In “The Storyteller,” artist Dave Grohl gives readers endearing and candid insight into his life.
From Scream to Nirvana to Them Crooked Vultures and Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl has lived an extraordinary life, which he has extensively penned down in his autobiography “The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music.” When the world shut down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grohl decided to take advantage of the time and write down his life experiences. Covering his life from childhood to present day, “The Storyteller” is a gift to readers and music lovers alike.
The narrative, told in a somewhat skewed chronological order, starts with Grohl’s musical beginning, making a makeshift drum set from his pillows and learning to play by listening to his favorite records. In the same chapter, he talks about the many injuries and accidents he had as a child, which triggers his memory of breaking his leg during a concert in 2015. Candid and humorous, he recounts falling off a 15 foot stage onto concrete below and the aftermath as he forced the EMT to come on stage with him to hold his broken leg while he finished the show. In short, each chapter has a connected theme or message—usually highlighted in the first and last sentences of the chapter. Grohl’s narrative style is endearing as it feels like you’re speaking to an old friend who has just remembered something else similar while wading through the stream of memories.
Months before the book’s release, speculation as to whether Grohl would dish out any gossip from his time in Nirvana quickly spread through social media; however, he is not that type of person. Though brutally honest, Grohl handles some of the more sensitive topics of this novel with care and discretion—namely the death of Kurt Cobain.
One of the most memorable things about this novel is the love Dave Grohl has for his daughters, which borders on devotion. Though his stories of meeting various rock gods are special, the anecdote of him traveling through 16 time zones just to take his daughters to the father-daughter dance is completely unforgettable and probably the most memorable of all the stories he tells throughout the novel.
For every serious and/or heartwarming story present within this novel, there is a side splitting anecdote paralleling it. Such examples include Grohl unknowingly buying a haunted house and getting a DUI in Australia (whose legal BAC levels are considerably lower than America’s) while riding on the equivalent of a Lime—the latter goes on for pages detailing his arrest and getting teased by people who recognized him while he was in jail.
Grohl’s love for music drips off of every single page. For him, music is a lifelong love affair that started at the age of six and will last until the day he dies. Grohl is the type of person that must constantly create things whether that be music, a novel or even a film. “Never erase. Always record.”—words that everyone should live by.
“The Storyteller” has something for everyone—massive fans and casual listeners alike. You’ll find yourself wishing the book will never end. “The Storyteller” is out now at all major bookstore retailers; it can also be found at Magic City Books, a local Tulsa bookstore.
