Bob Dylan keeps rolling

Age has not slowed rock legend Bob Dylan. After the 63-year-old spent the duration of the summer touring minor-league baseball parks with Willie Nelson, the reluctant icon has announced he will embark on a solo tour that will span college campuses to promote his newly penned memoir.

Dylan’s memoir, “Chronicles: Volume 1,” arrived in bookstores on October 7 and is the first in a series. The book, told through first-person narratives, focuses on significant events in Dylan’s life and career, according to Dylan’s official website.

However, don’t expect the spotlight-shy Dylan to concentrate too much on personal events like his 1966 motorcycle accident or his 1977 divorce. Instead, the book discloses poignant information about both his music and the people who influenced it.

“You know how I would remember stuff? I would remember people,” Dylan told Newsweek in the Oct. 4 issue. “Once I figured out who was there, I could make something of it. I didn’t go strong on anybody, you know? I think I went rather light. But in saying that, I’m not a big fan of polite literature, so there would have to be an edge to it.”

Coming from the musician who brought to life the stories of Hurricane Carter and Hattie Carroll, it is no surprise that names and faces litter the pages of his book. Yet the autobiography also elaborates on Dylan’s notorious desire to escape the spotlight and the effect the intense media and public scrutiny had on his art.

“It would have driven anybody mad,” Dylan writes in “Chronicles,” referring to the fanatical attention he received in late 1960s and early 1970s.

Although critics have cried for more insight into Dylan’s music and formation, fans will appreciate Dylan’s refreshing frankness in his reflections of his four-decade career.

“Chronicles” is published by Simon ‘ Shuster, who simultaneously released an updated version of “Lyrics: 1962-2001,” a career-spanning collection of the singer’s lyrics.

Although Dylan is not planning a stop at Fairfield, he is scheduled to perform at the nearby University of Rhode Island Ryan Center and has announced several dates in Massachusetts and New York in November.