In what must surely be an unprecedented move Bob Dylan has posted a message on his official website about his concerts in China in April. From the Washington Post to Rolling Stone, the message, or perhaps just the act of him posting such a message, has been widely reported, and speculated about.

Perhaps Bob has uncharacteristically been stung by some of the comments made criticising his alleged “sellout”, such as Maureen Dowd in the New York Times who tremendously simplistically stated that Dylan “sang his censored set, took his pile of Communist cash and left.” Dylan denies any interference by the authorities with his planned setlist, which makes my point made in an earlier news item about Bob outsmarting any Chinese government censorship even more telling. Perhaps the last sentence of the statement is one of the most interesting parts of the post – just what is Dylan saying about the “gazillion books” about him?