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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Interesting but ultimately unsatisfying oral biography of Garcia. It rather assumes a wider knowledge of his music as this is only covered in the most tangential of ways.
As such, there's no context to underpin the tale being told by those who knew him, or to get a sense of why he was so loved. As it is, why he was so loved will leave the less-interested reader somewhat bemused.
As such, there's no context to underpin the tale being told by those who knew him, or to get a sense of why he was so loved. As it is, why he was so loved will leave the less-interested reader somewhat bemused.
What a wonderful way to learn about Jerry Garcia's life! The interview transcripts were clipped and organized nicely to give an intimate look at the development of his musical career and personal flaws. As well-done as this oral biography is, it would have been better to have more voices from the other band members, since it's clear that they were a really insular group (for better or worse).
The content of this book was good, but the format frustrated me about 15 percent of the way in. It reads like a transcript of a documentary but without narration and segues. So without faces and voices to accompany these friends of Jerry's as they tell their stories, that got old real fast. Die-hard fans would appreciate it more, regardless of the format.
I found the format of this book hard to read at first, since it is comprised of blocks of text from separate interviews without any transition. But after you get going the stories begin to weave together and it becomes a very mesmerizing, although at times hard to stomach, account of Jerry Garcia's life.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use
Apparently an "Oral Biography" is a collection of interview snippets, where the "author" has put them into more or less chronological order. In some ways, it feels like a cheap way to get out a book with a minimal amount of work by the author. On the other hand, if the subject is interesting, or the people who are doing the talking are interesting, then it can be enjoyable. And this book basically was.
To answer the old question about who, of anyone, I would like to be able to meet and have dinner with, I would for years have answered Jerry Garcia. This book hasn't changed my mind on that, but it probably changed my expectations a little. It would be hard for me to say how deep an influence he has been on me, how much I admired him (and still do), and how mad it made me when he died.
When Pigpen was sick, there was an interview with Garcia where he basically said that Pigpen had been given an opportunity. He was now in a situation where he could chose to live or die, and Garcia believed that he would chose life. Of course, he was wrong about that. Even worse, nothing could be clearer than that Garcia was put into the same situation himself, with the same end. It was always hard for me to accept that, on some level, Garcia chose death.
As for the book, I would have liked it more if the band had contributed to it, and others who are notoriously absent from the list of "voices." I would have liked it a lot more if it had focused on the music, the song-writing, etc... Instead, it tends to focus, like so many rock bios, on the drugs and the gossip. The band members have basically small cameos in this view of his life, and that makes me think that this is a pretty limited, and probably distorted view.
And yet, there is quite a bit about this book that I liked. Because of the format, we get a kaleidoscopic and sometimes contradictory view of events. This can be annoying, but it also adds a kind of depth. It also allows for some very fun, and some very sad, stories.
The big revelation for me here was Merl Saunders, who I like the best of all of the "voices." He's another guy I would like to get to know, and I loved his accounts both of his time in the early 70s playing with Garcia, and then later of the time he spent with Garcia after the coma.
I will leave it at that. Garcia is a subject that I could talk about forever and still not get to the bottom of how I feel about him. I'm glad I read this book, despite its manifest flaws.
To answer the old question about who, of anyone, I would like to be able to meet and have dinner with, I would for years have answered Jerry Garcia. This book hasn't changed my mind on that, but it probably changed my expectations a little. It would be hard for me to say how deep an influence he has been on me, how much I admired him (and still do), and how mad it made me when he died.
When Pigpen was sick, there was an interview with Garcia where he basically said that Pigpen had been given an opportunity. He was now in a situation where he could chose to live or die, and Garcia believed that he would chose life. Of course, he was wrong about that. Even worse, nothing could be clearer than that Garcia was put into the same situation himself, with the same end. It was always hard for me to accept that, on some level, Garcia chose death.
As for the book, I would have liked it more if the band had contributed to it, and others who are notoriously absent from the list of "voices." I would have liked it a lot more if it had focused on the music, the song-writing, etc... Instead, it tends to focus, like so many rock bios, on the drugs and the gossip. The band members have basically small cameos in this view of his life, and that makes me think that this is a pretty limited, and probably distorted view.
And yet, there is quite a bit about this book that I liked. Because of the format, we get a kaleidoscopic and sometimes contradictory view of events. This can be annoying, but it also adds a kind of depth. It also allows for some very fun, and some very sad, stories.
The big revelation for me here was Merl Saunders, who I like the best of all of the "voices." He's another guy I would like to get to know, and I loved his accounts both of his time in the early 70s playing with Garcia, and then later of the time he spent with Garcia after the coma.
I will leave it at that. Garcia is a subject that I could talk about forever and still not get to the bottom of how I feel about him. I'm glad I read this book, despite its manifest flaws.