A follow-up to Chronicles by Bob Dylan may be in the works, and fans are sharing their hopes for the book.
Sean Penn, who provided his voice for the audiobook of the first Chronicles entry, suggested a second instalment is on the way during an interview with Louis Theroux. Whether the book is set to release anytime soon is not known, and no official announcement has been made. Despite this, fans are excited for what may be Chronicles: Volume II, and say the book should focus on new parts of Dylan’s career. A post to the r/BobDylan subreddit saw excited fans share their thoughts on what should be included in the alleged follow-up, including more recent periods in Dylan’s decades-spanning career.
While fans are thrilled at the seemingly accidental announcement of Chronicles: Volume II, they are not expecting much “truth” to make it into the book. Dylan’s first entry into the Chronicles series is littered with falsehoods, clashes with history, and a novelistic approach. One fan excited for the follow-up book wrote: “With Sean Penn perhaps leaking a finished Chronicles follow-up, what era or time of Bob’s life would you like to hear him write about?
“Obviously knowing Dylan’s use of ‘The Truth’ in his writing, looking at this book for the inner workings of his life isn’t the best way to approach it. Personally I would like to hear him talk about playing with The Band, recording The Basement Tapes and Planet Waves. With the recent passing of Robbie and Garth, I think some fun stories would be nice.
“I would definitely love to hear him talk about Covid times and how that impacted his writing and recording Rough and Rowdy Ways. Hopefully, there’s a Blake Mills acknowledgement somewhere.”
Other fans have since shared their hopes for the book, with many hoping Time Out of Mind features. One user wrote: “The story leading up to Time Out of Mind would be interesting, perhaps including the Good As I’ve Been to You and World Gone Wrong years. How Bob got his groove back.”
Another added: “1995, Jerry Garcia’s death to 1997, Time Out of Mind and his own heart infection scare.” Others believe it is unlikely Dylan will write about going electric or the Newport Folk Festival, given the recent Timothée Chalamet-starring biopic, A Complete Unknown.
One user wrote: “I think with the movie and how Dylan was a consultant for it, I think perhaps Dylan has said his peace with that era but I would like to hear about some of the sessions, maybe when he started recording Blonde On Blonde in New York with the band and how he wasn’t satisfied with the sound? Could be interesting.”
Dylan has hinted at what could appear in a second version of Chronicles, confirming certain parts of his life had already been written up for future volumes. He said at the time: “It would definitely start with records.
“I stumbled into a strategy of going into the future and into the past … The whole early part of the first Chronicles was supposed to be based on some old record – maybe Another Side of Bob Dylan… someplace in the 1960s. I was going to use that [record] and then I could go into the future.
“Well, what happened was that I … kind of just stayed there, and didn’t really go into the future. When I started writing about the early days in New York, I found it all extremely interesting. When you start doing that, it amazes you what you uncover without even trying.”
