So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead

This very well-told history of the San Francisco-based band the Grateful Dead, which formed 50 years ago, contains new interviews, including with the living members of the group and some of their earliest fans and associates. This adds a freshness to the narrative. Rolling Stone and Men's Journal contributing editor Browne (Fire and Rain) is to be commended for telling the Dead's story completely and not just focusing on the band's glory years of 1969– 74 (or 1977, depending on whom you ask), as so many books on the Dead seem to do. Because of this, readers will realize just how dysfunctional the interpersonal relationships among the members grew to be. Surprisingly, except for very late in the group's career, this seemed rarely to affect the music. Browne also demonstrates that the Dead were much more in tune with their times—even the 1980s and 1990s—than is normally assumed.