The Chronicle was kind enough to get Chris Willman, a music writer of national stature, to review our book! Aside from a couple of VERY minor quibbles about one paragraph (this is Blair’s fifth GD book, not his third, etc.), this is about as good as we could ever have asked for!
If form should occasionally follow function, you could hardly ask for a more ideal configuration for a retelling of the Grateful Dead’s story than an oral history, which is, after all, the jam band of biographical formats. (With apologies to any fans who find the J-word patronizing.) It’s a veritable “Dark Star” about a group of … well, at least occasionally dark stars.
“This Is All a Dream” does not shrink from the nightmare side of the band, concentrated in the early ’90s, culminating in a “tour from hell” that shortly preceded Jerry Garcia’s death. But what stands out is how long the better part of the dream effectively lasted, with 25 good years out of a three-decade existence being a not-bad run of luck for a group that was officially rudderless.
Please read the whole review here!