The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music (Expanded: ...Because There's More to the Story)

by Dave Grohl Narrated by Dave Grohl

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

This book may have never happened if the pandemic didn't force everyone indoors and into isolation for several months. Dave Grohl, the twice-inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member for his work with Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, decided to tell stories about his life and music on social media. From there, the stories on social media began to coalesce into a whole which made a book possible. He has lived through and seen a lot, so these tales run the gamut from the halcyon Nirvana days, up to the present as a Foo Fighter. Clearly, this is a great fan book but it's also an amazing look at the grunge movement and the rock scene from the 80s and beyond.

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller * Named one of Variety's Best Music Books of 2021 * Included in Audible's Best of The Year list * A Business Insider Best Memoirs of 2021 * One of NME's Best Music Books of 2021 * 2 Million Copies Sold Worldwide

The Remastered Edition...Because There's Always More to the Story

Dave Grohl's The Storyteller created a sensation when it was initially published, becoming a global bestseller and thrilling fans and critics alike. Readers came to the book for Dave's heartfelt voice, his love of family and music, and the energy that pours from every page.

Dave's is an extraordinary life made of up ordinary moments, and he tells stories just like he writes songs-from his soul. Whether recounting his time as kid in Toughskins in the Virginia suburbs, as a skinny teenager drumming his heart out for punk band Scream, living through the explosion and implosion of Nirvana, or hustling all the way around the world to escort his daughters to the Father/Daughter dance (only to be ignored as soon as his girls found their friends) The Storyteller is just like its author, as real as it gets.

To show his appreciation for his fans, and to celebrate his love of writing, this edition offers a wide variety of extra content, including:

• An essay on how Dave approaches creativity (Here's a hint: you don't have to think outside of the box. Just ignore it.)
• A series of prompts to jump start your creativity
• The story of when Dave first met Paul McCartney
• A collection of Dave's curated playlists, giving a glimpse into some of the music he loves

The Storyteller has challenged what a music memoir can be. With this edition, the legacy continues.

Editorial Reviews

Audible (Best of the Year list)

Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, demonstrates the good-naturedness he's known for in this heartfelt standout that explores everything from the loss of Kurt Cobain to the road to fatherhood.” 

Consequence of Sound

He may be a slight musical genius, but Grohl’s journey from modest, punk-obsessed troublemaker, to drumming in the most popular band of the decade, to launching an enduring solo career that puts his rock and roll ethos at its center, is a truly inspiring tale.” 

Pittsburg Post-Gazette

The title “The Storyteller” fits perfectly. The book is filled with plainspoken, conversational prose that ably pulls readers into each tale, no matter how linear or digressive. The pages fly by, the memoir having the feel of a series of chats over drinks with a friend who just happens to have worked with nearly every notable mainstream and indie-rock musician of the last few decades.” 

Booklist

Kinetic… Grohl writes with equal fervor about his path from “that guy from Nirvana” to the leader of the uberfamous Foo Fighters and his parenting experiences. An exciting read for fans and a remarkable perspective on the last 30 years of rock music.

Rolling Stone

As Grohl himself sees it, he’s a McCartney, not a Lennon, and if he’s filling the world with silly love songs, the object of his affection tends to be existence itself.

Parade

Both a timestamp of the past and a living example of what can be accomplished through creation. Lovers of chronicled melodic adventures and those seeking artistic inspiration will want to check it out.” 

Booklist

Kinetic… Grohl writes with equal fervor about his path from “that guy from Nirvana” to the leader of the uberfamous Foo Fighters and his parenting experiences. An exciting read for fans and a remarkable perspective on the last 30 years of rock music.

CNN

"Candid, humble and full of stories about big-time stars…music lovers will want to put this one in heavy rotation."

Forbes

… the world benefits just as much from hearing his inspiring stories told as only one of rock's great stadium rockers turned storyteller can tell them.” 

Billboard

The message that burns through “The Storyteller” is to those who watch him onstage now: Deep down, I’m just like you. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I obsessed over the same music you do. I’m a fan.” 

From the Publisher

"Candid, humble and full of stories about big-time stars…music lovers will want to put this one in heavy rotation." — CNN

“As Grohl himself sees it, he’s a McCartney, not a Lennon, and if he’s filling the world with silly love songs, the object of his affection tends to be existence itself.” — Rolling Stone

“The message that burns through The Storyteller is to those who watch him onstage now: Deep down, I’m just like you. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I obsessed over the same music you do. I’m a fan.”  — Billboard

“Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, demonstrates the good-naturedness he's known for in this heartfelt standout that explores everything from the loss of Kurt Cobain to the road to fatherhood.”  — Audible (Best of the Year list)

“Both a timestamp of the past and a living example of what can be accomplished through creation. Lovers of chronicled melodic adventures and those seeking artistic inspiration will want to check it out.”  — Parade

“… the world benefits just as much from hearing his inspiring stories told as only one of rock's great stadium rockers turned storyteller can tell them.”  — Forbes

“He may be a slight musical genius, but Grohl’s journey from modest, punk-obsessed troublemaker, to drumming in the most popular band of the decade, to launching an enduring solo career that puts his rock and roll ethos at its center, is a truly inspiring tale.”  — Consequence of Sound

“The title The Storyteller fits perfectly. The book is filled with plainspoken, conversational prose that ably pulls readers into each tale, no matter how linear or digressive. The pages fly by, the memoir having the feel of a series of chats over drinks with a friend who just happens to have worked with nearly every notable mainstream and indie-rock musician of the last few decades.”  — Pittsburg Post-Gazette

"Grohl candidly shares his reverence for the enduring power of music. . . Reflecting on his fame, Grohl writes, ' have never taken a single moment of it for granted.' Paired with his sparkling wit, this humility is what makes Grohl’s soulful story a cut above typical rock memoirs. There isn’t a dull moment here." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Grohl bares his soul and shares his passion in this must-read memoir, which will resonate with music lovers and his fans.”  — Library Journal (starred review)

Kinetic… Grohl writes with equal fervor about his path from “that guy from Nirvana” to the leader of the uberfamous Foo Fighters and his parenting experiences. An exciting read for fans and a remarkable perspective on the last 30 years of rock music.” — Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2021-08-17
The Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman shares anecdotes from his (mostly) charmed life in rock ’n’ roll.

Grohl’s memoir is thick with name-drops, but not for the sake of gossip or even revelatory detail. (Fans likely won’t learn anything about Kurt Cobain they didn’t already know, except perhaps his choice for cheap sustenance in the band’s pre-fame days, a canned-tuna-on-toast concoction dubbed “shit on a shingle.”) Rather, Grohl’s name-drops are of the “can you believe I get to do this for a living” variety: backing Tom Petty and Iggy Pop, meeting musical heroes from Little Richard to Joan Jett, singing “Blackbird” at the Oscars, performing at the White House, and filling arenas all over the world. As the book’s entertaining early pages reveal, Grohl was an unlikely candidate for global stardom. An accident-prone kid and unschooled drummer raised in a middle-class suburb of Washington, D.C., he caught the punk bug at a Naked Raygun show in Chicago, later dropping out of high school to join Scream. Though Scream was only moderately popular, Grohl thought he'd reached the mountaintop, so Nirvana’s massive fame, followed by Cobain’s suicide, was seriously disorienting. Still, the author is upbeat even when talking about lean or tense moments, like when his body finally pushed back against his five-pot-a-day coffee habit. Grohl is good company, but the gee-whiz tone as well as the clichés (hanging out with the members of metal band Pantera is “not for the faint of heart”) make the book feel like a missed opportunity. Grohl survived a massive band’s collapse and leads another hugely successful act in a genre that’s no longer dominant. Rather than exploring that, he’s largely content to celebrate his good fortune. Perhaps when he finally hangs it up, he will dig more deeply into his unique career.

A high-spirited yet surface-level glimpse into the life of one of the planet’s last rock stars.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159902269
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/31/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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