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Bob Dylan Audiobook’s Celebrity Readers and Their Chapters Revealed, From Helen Mirren on ‘Pump It Up’ to Alfre Woodard on ‘Tutti Frutti’ (EXCLUSIVE)

The question is no longer just what Bob Dylan will have to say about Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up” or the Clash’s “London Calling” when he writes about them in his new book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song.” Now we can wonder how Helen Mirren or Renée Zellweger will sound giving voice to Dylan’s prose as they read those chapters, respectively, in the audiobook version, which, like the hardback, arrives Nov. 1.

Variety previously reported the titles of the historical songs Dylan has written essays about for the tome, followed by the the names of the actors enlisted to read individual chapters for the audiobook, but those two lists hadn’t been paired up till now. A look at the list below, being revealed for the first time today, shows that all of the stars involved have been given multiple assignments, including Jeff Bridges, Oscar Isaac, Rita Moreno, Jeffrey Wright, Sissy Spacek, John Goodman, Alfre Woodard and Steve Buscemi as well as Mirren and Zellweger.

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As first promised when the book was announced, Dylan himself will also do some reading for the audiobook, although he’s not taking on any full chapters himself. He will read short introductions or interstitial pieces that appear between chapters in the book, described by publisher Simon & Schuster as “a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work’s transcendence.”

The chapters may well have been assigned at random, but Dylanologists may still have fun speculating on what reason, if any, Buscemi was picked to read about the Fugs’ “CIA Man,” Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas” and Warren Zevon’s “Dirty Life and Times”… or why Mirren was the woman for the job of intoning “On the Street Where You Live” from “My Fair Lady” and the Frank Sinatra standard “Strangers in the Night” as well as Costello’s new-wave-era classic… or why Woodard’s voice was the one for a literary exegesis of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” the Nina Simone classic “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and Rosemary Clooney’s “Come On-a My House.”

One connection seems clear enough: Renée Zellweger reads a chapter about the Judy Garland-sung “Come Rain or Come Shine” not too many years after playing Garland on the big screen.

One could also suppose that Bridges was picked for Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” because of the Williams song catalog having played such a large part in “The Last Picture Show,” although, ironically, maybe, that was one of the few big Williams hits not included on that film’s soundtrack.

The full matching of titles and readers being released by Simon & Schuster Audio is below.

Essay/Song

Narrator 

DETROIT CITY

Jeff Bridges

PUMP IT UP

Helen Mirren

WITHOUT A SONG

Jeffrey Wright

TAKE ME HOME FROM THIS GARDEN OF EVIL

Sissy Spacek

THERE STANDS THE GLASS

John Goodman

WILLY THE WANDERING GYPSY AND ME

Renee Zellweger

TUTTI FRUTTI

Alfre Woodard

MONEY HONEY

Helen Mirren

MY GENERATION

Oscar Isaac

JESSE JAMES

Rita Moreno

POOR LITTLE FOOL

Renee Zellweger

PANCHO AND LEFTY

Jeff Bridges

THE PRETENDER

Steve Buscemi

MACK THE KNIFE

Jeffrey Wright

WHIFFENPOOF SONG

Helen Mirren

YOU DON’T KNOW ME

Sissy Spacek

BALL OF CONFUSION

Alfre Woodard

POISON LOVE

Steve Buscemi

BEYOND THE SEA

John Goodman

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Renee Zellweger

IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW

Jeffrey Wright

THE LITTLE WHITE CLOUD THAT CRIED

Rita Moreno

EL PASO

Steve Buscemi

NELLY WAS A LADY

Rita Moreno

CHEAPER TO KEEP HER

John Goodman

I GOT A WOMAN

Jeffrey Wright

CIA MAN

Steve Buscemi

ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE

Helen Mirren

TRUCKIN’

Renee Zellweger

RUBY, ARE YOU MAD?

Sissy Spacek

OLD VIOLIN

Rita Moreno

VOLARE

Helen Mirren

LONDON CALLING

Renee Zellweger

YOUR CHEATIN’ HEART

Jeff Bridges

BLUE BAYOU

Oscar Isaac

MIDNIGHT RIDER

Sissy Spacek

BLUE SUEDE SHOES

John Goodman

MY PRAYER

Helen Mirren

DIRTY LIFE AND TIMES

Steve Buscemi

DOESN’T HURT ANYMORE

Sissy Spacek

KEY TO THE HIGHWAY

Alfre Woodard

EVERYBODY CRYIN’ MERCY

Renee Zellweger

WAR

Jeffrey Wright

BIG RIVER

John Goodman

FEEL SO GOOD

Steve Buscemi

BLUE MOON

Jeff Bridges

GYPSIES, TRAMPS & THIEVES

Renee Zellweger

KEEP MY SKILLET GOOD AND GREASY

Sissy Spacek

IT’S ALL IN THE GAME

Rita Moreno

A CERTAIN GIRL

Jeffrey Wright

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY

Jeff Bridges

WITCHY WOMAN

Steve Buscemi

BIG BOSS MAN

Alfre Woodard

LONG TALL SALLY

Rita Moreno

OLD AND ONLY IN THE WAY

Sissy Spacek

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN

Oscar Isaac

BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX

Rita Moreno

COME ON-A MY HOUSE

Alfre Woodard

DON’T TAKE YOUR GUNS TO TOWN

Jeffrey Wright

COME RAIN OR COME SHINE

Renee Zellweger

DON’T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD

Alfre Woodard

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

Helen Mirren

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Steve Buscemi

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

Oscar Isaac

WAIST DEEP IN THE BIG MUDDY

Alfre Woodard

WHERE OR WHEN

John Goodman

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