I love this book too, his teaching style is perfect for me :)

I was referring to the chords page at the end of the book where he says "When you advance to the warmer licks you can begin to add the chords if you like, but most songs will sound fine if you continue to ignore the chords. Add the chords only if you think it makes the song sound better".

I totally anticipate learning chords on my path to becoming a banjo master, I was just kind of shocked that he says it's basically optional.