Skeleton Key [Paperback]

David Shenk (Author), Stephen L Silberman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1994

Steve Silberman's tribute to Jerry Garcia, 1942-1995

        Skeleton Key:  A Dictionary for Deadheads is 400 pages of lore, history, interviews, and thoughts on the Meaning of It All, from what guitarist Jerry Garcia calls "the Grateful Dead outback" - the diverse global community that is nourished by the music of the Grateful Dead and the shared experience of Dead shows.

        Skeleton Key is a labor of love and "deadication" by Deadheads David Shenk and Steve Silberman, published by Doubleday/Main Street Books in 1994.  Skeleton Key celebrates the magic, humor, and significance of the Deadhead community, while it investigates the history of the Long Strange Trip - from the days of be-bop jazz and the Beat Generation writers whose literary adventures inspired many Deadheads' own on-the-road journeys, to now, when Deadheads swap tapes and tales around the virtual campfires of Deadhead cyberspace.

        1995 marks the 30th year of the Dead's experiment in improvisational telepathy.  Skeleton Key is the first detailed road map of the culture and lifeways of Deadheads, featuring interviews with hundreds of fans and family, including Elvis Costello and Bill Walton, and thoughts on the music and community by people like Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, mythographer Joseph Campbell, and Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans.

        Skeleton Key features a foreword by John Perry Barlow, Dead lyricist and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  The psychedelic lettering on the cover is by Alton Kelley, one of the original San Francisco poster artists, who also designed the covers for the Dead albums American Beauty and Europe '72.  The icon on the cover of Skeleton Key is a 200-year-old Tibetan thangka used for meditation, of skeletons dancing in a cloud of fire, an image of enlightened consciousness awakening even in the midst of death.

        We hope that whether you are a committed Deadhead, or just a curious Websurfer, you'll poke around this site and get a taste of the beauty, joy, humor, and mystery of Deadhead life.  Feel free to pop on a tape and make yourself comfortable as the first notes sing your blues away, and you enter the Skeleton Zone...

A Word from the Authors

Since the publication of Skeleton Key last fall, Steve and I have been overwhelmed and overjoyed by the nice reviews from fellow Deadheads and from the press. To me, the best compliments have been along the lines of, "I can't wait to show this to my Pop - now maybe he'll understand!"  I wanted to help articulate why we all love this music so much, and report to the world about the generous spirit of the community which has formed around it.  If you haven't yet, I hope you'll get a chance to check out the entire book sometime soon.  We'd love to hear what you think.  Drop us a line at [e-mail].


        Howdy folks!  After spending 20 years of my life dancing happily in the Phil Zone at Dead shows, I'm deeply thankful I was given the chance to offer something back to the community which has given me more joy and meaning than any other:  a deep picture of our extended family.  I hope you enjoy it, and you may learn a few things along the way, whether you're an old-time tourhead or a newbie who just got on the bus.  Be well. See you in the Zone!

                                        - Steve

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

dead-icated followers. While many picture a Deadhead as a scruffy youth in a tie-dyed T-shirt who drives a wildly painted bus and follows the Dead from concert to concert, Deadheads form a unique subculture that includes people of all ages and from all walks of life. In attempting to capture a culture that mythologist Joseph Campbell called "the most recently developed tribe on the planet," this book includes album reviews, band member profiles, and Internet addresses. But best of all, it captures the Deadheads' rich jargon-from crispy, the ick, and jonesin to rezzie, spacedancing, the Zone, and many more. Essential for larger public libraries, music collections, and any venue where Deadheads park their bus. [See also Sandy Troy's Captain Trips: A Biography of Jerry Garcia, reviewed on page 79.-Ed.]-Tim LaBorie, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphi.
--Tim LaBorie, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

One of the most long-standing subcultures in America today is that of the Deadheads--the fans and followers (literally) of the perdurable 1960s San Francisco rock band the Grateful Dead. Over the years, an impressive number of cottage industries--including a newsletter, books, magazines, and a thriving trade in audio and video performance tapes--has sprung up to serve this subculture. Now comes the dictionary of the Dead, in which we learn, for example, about "energy balls," a recreational form of glowing energy that "psychedelically sensitized Heads" play with at concerts as more mundane souls might with beach balls. Besides such curious phenomena, the dictionary includes tiny biographies of significant members of the Dead community and technical entries such as one for MIDI (musical instrument digital interface). And that's the beauty of the book; indeed, of the whole Deadhead thing--you're just as likely to be talking advanced electronics and music as to be tossing pure energy back and forth. Not just informative, this book's a great trip. Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books; 1ST edition (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385474024
• ISBN-13: 978-0385474023
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #701,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Shenk is the national bestselling author of five previous books, including THE FORGETTING ("remarkable" - Los Angeles Times), DATA SMOG ("indispensable" - New York Times), and THE IMMORTAL GAME ("superb" - Wall Street Journal). He is a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com, and has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, Gourmet, Harper's, The New Yorker, NPR, and PBS. His new book, THE GENIUS IN ALL OF US, has been called "engrossing" by Booklist (starred review) and "empowering...myth-busting" by Kirkus.

Shenk's work inspired the Emmy-award winning PBS documentary "The Forgetting," and was featured in the Oscar-nominated feature "Away From Her." He has advised the President's Council on Bioethics, and is a popular speaker. His original term "data smog" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2004.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Author's Perspective, January 8, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Skeleton Key (Paperback)

Being one of the book's authors, I can hardly claim a detached perspective (grin), but I did want to say a few words about Skeleton Key so amazon.com readers could get a clearer picture of the book.

Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads is the first in-depth map of the Deadhead subculture, the global community of folks who love the music of the Dead and the experience of Dead shows, and build community with others who feel the same way.

I am very grateful that my co-author and I got to record so much of the humor, lore, depth, and passion of our community before the Grateful Dead ceased to exist. In writing this book, we interviewed hundreds of Heads - at shows and online - and we tried to undo a lot of the shallow stereotyping of Deadheads promulgated by lazy journalists by depicting as broad a spectrum of Heads as possible.

You're welcome to read excerpts from Skeleton Key by following the link from my home page at http://www.levity.com/digaland/

Take care!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars definitive, June 4, 1998

By 

William Kennedy "bulldogdoc" (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skeleton Key (Paperback)

This book is a labor of love from a person who has been immersed in the cultural phenomena known as he "Grateful Dead".

Any person who has attended Grateful Dead "shows" will find that this book tremendously enriches the memories and experiences.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grate Book!, June 12, 2005

By 

Uncle Sam - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skeleton Key (Paperback)

I've had this book since 1995 and my copy is about worn through! I've read it dozens of times from cover-to-cover and still find new and interesting things. Great book for anyone interested in the scene and/or the music!