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Bob Dylan to release essay collection

Bob Dylan is releasing a book credit:Bang Showbiz
Bob Dylan is releasing a book credit:Bang Showbiz

Bob Dylan is to release a collection of over 60 essays.

The 80-year-old singer began working on 'The Philosophy Of Modern Song' - which will be released on 8 November - back in 2010 and the book will feature the 'Like A Rolling Stone' hitmaker's musings on music by other artists, including Elvis Costello, Hank Williams, and Nina Simone.

An announcement for the book promised the tome will constitute "a master class on the art and craft of songwriting".

It added: "[Dylan] analyses what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal.

"While [the essays] are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition."

Publishers Simon Schuster believes the book "could only have been written" by Dylan.

President and CEO Jonathan Karp said in a statement: “The publication of Bob Dylan’s kaleidoscopically brilliant work will be an international celebration of songs by one of the greatest artists of our time.

“’The Philosophy of Modern Song’ could only have been written by Bob Dylan. His voice is unique, and his work conveys his deep appreciation and understanding of songs, the people who bring those songs to life, and what songs mean to all of us.”

An audiobook will also be released, with the 'Ballad of a Thin Man' singer reading some essays and "a mix of other voices" doing the rest of the narration.

Dylan signed a six-book deal with Simon Schuster in 2011.

After winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016, his acceptance speech was published as 'The Nobel Lecture'.

His autobiography, 'Chronicles: Volume One', came out in 2004.