I had very little in common with and knew even less about a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of.

Eventually I would even record an entire album based on Chekhov short stories—critics thought it was autobiographical—that was fine.

As Dylan sees it, his fame distorted not only his life but his art; he reacted to it with new music calculated to baffle expectations, and he ended up baffling himself. 'I didn't know what it was I was really doing. I was going on reputation. Which buys you a certain sum, but you're not in control. And until you gain control, you're never quite sure you're doing the right thing? In my case anyway? So I went for a long time precisely on that fame that we're talking about. But-it was like a bag of wind. I didn't realize it was slipping away until it had slipped away.' And how long did this go on? 'Artistically speaking, it would have to have begun sometime in Woodstock-not personally, but in a public way-till maybe when that 'Time Out of Mind' record came out.'