The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs

Truthdig posted my review of Greil Marcus's The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs today. It was my good fortune to attend a book event last week at Pegasus, where I met the author for the first time. I also picked up the poster--actually, four copies, three of which I'll send to the book's editor, Steve Wasserman, at Yale University Press. This book was Steve's first acquisition there, and I'm glad it's getting a great reception.

Victoria Beckham Rocking the Dead T-shirt at LAX

Happily, the accompanying article explained everything: "The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California, who were best known for their unique and eclectic style."

Next line, perhaps, of this hot scoop: "Located 35 miles south of San Francisco and 14 miles north of San Jose, Palo Alto is a community of approximately 63,000 residents."

On second thought, I'm for whatever it takes to teach a little history. If it's a Spice Girl T-shirt, so be it.

The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994.

The Eagle Has (Almost) Landed

The advance reading copies for the book arrived this week. St. Martin's Press moved up the publication date to January, and I'm still collecting blurbs and photo permissions. But we're getting close.

In other news, I've organized a related class for UC Berkeley's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). It will meet once a week for six weeks starting Wednesday, October 1. Nick Meriwether, Rosie McGee, Blair Jackson, and David Gans have already agreed to share their wisdom on all things Dead. If this class isn't fun, we're not doing it right. More information at www.olli.berkeley.edu.