catherine freely names all the famous men she claims to have bedded, she refused to name her mother’s famous “folk singer” boyfriend whom she states abused her. If this book had gotten more exposure, which apparently it didn’t since it is out of print, it would have been the next “A Million Little Pieces” a la James Frey. ( )

Blech. I read the first two chapters of this book (about her father becoming a woman), and thought it would be a good read. The rest of the book was pretty crappy, though; James had an interesting life, but the prose was uninteresting and the plot took on the feeling of "and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened..." I wouldn't recommend it. Read The Glass Castle if you're interested in stories about a messed up childhood. ( )