Eschewing chronology and 聽skipping over most of the "highlights" that his many biographers have 聽assigned him, Dylan drifts and rambles through his tale, amplifying a 聽series of major and minor epiphanies. If you're interested in a 聽behind-the-scenes look at his encounters with the Beatles, 聽look elsewhere. Dylan describes the sensation of hearing the group's 聽"Do You Want to Know a Secret" on the radio, but devotes far more ink to 聽a Louisiana shopkeeper named Sun Pie, who tells him, "I think all the 聽good in the world might already been done" and sells him a World's 聽Greatest Grandpa bumper sticker. Dylan certainly sticks to his own 聽agenda--a newspaper article about journeymen heavyweights Jerry Quarry 聽and Jimmy Ellis and soul singer Joe Tex's appearance on The Tonight Show inspire heartfelt musings, and yet the 1963 assassination of John 聽Kennedy prompts nary a word from the era's greatest protest singer.

For all the small revelations (it turns out he's been a big fan of Barry Goldwater, Mickey Rourke, and Ice-T), 聽there are eye-opening disclosures, including his confession that a 聽large portion of his recorded output was designed to alienate his 聽audience and free him from the burden of being a "the voice of a 聽generation."

Off the beaten path as it is, Chronicles is nevertheless an astonishing achievement. As revelatory in its own way 聽as Blonde on Blonde or Highway 61 Revisited, it provides ephemeral 聽insights into the mind one of the most significant artistic voices of 聽the 20th century while creating a completely new set of mysteries. --Steven Stolder --This text refers to the 聽 聽 聽Hardcover edition.