A review by wdeboard
The Mayor of MacDougal Street by Dave Van Ronk

4.0

3.5 stars. Checked this book out at the library after watching Inside Llewyn Davis because I wanted to learn a little about the "real" Llewyn Davis. This isn't a seamless novel but instead it is vignette style, telling a different story each chapter. Some very familiar stories for those who did see the movie. One thing I thought was very interesting was that, at one point in the book he talks about how everybody talks about "the scene," as how "you should have been here five years ago, it was really hopping then!" But it seems as though Van Ronk appeared on the Greenwich Village folk music scene precisely when it was exploding. The days of Dylan and Ochs and Baez as they were finding themselves. It's a pretty interesting look into somebody who maybe wasn't the reason the scene was explosing, but he was definitely a major insider while that scene was happening, and those people have the most interesting observations. There was a little braggadocio at times as well; like when he was invited to become the "Paul" in Peter, Paul and Mary. Still, an interesting read and a pretty quick read.