A Rolling Stone's gathered memories

It is 3 p.m. in the New York office of Keith Richards's manager. Mr. Richards has a 3 o'clock appointment. "Come on in, he'll be here in a minute," an assistant says ' and here he comes in a minute, at 3:01. This from a man who once prided himself for operating on Keith Time, as in: the security staff ate the shepherd's pie that Keith wanted in his dressing room? The Rolling Stones don't play until another shepherd's pie shows up.

Chalk up the promptness to the man's new incarnation: he is now the distinguished author of "Life," a big, fierce account of the Stones' nearly half-century-long adventure.

"It's the most difficult thing I've ever done," he says about the book. "I'd rather make 10 records."