How hell-raising Rolling Stone Keith Richards wanted to become a librarian



Book Habit: Rolling Stones guitarist is an avid reader



When it comes to living a life of excess, he virtually wrote the rulebook.



But fans eager to hear about Keith Richard's debaucherous tales of sex, drugs and rock n roll in his upcoming autobiography may be a little disappointed.



It appears that the guitarist has made a rather startling confession: He is in fact an avid bookworm who has taken great pride in developing libraries inside his homes in Sussex and Connecticut.



Sources in the publishing world who are familiar with the contents of his memoirs, claim he admits to once considering 'professional training' to manage his vast collection of books.



The 66-year-old is said to have started painstakingly arranging copies of rare books about the history of early American rock and the Second World War using libraries standard Dewey Decimal classification system.



Despite apparently giving up on the idea because it was 'too much hassle', he still takes pride in displaying his favourite books by the bedside for guests who visit Redlands, his Elizabethan farmhouse in West Sussex and his property in Weston, Connecticut.



He is also said to enthusiastically lend volumes of Bernard Cornwell and Len Deighton novels to friends, according the The Times.



In his autobiography, which is due out in October, Richards it is claimed that he will talk about how he developed a love of reading whilst growing up in the suburbs of London following the Second World War and before discovering music.



He once said: 'When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equaliser.'



Rock god: Richards on stage with Rolling Stones members Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger



It is not quite what fans expected to hear ahead of publication of his autobiography and from a man who has spent almost five decades on the road with one of the most hedonistic bands in music history.



He reportedly received an advance of £4.8million from publishers Little Brown in the hope that he would open up about his most infamous moments, including his numerous drug busts and an incident when he underwent brain surgery after he fell out of a coconut tree.



He also once claimed to have snorted his father's ashes along with a line a cocaine.



The Rolling Stone has also revealed he was finding it 'very difficult' to remember things for the book.



In an interview, Richards said he was working on the project with friend and writer James Fox. But he said: 'I’m trying to remember things, which is very difficult.'

