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Rating: 
Summary: An above average biography
Review: For anyone who has been to a Grateful Dead show, the phrase, "there's nothing quite like a Dead concert" was as much a truism as "chances are pretty good that the sun will in fact rise tomorrow." Jackson's biography of the band leader (as this book makes clear, Jerry Garcia was the leader of the Group, as he was the leader of all of his side projects) explains clearly and insightfully the tremendous amount of energy that was put into their shows to ensure the uniqueness of each concert. Jackson also describes (but can't really explain) the almost bipolar nature of Jerry Garcia's personal life that led him to a life of drug abuse and heartless infidelity while at the same time being very lucid about his ideals. He was always clear about what he saw the band doing but was unable to envision a happy life for himself. The historical references are often interesting but there is an exhaustive discussion of his funeral at the end of the book and there's a lot of gossip that perhaps could have been deleted. I suppose there are people that like that kind of stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: If my words could glow.....
Review: It turns out that writing books about The Grateful Dead is a lot like writing books about the Beatles; highly speculative, frequently pointless and ultimately frustrating, unless you're somebody like Ken Kesey or Ed McClanahan, writers who were there with the Dead from the start and speak the language. That said, Blair Jackson gets as close as anyone totally caught in the Dead's warp can to writing a definitive book on Garcia. Jackson's Deadhead banter sometimes gets in the way of, you know, communicating about why the rest of us should consider Jerry Garcia one of the greats. Mind you, I think he is, but the proof is ultimately in listening to one of the Dead's many live albums (and some of the studio ones as well) or Garcia's other records and HEARING why, not reading much of what's here. What IS worth the time is the extensive discography Jackson has at the end, which is a reliable signpost for what a non-Deadhead fan or a Dead newbie might find worth the time and money. In sum, a good book for Deadheads or Dead admirers, not so great if you don't know what the fuss is/was about...but want to.
Rating:
Summary: An above average biography
Review: Recycled from when I was just a"reader":
For anyone who has been to a Grateful Dead show, the phrase, "there's nothing quite like a Dead concert" was as much a truism as "chances are pretty good that the sun will in fact rise tomorrow." Jackson's biography of the band leader (as this book makes clear, Jerry Garcia was the leader of the Group, as he was the leader of all of his side projects) explains clearly and insightfully the tremendous amount of energy that was put into their shows to ensure the uniqueness of each concert. Jackson also describes (but can't really explain) the almost bipolar nature of Jerry Garcia's personal life that led him to a life of drug abuse and heartless infidelity while at the same time being very lucid about his ideals. He was always clear about what he saw the band doing but was unable to envision a happy life for himself. The historical references are often interesting but there is an exhaustive discussion of his funeral at the end of the book and there's a lot of gossip that perhaps could have been deleted. I suppose there are people that like that kind of stuff.
Rating:
Summary: The one True American Band
Review: The Dead were Garcia and Garcia was The Dead. They are inseparatable. Jackson's book digs deeper into Garcia's life and that of the band than any other book on the same topic. Reaction to the dead was binary -- you either loved them or you hated them. This book is clearly for the former. The latter won't care and won't get it. We all still miss Jerry and The Dead. Jackson has forged an earnest and winning attempt so that we can remember him, and them outside their music -- which will live forever.
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