
While there’s been no shortage of writing devoted to the Grateful Dead and its various subcultures, I don’t think there’s been one book that goes as deep as Jesse Jarnow’s new, completely marvelous Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America. I’d say it’s the best Dead tome ever written, but the Dead are only part of the overall picture. The narrative is nothing if not ambitious. Jarnow’s compelling, decade-spanning tapestry weaves in a diverse array of acid-soaked characters: mad LSD scientists, Central Park graffiti artists, intrepid concert tapers, Silicon Valley pioneers, wheelers, dealers, stealers and many, many more.
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Here here! Just finished, and it was fantastic.
So far, this is a refreshing examination of the psychedelic american zeitgeist. Loving it!
What a mind blowing read! I felt a bit more hip with the turning of each page. Jarnow’s prose was just as heady and electric as the characters within. Great book jacket design too; I licked the cover at one point but, unfortunately, nothing seemed to happened.
Please more book suggestions AD, thanks!