Summary and Reviews

SUMMARY

"The Storyteller Speaks" is a collection of literary short stories inspired by the Grateful Dead. Authors include Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, original Merry Prankster George Walker, and Ken Kesey's colleague from the Stanford Writing Program, Ed McClanahan. Also featured are up-and-coming writers like Vincent Carella, Stephen Jones, and Mitch Myers. Every writing genre imaginable is represented: sci-fi, horror, western, noir, time travel, folk, mythology, picaresque, family, and romance—just to name a few.

REVIEWS

Illustrates the ways we use the Grateful Dead as a shared point of reference to talk about our worlds and our lives.

—Cynthia J. Miller, Scholar-in-Residence, Emerson College and President Literature Film Association

A true reflection of that patchouli-scented era of wandering American mystics and self-styled freaks.

—Christopher J. Oglesby, Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air: Legends of West Texas Music and Editor: www.virtualubbock.com

It turns out that it wasn’t only the musicians who were inspired by the phenomenon of the Grateful Dead. In this incredible pile of stories are flesh-eating zombie Jerrys, the brilliantly resurrected ghost of Neal Cassady, skeletons, drugs, life on tour, initiations, archetypal Grateful Dead folk tales, the supernatural, the science-fictional, time travel and magic, lots of magic. Not to be missed.

—Dennis McNally, author of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead

After reading the wonderful collection, you may never think of the Grateful Dead in the same way again.

—Barry Barnes, Professor and Chair of Leadership, Huizenga School, Nova Southeastern University. Management Lessons from the Dead (forthcoming)

A collection that will appeal to discerning readers, Deadhead or otherwise.

—Dr. Robert Peaslee, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronic Media and Communications, Texas Tech University

Shows both the humanity and surrealism that emerged from that music, those places, and those times.

—Steve Gimbel, Chair, Department of Philosophy, Gettysburg College, blog: Philosophers' Playground

You can’t imagine how many ways the Dead have become the Undead—unless you read this book. What an array of material!

—John Shelton Lawrence, The Myth of the American Superhero, and The Crusade against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism

A remarkable addition to the Grateful Dead canon. A unique literary collection.

—Ken Dvorak, PhD, Southwest Texas PCA/ACA

This collection probes the infinite dimensions of happenstance, character and incident that the Dead's body of work touched upon and hinted at. It's a fitting tribute to a band that continues to reveal its mysteries long after many of the original players have packed up and gone.

—Christian Crumlish, Enterzone, Kind Veggie T-Shirt, Designing Social Interfaces

A wild, rip-roaring amusement park of stories. The Twilight Zone meets the

Outer Limits in Dead Land.

—The Starburst Commander, aka Bob Drobatz, author, Confessions of a Dead Head

The Storyteller Speaks pays tribute to the band by staying true to the realities of their own imaginations. Their love for the Dead mystery makes every tale assembled here its own window on the tie-dyed light.

—Steve Silberman, A Dictionary for Deadheads

I'll advise you to engage this anthology the same way you engage Grateful Dead music: open your mind, expect the unexpected, and prepare to be both entertained and enlightened.

—David Gans, author, musician, producer: The Grateful Dead Hour