Rating: 
Summary: Fatuous nonsense
Review: A book on the legendary Basement Tapes by a notorious pop cult guru? Sounds promising. Unfortunately, Marcus's INVISIBLE REPUBLIC is mandarin gibberish, the work of an enormously overrated writer engaged in the kind of pseudo-intellectual wanking that's actually embarrassing to read. Marcus's problem is that he thinks he's Wittgenstein on acid when he's really just a journalistic Elmer Fudd hyped up on double latte--a boring narcissist with a penchant for turgid prose. Don't subsidize this guy; he doesn't deserve it. There's good criticism on Dylan out there; don't waste your time reading this drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: American masks
Review: A good introduction to the concept of American masks. Case in point, the sitting President. Marcus' explication of The Clothesline Saga from The Basement Tapes, ostensibly originally titled Answer to Ode (to Billie Joe), is freely heard on the LP/CD for anyone not requiring sign language. It was refreshing to find a similar take on the music to be found in The Basement Tapes after all these years.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably rich.
Review: An astonishing book. Less a meditation on Bob Dylan's basement tapes than on the nature of America, its structure is improvisatory and its prose is hallucinatory. In order to justify devoting an entire book to this often silly music, Marcus frequently relies on overstatement; but I don't think he had any other choice. And this overstatement is counterbalanced by a surplus of imagination, inspiration, and fascinating facts. For Marcus, a collection of music conjures up an imaginary place -- especially such collections as the basement tapes and Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. I'd like to start listening to music this way. What would be the characteristics of the places conjured up by, say, the Tropicalia boxed set, Prokofiev's wartime piano sonatas, or the Carmina Burana?
Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to the whining--approach prepared/open-minded
Review: Greil Marcus gets a lot of flack, which is understandable since truly good writing never gets greeted with apathy. I personally would rather be flayed alive however than spend time with the sort of people who whine about how supposedly prententious and wrong-headed he is. Marcus is a myth-maker, and to comprehend the book you simply can't just walk in unprepared and then complain afterward. It's assumed that you'll have heard at least the official Basement Tapes release, (And the full 5-cd set is easier to come by than most people think--I even got mine off of ebay.)and have knowledge of the lodestones of American roots music. As the title suggests, Marcus is discussing more than just Dylan. Those who complain that the basement tapes don't deserve Marcus' analysis and are too slight miss the point entirely. Popular music tells a huge amount from our culture--a song like "Blue Suede Shoes" and the background behind it may tell you more about 195o's America than a history book. Marcus analyzes the music Dylan made in 1967 by delving into what shaped it and how what shaped it shaped our culture. He follows the strand of thoughts that criss-crossed Dylan's mind when the Basement tapes were created--thoughts on the country's present state and its past, the remembered bits of old folk numbers belonging to a vanished America,etc. He shoots back and forth through time and across topics following these strands and by the end he has revealed that the basement tapes reflect and show us--in all their mystery, silliness(especially that), simplicity,and complexity--a rich picture of America, both past and present. Now if you can't handle the unconventionality or daring of Marcus' approach--how his way of writing about the music reflects the sprawling, limitless potential of teh music and its influences--then please stop your bitching and find something simpler. A 100 years from now, when historians wish to document and experience our culture, one of the most powerful tools they have will be the music of the day. You haven't understood all of the old, weird America if you haven't listened to singers like Dock Boggs, and those in the future studying our time will gain immeasurable insight from simply listening to the basement tapes. Greil Marcus' book is joined at the hip to those tapes --it both explains and adds to their mystery, and those wise enough to see how the tapes reflect the times will see the same about this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Some good parts, but....
Review: Greil Marcus has a few very interesting things to say, but his writing style is unrelievedly GRANDIOSE. I love most of Dylan's work and read this book because of that, but found myself skipping over large chunks of it. It's like eating nothing but marzipan, all day every day!
Rating: 
Summary: You should already know about Bob Dylan.
Review: I bought and read Invisible Republic with absolutely no knowledge of Bob Dylan. I love the sarcastic yet reflective tone Marcus uses in the book; however, he expects the reader to know all about the songs on the Basement Tapes beforehand. Marcus makes references to many of Dylan's songs in order to clarify some of his points, but these references mean little to someone who has never heard of these songs. Anyone who already knows about Bob Dylan (and/or the Anthology of American Folk Music) would probably enjoy Invisible Republic. A clueless person like me should not bother to read it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on Dylan and American music
Review: I don't understand some of the other customer reviews of this book. Were the basement tapes created in a vacuum, or were the ghosts of American folk music floating around that basement in Big Pink ? And could this book be more timely with the epochal Smithsonian 1997 re-release of the Harry Smith Anthology ? This is exactly the book I wanted and Marcus was the only one who could do it. Admittedly some of the ideas are far-ranging, perhaps far-fetched, but we have to give the creative critic the same artistic license we give the artist. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but when it does it gives you a lot to think about and really helps to place Dylan within the context of the history of American music. And even since Dylan turned his back on the folk movement you can still hear echoes to this day of the influence of the Smith Anthology in his music. The way he absorbed it and reconfigured the songs (which are essentially the canon of American folk music)for his own purposes throughout his career, particularly during the making the tapes which may be his finest work, are key to understanding the timeless quality of his music. And how about that bravura opening section, the best description I've read of what was at stake during the first electric tour with The Band ?
Rating:
Summary: Silly !
Review: I know this book revolves around an abstract idea linking Bob Dylan`s basement tapes to an old , lost America ( the invisible Republic ) , but , oh dear , where do I begin ?" Invisible Republic " is one of the worst books I`ve ever read , I just hope people don`t take Greil Marcus`s ludicrous theory on the basement tapes to be gospel ( no pun intended ) . This is a classic case of an author`s ego winning out to common sense . It`s hard enough to read a book , if you`ve lost all faith in the author`s integrity , thanks to the laughably tenuous links that he uses to back up his theory , but when you have to wade through reams of portentious , almost unreadable prose , to reach the same conclusion , it`s almost torture . This book is full of pretensious , self-indulgent nonsense that only very gullible people could believe , but I suppose any Bob Dylan book sells , and Greil Marcus is fully aware of this .
Rating:
Summary: Silly !
Review: I know this book revolves around an abstract idea linking Bob Dylan`s basement tapes to an old , lost America ( the invisible Republic ) , but , oh dear , where do I begin ? " Invisible Republic " is one of the worst books I`ve ever read , I just hope people don`t take Greil Marcus`s ludicrous theory on the basement tapes to be gospel ( no pun intended ) . This is a classic case of an author`s ego winning out to common sense . It`s hard enough to read a book , if you`ve lost all faith in the author`s integrity , thanks to the laughably tenuous links that he uses to back up his theory , but when you have to wade through reams of portentious , almost unreadable prose , to reach the same conclusion , it`s almost torture . This book is full of pretensious , self-indulgent nonsense that only very gullible people could believe , but I suppose any Bob Dylan book sells , and Greil Marcus is fully aware of this .
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book but are the songs discussed available?!!
Review: I love Dylan but never cared much for trad folk music; now I want to go out & find all this stuff. Marcus' writing is hypnotic & powerful, yes sometimes pretentious. But I believe him, & I believe Dylan when he said (as Marcus quotes him): "maybe there's a new song here!" I love all these outlaws, moonshiners, folksingers ("meatgrinder!") It captures an America probably long gone by the time Dylan recorded these songs. Kerouac saw it as he sped down the highway in the raw American night. I was born in 1970 so I'll never get to see this place but it seems too fierce and sorrowful and drunk a place to be nostalgic about. "I picked up my gal/ I grabbed me some cash/ And we made it on down/ to that Million Dollar Bash!"
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