For fifty years and more than two thousand shows, the Grateful Dead have been earning the "deadication" of more than a million fans. Along the way, Deadheads have built an original and authentic American subculture, with vivid jargon and rich love, and its own legends, myths, and spirituality.
Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads is the first map of what Jerry Garcia calls "the Grateful Dead outback," as seen through the eyes of the faithful, friends, and family, including Bill Walton, Elvis Costello, Tipper Gore, Al Franken, Bob Bralove, Dick Latvala, Blair Jackson, David Gans, Bruce Hornsby, Rob Wasserman, and Robert Hunter. Skeleton Key puts you on the Merry Pranksters' bus behind the real Cowboy Neal, uncovers the origins of Cherry Garcia, follows the dancing bear on its trip from psychedelic artifact to trademarked icon, and unlocks the Dead's own tape vault.
Informative reading for the new fan or the most grizzled "tourhead," Skeleton Key shines throughout with Deadheads' own stories, wit, insiders' knowledge, sincere appreciation of the music of the "band beyond description," and the diverse and soulful culture it inspires.
Hey Now, WebHeads! Welcome to the Skeleton Zone.Some of the Nice Things Folks Have Been Saying About Skeleton Key: "A modern day Joycean epiphany...colorful, witty and persuasive...One can't help but be lulled into the feeling that if you're not a Deadhead, you're missing out on a good time."
--Bob Kelly,
Wired "Replete with a healthy sense of humor and an obvious love for its subject...the mix of concrete and the absurd reminds you of the Dead's music itself."
--Steve Futterman,
Rolling Stone "This indispensable guide to all things Grateful Dead-related is the only dictionary you can laugh your way straight -- or not so straight -- through from beginning to end."
--Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons" and
Life in Hell "One of America's great underrated wonders, the Grateful Dead reflect everything that is glorious, tawdry, and strange about this land of ours.
Skeleton Key is an elegantly written, one-size-fits-all passport to Deadhead culture's rich, weird pageantry."
--Richard Gehr,
Village Voice "A patchwork portrait of the Grateful Dead aesthetic....This gold mine of history and commentary will appeal to even the most seasoned Deadheads."
--Al Kemp,
Wilmington News Journal "An informative and pleasurable read for any neophyte fan...[and] a must for the Dead freak who can't get enough."
--Brett Pauly,
Los Angeles Daily News "Indispensable...captures the essence of the Grateful Dead experience, both enriching it for experienced Deadheads and explaining it for 'newbies.'"
--Gersh Kuntzman,
New York Post "Loaded with more jargon, humorous slang terms, anecdotes and minutiae than you can shake a kind veggie burrito at! ...this book is way entertaining."
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Terrapin Times "The Key to understanding our subculture...truly the Rosetta Stone of the Deadhead scene."
--Mike Maynard,
Unbroken Chain "Not just the best book at what it does, it is the only book that does what it does.... This book has left trails of multi hued memories alive and kickin' in my head.... Even the PICKIEST PICKY DEADHEADS will approve of
Skeleton Key....
Skeleton Key not only passes the acid test, it defines it."
--Blair Jackson on "Skeleton Key"
from the '94 Year in Review feature in
Dupree's Diamond News #30, Winter '94
