So Many Roads

The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead

By: David Browne

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

No longer dismissed as relics of the hippie era, a new generation has lionized the Dead for creating a culture that paved the way for social networking, free music swapping, and the uncompromising anticorporate attitude of indie rock. Now, fifty years after the band first began changing rock 'n' roll both sonically and psychically, So Many Roads paints the most vivid portrait yet of the Grateful Dead, one of the most enduring institutions in American music and culture.

©2015 Original Material by David Browne (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A great story told

Very well done. Another perspective of the story that is the Grateful Dead. Well done.

Stands out

There are plenty of books on the Grateful Dead, but for me this one takes you through the growing pains of the band as they grew in popularity, and really does a great job illustrating the battle between darkness and light.

Enjoyable, well written & researched but pretty negative

I loved this book, great story telling and unique anecdotes but it has to be mentioned that the band and especially its followers are often viewed through a very negative lens and not much focus on what made the band special, especially the last decade when they at times were still amazingly good and always true to themselves (for instance the band’s activism and charity was mostly ignored) Likewise the followers have many positive qualities, highly artistic, entrepreneurial people who value community and culture.

Great first book on the Dead

Would you listen to So Many Roads again? Why?

The writing is exceptional and the reader brings life to a interesting topic. I love the Dead and this is my first book on them.

Deadhead

I thought this history brought a little more insight into the inner workings of the band and associated staff.
I heard band member opinions I hadn't heard before and I've read dozens of books on the Dead . I was pleasantly surprised to glean a bit more from this book !

Who, what, when, where, even some why and how

Much more of a fact filled documentary than say, Kreutzman's Deal, This will be of interest only to diehard Deadheads. It was like reading through everyone's combined appointment books, rather removed from the feeling of the experience. Still it filled in some gaps for me.

Interesting Story

Really enjoyed this book, since I have finished the books by Phil and Billy it was good to hear some other sides of the story. As with any family, not everyone saw the world with the same eyes. And since I don't know the inside true stories, it was good to get another perspective. Really enjoyed listening to this book then going and finding the shows they were talking about and listening to them to get the feeling of what the Boys were grooving.

Grateful Perspective

I’ve read several books on The Grateful Dead, and loved them all.
This one had a great, more outside fan point of view than the others written by band members and family. I learned a lot of “fun facts” in this book and it really shows the history of the band, members, and side projects and spin off projects that were created and/or inspired by The Grateful Dead! It goes deep and I found myself saying “who knew” throughout the audible. I also like to listen to the audible, and switch back and forth from a mentioned song or concert in the book! It takes a lot longer ti finish, but makes the experience feel like a personal memory…
So many roads❤️

"It's good to know, you've got shoes to wear when you find the floor, Why hold out for more..."

Very good book! Very Interesting with a different perspective and treatment of the story of the Grateful Dead - very poignant - fare thee well

Excellent and thorough history

If you could sum up So Many Roads in three words, what would they be?

An interesting apporach

What other book might you compare So Many Roads to and why?

Almost any rock biography

What about Sean Runnette’s performance did you like?

Clear without being dry.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A strange trip deconstructed.

Any additional comments?

A nice, comprehensive band bio that doesn't shy away from some of the darker stuff. Basing each chapter around a specific show/date adds just enough variety to keep it from being the "same old, same old" band bio. Good stuff for fans and newcomers alike.