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Title: Sorry, this one doesn't cut it
Review: As an overview of the career of Garcia and the Dead this book pretty much gives it all, and that's about it. There is no real insight into the character of the man. What were his demons? What drove such a creative and clearly intelligent man to such self destruction? He was one of the most talented musicians of his generation, and his work was uniquely American in a way few if any others could match. The title implies that this will be explored in the book, but for the most part it is not. If you are familiar with the Dead, there is really nothing new here. Good as a reference book, but not for anything else.Blair is clearly unwilling to tell some uncomfortable truths (he claims the death of Brent Mydland was not a suicide, yet Jerry all but said it was in a 1991 Rolling Stone interview, and the circumstances certainly point that direction as well). I think the author is, in the end, too much of an insider to give a balanced and truly honest telling of this story.
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