Terry Gans holds the distinction of having published the first book, Surviving in a Ruthless World: Bob Dylan’s Journey to Infidels (2020), based on research in the Bob Dylan Archive.
Terry began listening to and learning about Bob Dylan in 1962. Beginning in the 1980s, he began writing about Dylan, including contributions in The Telegraph,Look Back, The Bridge, and ISIS magazine. Surviving in a Ruthless World, is his second book—he also published his Master’s thesis at the Miami University (Ohio) under the title What’s Real and What Is Not.
Beyond the Dylan world he has had an impressive diversity of roles: Mayor of Longboat Key, Florida; advertising executive, corporate controller, songwriter, grocer, advertizing executive, and journalist.

Links to interviews and reviews:
A conversation with Laura Tenschert of Definitely Dylan
The Dylan Review
Isis Interview
Sarasota Herald Tributne
The Observer

A few notes on why you should read Surviving in a Ruthless World !
17 Original Bob Dylan songs were attempted during the Infidels sessions, each of which is treated as a chapter in the book. 8 songs were included on Infidels, 3 songs were used as raw material for songs that came out on Empire Burlesque two years after Infidels. 1 song emerged on Down in the Groove. 5 outtakes have appeared only on Bootleg albums—3 of those are astounding pieces of work: Blind Willie McTell, Foot of Pride (originally, Too Late), and Lord Protect My Child. For each song, Gans writes using a thorough format: we get the published lyrics and sections on writing and recording. There are also chapters on The Major Covers; Covers, Jams, and Noodles, etc.; Maybe, Maybe Not; and the Videos. The chapters bring us close to being firsthand witnesses at a Dylan recording session. Then there are the fun Appendices: Cliches, Aphorisms, and Images; Images in the Jokerman Video; Infidels Songs Performed Live; and the Sessions. The first 3 chapters treat the pre-sessions set up, including Dylan setting sail in the West Indies on a boat named the Water Pearl (Gans notes the possibility that some words and phrases show the influence of the Caribbean).
One result of Gans’ work in the Bob Dylan Archives is that he is able to document 96 verses that came and went as Dylan tried to find the heart and essence of the emotions and images he was trying to bring to life in Foot of Pride. About that song he also writes: “…what really kicked off my Infidels fascination nearly 40 years ago…the dense weird driving, hectoring of Foot of Pride. He quotes Dylan on this: “I think this is the toughest song I’ve tried to do in my entire writing career. I’ve never struggled with any song like this one.”
Gans has also written that Infidels had “no lyrical or other stylistic predecessor…[it had] no precedent, no successor.”

— Peter White, April 2026

Links to essays on Bob Dylan’s work by Terry Gans:
A Howling Idiot Wind
Magic in the Magic City
Same Old Used to Be
Such is Life
Through the Open Window

The Album Context (aka, the 1980s)
Saved 1980
Short of Love 1981
Infidels 1983
Empire Burlesque 1985
Knocked Out Loaded 1986
Down in the Groove 1988
Oh Mercy 1989