United States: The American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s publisher is offering refunds for a $600 special edition of his new book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song,” acknowledging that the signatures were actually “in penned replica form.”
The Philosophy of Modern Song, a collection of more than 60 essays on songs by other artists, from Elvis Costello to Nina Simone, was published at the beginning of November. It is Dylan’s first book of original writing since 2004’s Chronicles: Volume One and his first since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.
According to US media sources, after getting their copies in mid-November, purchasers of the limited edition books which were printed in a run of 900 and sold for $600, started comparing notes on the signatures and suspected something wasn’t quite right. Publisher Simon & Schuster has already apologised and promised to compensate customers.
“To those who purchased The Philosophy Of Modern Song limited edition, we want to apologize,” the publisher tweeted.
— Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster) November 20, 2022
The statement came after complaints from customers. The books had arrived with a letter vouching for the signature’s authenticity. As his first tour dates in the country in more than five years, Dylan wrapped up a run of shows in the UK earlier in November.
The singer-songwriter, who came out of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York City in the early 1960s, sold more than 125 million records worldwide after becoming a counter-cultural icon with the production of a number of political anthems.