The Reviews

This book is total immersion into the Grateful Dead tour scene in the late 80s and early 90s. This book works best if you have experienced a Dead lot after a show or ever needed a “Miracle Ticket” yourself. At first, the writing will seem concise and without adequate details to describe the colors and characters of the scene, but stick with the book and you will enter into a complex world that is not made of sunshine and rainbows. From the honest and authentic viewpoint of Hollie Rose’s tour journals, the tough world of Dead tour is brought to life. It is a hard look at what it means to live idealistically and have your dreams dashed when you or your friends are busted. Get ready for lots of “fatty circles”, some set lists, and the real-world of busses and breakdowns on the road. I gave this book 5-stars because, honestly…I have never been transported so vividly back to tour.

Good read for anyone who saw the dead more than a couple of times

Just read it in couple of days. Very good read. Brought back many memories. I wasn’t a tour head per say. But saw many 10 to 12 show runs from 79 to 95. Knew many family even if I didn’t have a gold card lol. Thanks for sharing this. It is very real with you presentation!!! You might deny it but you are a writer. Peace and love. As an aside, I thought the dude you met in Philly was a friend of mine long gone till you said he was a scalper. Still flooded me with good thoughts of my friend. Thanks again

Excellent read!

This book took me right back to the middle of a whirling, twirling sea of love. If you were there it will bring back all the memories. If you weren’t there it will give you a glimpse of what you missed.
I can smell the patchouli and green bud on every page. Tighten up your shoes and hang on the bus is ready to go.

What a long strange trip it was……

I opened Hollie’s book earlier this week and just finished. It was so hard to walk away from. What an amazing document of those years being a tourhead following the grateful dead. My years were so different on the road following the dead 78-84 but also SO much the same. I’m glad the biggest difference was we didnt have the DEA on our tails since we were a much smaller group and we felt invisible a lot of the time. I wish I had kept a diary too. Well worth picking up this historic piece if you were there, would love to have been old enough to have been there, or are just curious about the entire scene following the Grateful Dead. AIKO

A must read Deadheads of any age as well as anyone interested in this amazing social phenomenon.

This is a gripping account of what it was like being on Dead Tour in the mid and late 80’s and early 90’s through your eyes. I was especially moved by your writings toward the end of the book weighing the darkness against the light as well as what the path to take should be after life on tour. The end of the book gripped me . It took me 3 weeks to finish the first 250 pages and one morning to finish the last 150 pages .This is a great trip to the past for those of us who were there and perhaps more importantly an honest look for those folks that didn’t get the chance to experience this life .
Thank you for sharing your world with us Holly.

Good Read

Well written description of the ups and downs of GD tour and life

On the Road with Hollie Rose and the Grateful Dead…

Think the Grateful Dead are all about the Summer of Love and hippie dreams? The journals of Hollie Rose reveal the whole story of life on tour with the Dead, written in the first person, as it happened without the 20/20 benefit of hindsight.

The ups (“We talked – Real talk. Telling each other the stories of our hearts.”) and downs (“I hate that we have to be so paranoid about the way we live. We don’t hurt anyone. Yet we live like we have to be scared.”). The highs (“High above the lot all the music melted together and became a whole new Dead tune.”) and lows (“Carp’s lawyer says – plead guilty and get 12 years, or plead not guilty and maybe beat it, or get as much as 148 years. Hell of a choice.”). Listening to your heart and chasing the music you love are revealed in all their glory and heartache.

It’s the Deadhead version of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. “The only people that interest me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing.. but burn, burn, burn like roman candles across the night.”

If you were there you know. If you weren’t – read and find out.

It is a journal but worth the read

I’m halfway through the journal and am enjoying the read. The day to day stuff is what makes it interesting to me because it feels like I’m experiencing the journey. The more I read, the more I appreciate the journal style because it’s such an accurate account of experiences and emotions as they actually happened. I can honestly say that I had no clue what a Deadhead really was until reading this and look forward to the end of the day when I jump back in and see what’s happening in the past world of music, friendships, struggles and, of course, highs.

Reading a stranger’s journal….

Not sure how to review this book, it is basically a typed and printed journal by a stranger, talking about friends and events I had no part of. I had expected a bit more prose and stories based on journal entries, so the to-me uninteresting parts of day to day life (car problems, can’t find a ticket, food, smoked this with that person, so and so got busted etc) make for a slow read. I’ve never been on tour, if you were, this might be more entertaining and trigger own old memories of such problems and how you overcame them, so might be more entertaining then and if you know/knew the author I bet it’s a fun read. Just not what I expected and the description did not really make it clear that it’s really a copy of a journal.

I doubt I’ll ever read the whole thing, but will occasionally poke around and read a bit here and there, had I known more about the contents I’d not have ordered the book. But I might not have been the intended audience either, so giving it 4 starts for effort that must have gone into typing and editing. YMMV

The true story of life on the road with the Grateful Dead.

A spellbinding journey through the magic of music, family, perseverance and a country at war with its citizens. This book is so strangely honest that it feels like you are on the road with the author. If you were there, you know what she is telling us. If you weren’t, then this is the definitive diary of the Dead tour life – warts and all! A must read for students of modern American culture.

This book is more than it seems. The universal themes are many, namely betrayal. But it’s also a love story, to Jack, to Fritz, to all of us. For me, Hollie especially captured the internal struggle that gradually grew, the examination of dissatisfaction where there once had been nothing but joy, the rethinking of our connections and Deadication, the mournful decision to step away, create distance, despite the eternal flame within. So many emotions arose; I relived so much. Tears were shed at the end. That signifies good work. You struck my chords, Hollie A. Rose. I hope this book resonates as strongly with those who weren’t there, never visited, or can’t fathom. It is a labor of love.

I loved Hollie’s journals so much because they brought back so many forgotten memories of the late 80s/early 90s. The emotions I felt as I read the book were all over the place – joy, happiness, laughter, and such deep sadness for what we lost when we lost Jerry Garcia. It reminds me of how much gratitude I have that we experienced what we did on tour for those years. I couldn’t put the book down and was so sad when I finished it.