BOB DYLAN AS FILMMAKER - NO TIME TO THINK

MICHAEL GLOVER SMITH

MICHAEL

GLOVER

SMITH

BOB DYLAN

AS FILMMAKER

NO TIME TO THINK 

Praise 1

'Michael Glover Smith's Bob Dylan as Filmmaker is the most compelling

reconsideration of Bob Dylan's work as a filmmaker written to date. Building

on previous analyses of Dylan's films, Smith combines his own experiences as a

filmmaker with his extensive research and deft analysis of Dylan's films to prove

how Dylan's process is similar regardless of the genre he creates in - grounded in

tradition, innovative, and true to his artistic vision. In this way, Smith successfully

challenges the paradigm that Dylan failed as a filmmaker by methodically 

chronicling the films that influenced Dylan and how those films shaped the  movies

Dylan made. Smith's approach positions Dylan as an artist working in the medium

of film rather than, as he has been previously understood, a musician making

movies. Bob Dylan as Filmmaker: No Time to Think advances the conversation of 

Dylan as an holistic artist and is an essential addition to anyone's Dylan library.'

Erin C. Callahan, author of The Politics and Power of 

Bob Dylan's Live Performances

'Despite the vast literature on Bob Dylan, his work as a filmmaker remains

critically underexplored. Michael Glover Smith, himself, an innovative and 

thought-provoking filmmaker, remedies this gap with a perceptive and rigorously

informed study of Dylan's cinematic output...Insightful, unique, and long

overdue, this book is an essential addition to Dylan's studies.'

Andrew Muir, author of The True Performing of It: Bob Dylan and

William Shakespeare

'This is an excellent read that shines a light on an underappreciated aspect of Bob

Dylan's creativity, which reflectively also illuminates the rest of his work.'

Laura Tenschert, host of the Definitely Dylan podcast

'I didn't ask to be dubbed the 'Dean of Dylanologists'-it was the unintended

byproduct of my deep, intense study of the work of Bob Dylan. I've long told

anyone who will listen that Dylan's films and interest in film are essential to

gaining a better understanding of his art. In an era of performative hot takes,

I recognize a kindred spirit in Michael Glover Smith. Bob Dylan as Filmmaker

reflects that rare combination of the director's eye and the curator's exactitude (the

appendices are stupendous). Bob Dylan is already studied like Shakespeare and

Smith's book is a foundational text on Dylan and cinema.'

Scott Warmuth, writer and disc jockey

'I can't wait for everyone else to read this brilliant, insightful, engaging, 

and fascinating book.'

Matthew Ingate, author of Together Through Life: 

My Never Ending Tour with Bob Dylan

Praise 2

'From the influence of everyone from John Ford to Rainer Werner Fassbinder to

his own fascinating forays into filmmaking, Bob Dylan's deep and abiding love

of cinema is a fascinating prism through which to contemplate his kaleidoscopic

career. In his wonderful new overview Bob Dylan As Filmmaker: No Time To Think,

Michael Glover Smith takes us on an immersive journey through the duality

between Dylan's music and the screen imagery that clearly preoccupies so much of

his mind. A delightful and rigorous read, and a crucial contribution to the canon

of Dylan literature.'

Elizabeth Nelson, singer-songwriter for garage-punk band the Paranoid Style, 

and a regular contributor to the Ringer, the New York Times Magazine, and

Pitchfork, among others

'Even among fans, Bob Dylan's work as a filmmaker is easy to mock or ignore. In

Bob Dylan as Filmmaker: No Time To Think, Michael Glover Smith persuasively 

defend's Dylan's artistic vision (if not always his acting). Through meticulous

analysis augmented by his own original research in the Dylan archives. Smith

explains what the movies mean and what other films Dylan drew inspiration from.

I'll give it the highest praise possible: It made me want to watch Renaldo and

Clara again.'

Ray Padgett, author of Pledging My Time: Conversations with 

Bob Dylan Band Members 

'As lively as it is insightful, Bob Dylan as Filmmaker: No Time to Think is a 

sunbeam-lit account of Bob Dylan as filmmaker-informed, thoroughgoing,

prodigiously researched, ingeniously creative, and serious as pericarditis. A totally 

engrossing read.'

Eric Lott, author of Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the 

American Working Class

'In Bob Dylan as Filmmaker: No Time to Think, director Michael Glover Smith

explores Dylan's cinematic side, arguing it's every bit as groundbreaking as his

music. From Eat the Document to A Complete Unknown, Smith connects the dots

between Dylan's films, lyrics, and visual art with sharp insight and rare material 

from the Bob Dylan Center® archives. Smart, passionate, and full of surprises-

this is Dylan through a whole new lens. And this book works so well I think even 

the man himself will enjoy it! 

Marc Percansky, co-author of Bob Dylan in Minnesota: Troubadour Tales from 

Duluth, Hibbing and Dinkytown

A deep dive into one of the most overlooked - and fascinating - sides of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature winner: Bob Dylan, the filmmaker. While his music and lyrics have been studied endlessly, his work behind (and in front of) the camera remains largely unexplored. No other book has taken this angle, and with Dylan's legend still growing, the audience is more than ready for a bold new take.

Bob Dylan as Filmmaker, the first book of its kind, opens exciting new ways to think about the artistry of Bob Dylan.  It offers a captivating exploration into movies that, according to Michael, showcase Bob Dylan not just as a subject, but as the primary author. These include Eat the Document—a short, experimental television film shot in 1966 and released in 1972; the sprawling, genre-blurring epic Renaldo and Clara (1978), both directed by Dylan himself; and the darkly surreal Masked and Anonymous (2003), directed by Larry Charles but co-written by and starring Dylan. Bob Dylan as Filmmaker explores what these movies reveal about “how it feels” to be Bob Dylan during three defining eras of his career: the revolutionary 1960s, the introspective 1970s, and the enigmatic early 2000s. Just as crucially, they illuminate Dylan’s remarkable instinct for using film not merely as a medium, but as a deeply personal mode of expression.

The book also provides an essential survey of Dylan’s most recent movie projects, including those by other directors, in which Dylan’s influence is less overt but no less powerful. Here, Michael argues that Dylan operates as a kind of “invisible co-author”: in Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue (2019), where Dylan appears as a slippery, self-mythologizing interviewee; Alma Har’el’s haunting Shadow Kingdom (2021), a stylized livestream performance; and James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown (2024), the Timothée Chalamet-led biopic shaped in part by Dylan’s behind-the-scenes “script approval.”

https://mcnidderandgrace.com/michaelglover-smith-book1

Michael Glover Smith is a Chicago-based filmmaker/writer, author, and teacher. Filming for Michael’s most recent film Hekla, starring Elizabeth Stam, has recently finished – the festival premiere will be in early 2026.

Michael is also the director of four award-winning feature films, the most recent of which, Relative, stars Wendy Robie (Twin Peaks) and is distributed by Music Box Films. It was the 23rd highest-grossing movie in the U.S. in its first week of release in 2022.

His previous book, Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the U.S. Film Industry (co-written with Adam Selzer), was published by Columbia University Press to acclaim in 2015. He has seen Bob Dylan 100 times in concert.

https://mcnidderandgrace.com/michaelglover-smith1

https://www.michaelgloversmith.com/books

McNIDDER &

GRACE

Published 2 March 2026

Paperback 

GBP £16.99 / USD $22.95

ISBN: 9780857162991

52295

9 780857 162991

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MY GREENWICH VILLAGE: Dave, Bob and Me By Terri Thal, Published by McNidder & Grace

CONTACT: Marc Percansky

marc@magicmarcproductions.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MY GREENWICH VILLAGE: Dave, Bob and Me

By Terri Thal, Published by McNidder & Grace

Terri Thal was very much part of the folk music world in 1960s Greenwich Village. Few people

know that she was 21-year-old Bob Dylan’s first manager prior to his contracts with Albert

Grossman and Columbia Records. She also managed musician Dave Van Ronk (then her

husband) and others, including Maggie and Terre Roche and The Holy Modal Rounders. She

tells us about this in her new book, My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me, published by

McNidder & Grace.

Terri Thal has two passions: folk music and social justice. Her book is a personal story of the

world of folk music in 1960s New York, written by a Jewish woman from Brooklyn who,

although not a musician, was an intrinsic part of this scene. Terri describes Greenwich Village as

a community that was supportive, musically exciting, and one in which people had fun. She tells

us what it was like to hang out in the Village coffee houses, to host folk singers like Tom Paxton

and Phil Ochs, who spent evenings at her apartment, and to be a manager. We hear her views of

the “old-left” socialist organizations she was close to or joined.

Terri later merged her social justice work with her professional work in not-for-profit agencies,

handling public relations and fundraising, then as executive director. She’s retired now, but

continues to do some writing and grant writing for not-for-profits, and does environmental and

criminal justice reform work as a volunteer. Terri is an avid reader, writer and editor.

Greil Marcus has described Thal’s book as having “…a voice so full of vehemence it makes

everything interesting.” (Substack, September 18, 2023)

# # #

US Publication Date
5 October 2023
Hardback $32.95
ISBN 9780857162489
EBOOK
ISBN 9780857162496
FORMAT
240x162mm
EXTENT
232 Pages
ILLUSTRATIONS

16pp colour plate section

McNidder & Grace
www.mcnidderandgrace.com

MY GREENWICH VILLAGE Dave, Bob and Me - PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

A NEW BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR BY BOB DYLAN’S FIRST MANAGER

McNIDDER & 

GRACE

MY GREENWICH VILLAGE
Dave, Bob and Me
By Terri Thal

Terri Thal was very much a part of the folk music world in 1960s
Greenwich Village, New York. Few people know that she was 21-year-
old Bob Dylan’s first manager prior to his contract with Albert
Grossman and Columbia Records. She also managed musician Dave
Van Ronk (who later became her husband), and others to include the
Roche sisters, Paul Geremia and The Holy Modal Rounders. She
booked performances at coffee houses, clubs and basket houses. On 6
September 1961, she recorded a set from a young Bob at The Gaslight
Café – it is the first known live recording of his original songs - known
to Dylan fans as the First Gaslight Tape! Terri took this ‘audition’ tape
to clubs to try to get him gigs – and she still owns the original reel-to-
reel tape! She had many friends in Greenwich Village including Suze
Rotolo and a number of seminal 1960s folk musicians.

When Dave Van Ronk first saw young Bob performing in a club in
Greenwich Village he said ‘I just heard this kid who’s a fucking genius.
You’ve got to hear him.’ Within a few days I heard him play and agreed
with Dave. Bob Dylan asked me, ‘Would you get me gigs?’

US Publication Date
5 October 2023
Hardback $32.95
ISBN 9780857162489
EBOOK
ISBN 9780857162496

FORMAT
240x162mm

EXTENT
232 Pages
ILLUSTRATIONS
16pp colour plate section

DESCRIPTION

Terri Thal has two passions: folk music and social justice.

This is a personal story of the world of folk music in 1960s New York
written by a Jewish woman from Brooklyn who, although not a
musician, was an intrinsic part of this scene. Terri describes
Greenwich Village as a community that was supportive, musically
exciting and one in which people had fun.

Terri tells us what it was like to hang out in the Village coffee houses,
to host folk singers like Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs who hung out at
her apartment, and to be a manager. We hear her view and
involvement of the 1960s socialist organizations, and how she later
merged her professional work in not-for-profit agencies.

Terri Thal grew up in Brooklyn and in the 1960s and 70s lived in
Greenwich Village, hanging out with and managing folk singers such
as Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan and the Roche sisters. She was very
much a part of this vibrant and iconic music scene – as well as a
member of socialist organizations. As an avid campaigner for social
justice Terri went on to work for not-for-profit organizations, handling
PR and fundraising, then as executive director. She now spends her
time doing environmental and criminal justice reform work. Terri is an
avid reader, writer and editor.

Book launch September 12 at The Bitter End,
New York at The Village Trip Festival

‘No one was closer to all of it in Greenwich Village than Terri Thal.’
Tom Paxton, folk singer-songwriter

‘A fabulous glimpse into an era of music and politics that changed everything.’
Richard Barone, musician and author of Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s

‘Terri Thal’s candid and deeply personal memoir of the mythological Village of the Sixties answers questions so
many of us have had - and adds to our knowledge of the iconic musicians she befriended and worked with.’
David Browne, author of Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost
Story of 1970

‘When I began writing Bob Dylan In The Big Apple, there were a small number of key people that I was keen to interview. People who were integral not only to the Bob Dylan story but also to Greenwich Village and even New York itself. The most important of them all, Terri Thal, remained elusive. She was Dylan's first
manager, the spark at the heart of 60's Greenwich Village, and was eventually persuaded to contribute to my book. The most vibrant and informative of chapters. Of course. I whooped with delight at the news that Terri would give a rare interview to me... and finally with this book, the world at long last gets the whole story.’
K G Miles, co-author of Bob Dylan in Minnesota

‘Terri Thal, with her razor sharp wit, takes you right back to the late 50's and early

60's Greenwich Village folk scene along with behind the scenes on being Bob Dylan's

first manager. She was a huge link in Bob's chain of success. This is a must read book!'
Marc Percansky, co-author of Bob Dylan in Minnesota

CONTACT PUBLISHER
Andy Peden Smith
andy@mcnidderandgrace.co.uk

PRESS ENQUIRIES

caroline@mcnidderandgrace.co.uk

McNidder & Grace
www.mcnidderandgrace.com

Information:

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https://mcnidderandgrace.com/terri-thal

https://www.thevillagetrip.com/event/terri-thal/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGh8rdXtKqc

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLavQLnQ-Mnp-rPDOKcciLXmkOlxbqt-mO

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