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Is Bob Dylan writing historical fiction? Or just joking on Patreon?

Jon Bream, The Minnesota Star Tribune on

Published in Entertainment News

MINNEAPOLIS — Is Bob Dylan seriously into writing historical fan fiction or is he just being a Jokerman once again?

On Sunday, March 29, he launched a Patreon website — for members only at $5 per month — promising content curated by Dylan.

Dylan’s Instagram promoted his Patreon as “Lectures from the Grave” — “a living archive of lectures from the grave, letters never sent, and original short stories.”

Ah, the ever-enigmatic, ever-surprising Nobel Prize for Literature laureate is branching out again, beyond music, painting, sculpture and books.

There have been a series of posts on his Patreon, the first a video of gospel great Mahalia Jackson singing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

There is a fictional letter sent by Mark Twain to Rudolph Valentino.

There are three historical lectures of varying length — about former Vice President Aaron Burr, Old West hero Wild Bill Hickok and 1800s bank robber Frank James — seemingly voiced by AI.

There is a short story called “Bull Rider,” attributed to Marty Lombard.

 

The writings seem to have pseudonymous bylines. And Dylan has been known to use pseudonyms, including as producer of his own albums under the name Jack Frost.

While music artists are spread throughout social media, Patreon is not home to many. Amanda Palmer and Ben Folds are probably the best known with Patreon pages.

Is Dylan’s Patreon for real? A bit of tomfoolery by the playful Dylan and/or his co-conspirator Eddie Gorodetsky, an Emmy-winning comedy writer?

Dylan’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment.

There is no mention of Dylan’s Patreon on his official website, where he typically promotes all his endeavors.

And we all know that Dylan seldom speaks. He didn’t even introduce his band members during his Rochester concert on March 24. Not one spoken word from the Minnesota bard.


©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

 

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