The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

I liked this book because it’s obvious Dave Grohl wrote it. It clearly wasn’t ghost-written, because the writing can be a little cliched and breathless sometimes, and there’s an authenticity to that.

This is not a pure autobiography. It starts off that way, but then drifts into a series of, well, stories. After the build up Nevermind, then it’s just about things that happen in Dave’s life.

And it’s interesting. All throughout, you get the feeling that he can’t quite believe he got famous. He writes about chance meetings with other famous people like he’s some nobody off the street. He comes off as very down-to-Earth, devoted to his daughters, loves his mother, and is a guy that genuinely loves music.

Again, the writing gets in the way sometimes. It can be overly theatrical, but I kept reminding myself that it’s genuine. Dave clearly wrote this, and he’s not a writer. He’s a musician.

Understand that and you’ll enjoy it.