HAYAO MIYAZAKI
Back to the Book
To the Editor:
Re "Where the Wild Things Are" by A. O. Scott, last Sunday:

To give credit where it is due, the turnip-headed scarecrow, Calcifer the fire demon and the heroine's transformation into an elderly woman in "Howl's Moving Castle" are the inventions of the writer Diana Wynne Jones, not the filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. I hope the film will lead readers to the subtle, funny and truly fantastic book on which it is based.
Andrew H. Ogus
San Francisco

BOB DYLAN
The Wall
To the Editor:
The protective wall Bob Dylan has put up between him and his audience is what has given him the resilience to continue his public performances ["Dylan Gives the People What He Wants" by Bill Wyman, last Sunday]. The public is not always kind and seldom orderly. If doing what he wants results at times in distance and an arrogant or cryptic stage presence, that is reduced to a minor irritation by his poetic depth and introspective honesty. His work is a gift, much preferable to that of lesser performers with warm and ingratiating personas.
Stephen Zaima
Syracuse

Bob: Over Here!
To the Editor:
I believe that Bob Dylan has chosen to tour nonstop, and at such unlikely sites, because he wants to demythologize the rock star and enjoy being the musician. If you can see Bob Dylan three times a year in your area, in the same casino where Shields and Yarnell performed the night before, then the expectation of a "concert event of a lifetime" has been burst. At that point it becomes about a man, a guitar (or nowadays a keyboard) and a song. One more thing, Bob: if you're looking for a cool place to play, I live in a sleepy coastal village, have a huge backyard and serve a great clambake. I'd even let you use the pool. How about it?
John Buckley
South Darmouth, Mass.