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Mother American Night: My Life and Crazy Times
John Perry Barlow wrote 30 songs for the Grateful Dead--and that's just the start to a Zelig-like life that took him from a childhood as Wyoming ranching royalty to friendships with Neal Cassady, Steve Jobs, and JFK Jr.
Black-Throated Wind is the heartrendingly sad, hysterically funny, and often unbelievable yet always completely true story of a singular individual. Referred to by more than one publication as "The Most Interesting Man in the World," Barlow has throughout his life maintained close relationships with such diverse cultural figures as Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Steve Jobs. During his long and varied career, Barlow has written the lyrics to 30 songs by the Grateful Dead while also running his family's cattle ranch. Despite being a freely self-confessed acidhead, he served as a campaign manager for Dick Cheney during his run for Congress in 1978--the same year he hosted 18-year-old JFK Jr. at his ranch for some summer seasoning. When he was 42, Barlow became a renowned internet guru who began vigorously defending the right for all to use it freely by co-founding the Electronic Freedom Foundation in 1990.
A brilliant thinker and writer, he has over the course of the past half century somehow managed to be at the cutting edge of popular culture. And as impressive as his accomplishments have been, Barlow's dramatic personal life reads like the story of a generation writ large. Blessed with an incredible sense of humor and a unique voice that comes right off the page, Barlow is a born storyteller in the tradition of Mark Twain and Will Rogers.
Black-Throated Wind is the heartrendingly sad, hysterically funny, and often unbelievable yet always completely true story of a singular individual. Referred to by more than one publication as "The Most Interesting Man in the World," Barlow has throughout his life maintained close relationships with such diverse cultural figures as Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Steve Jobs. During his long and varied career, Barlow has written the lyrics to 30 songs by the Grateful Dead while also running his family's cattle ranch. Despite being a freely self-confessed acidhead, he served as a campaign manager for Dick Cheney during his run for Congress in 1978--the same year he hosted 18-year-old JFK Jr. at his ranch for some summer seasoning. When he was 42, Barlow became a renowned internet guru who began vigorously defending the right for all to use it freely by co-founding the Electronic Freedom Foundation in 1990.
A brilliant thinker and writer, he has over the course of the past half century somehow managed to be at the cutting edge of popular culture. And as impressive as his accomplishments have been, Barlow's dramatic personal life reads like the story of a generation writ large. Blessed with an incredible sense of humor and a unique voice that comes right off the page, Barlow is a born storyteller in the tradition of Mark Twain and Will Rogers.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2018
112 people are currently reading
921 people want to read
About the author
John Perry Barlow
13 books28 followersJohn Perry Barlow was an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a political activist who had been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He was also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
May 13, 2018
It was a most uncomfortable feeling to receive and begin reading Mother American Night the day John Perry Barlow died. The Prologue didn’t make it any easier. It is titled Not Dead Enough. It describes how the book came about. Barlow had been dead eight minutes when a young intern yanked him off the bed onto the floor and proceeded to knee him in the chest until his heart reactivated. This after barely surviving the removal of a huge tumor on his spine, discovered while treating a horrendous staph infection he got from brand new cowboy boots. He decided it was time to focus on this book of memoirs.
It contains a chronological stack of wonderful stories spread over 47 lightning-quick chapters. They make Barlow an American Original. Some stories are being told for the first time, like when he drove to Boston to become the first American suicide bomber, in the 1960s. The who’s who of Wesleyan University, where he was Student President, descended on the place he was crashing, brought him back and put him in a sanatorium to bring him down. It took two weeks – and he resumed classes as if nothing had happened.
All through his life, Barlow (known as johnperry to anyone who mattered) caught breaks: getting through Customs with a life-sized head sculpture filled with hash plus a page full of LSD tabs. Or hitting gravel on a motorcycle, wearing only cutoffs and not even shoes, and taking himself to the hospital. He couldn’t wear clothes while he healed, and showed up at a university board meeting in just shorts. Given the choice, Barlow always took the more dangerous path, and never got caught.
Aimlessly, he managed to be in absolutely the right place at the right time. He spent the Summer of Love (1967) in Haight Ashbury, right in the home of The Grateful Dead. In the early 70s, he lived right by Needle Park on New York’s Upper West Side, and dealt cocaine in Spanish Harlem. He got into computers in the mid 80s, and his links to the Dead got him entrée to computer high society, which was populated by deadheads.
Among the right places at the right time, Barlow:
-had his pick of top eastern universities (despite his school record) simply because he was from Wyoming, where few applications originated.
-forged three medical excuses from the draft, and though discovered (he used the same typewriter for all three), got away with it.
-worked with Dick Cheney to get him into Congress, but realized he was a “global sociopath” interested only in pure power. They argued fiercely, and went their separate ways.
-had John F. Kennedy Jr as a 17 year old summer intern on his ranch, taught him how to fly, and warned him about instrument flying, which, like Barlow, he could not master. Before Kennedy plunged his plane in the ocean, they danced together at a Prince concert in New York and got the whole Radio City audience up and dancing – and no one recognized them.
-became a close friend of Timothy Leary, after having been taken to see him as an anonymous undergrad. It was Barlow who Leary wanted at his side when he died, though that didn’t quite work out.
-got a $5000 advance on a novel while an undergraduate, and instead of finishing it, took off to India with the money.
-with no connections, sold several screenplays to Hollywood to raise money for the family ranch.
-wrote the lyrics for 30 Grateful Dead songs.
-with no qualifications but his Dead connection, worked for Steve Jobs on a book idolizing the corporate culture of Apple, and later, the NeXT news magazine.
-co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation with Mitch Kapor, who diverted his private transcontinental flight to Wyoming to meet him.
It was a remarkable, varied, exciting, and high profile life. But it’s not as if John Perry Barlow is anyone’s idol. He was an alcoholic, smoked three packs a day, took more than a thousand hits of LSD, dealt cocaine, cheated on women (a family tradition) with abandon, and tested his luck constantly. With homes in San Francisco, Wyoming and New York, he was an absentee father of three. On the other hand, he consciously and deliberately tried to make things better, opening up copyright for art’s sake, helping Wikileaks in its time of need, and building an environmental startup to clean and recycle biomass. The book ends as it begins, with his newly acquired appreciation of love and how he had finally been able to accept the love freely shown to him over a lifetime. His wish seemed to be that we not wait quite as long.
David Wineberg
It contains a chronological stack of wonderful stories spread over 47 lightning-quick chapters. They make Barlow an American Original. Some stories are being told for the first time, like when he drove to Boston to become the first American suicide bomber, in the 1960s. The who’s who of Wesleyan University, where he was Student President, descended on the place he was crashing, brought him back and put him in a sanatorium to bring him down. It took two weeks – and he resumed classes as if nothing had happened.
All through his life, Barlow (known as johnperry to anyone who mattered) caught breaks: getting through Customs with a life-sized head sculpture filled with hash plus a page full of LSD tabs. Or hitting gravel on a motorcycle, wearing only cutoffs and not even shoes, and taking himself to the hospital. He couldn’t wear clothes while he healed, and showed up at a university board meeting in just shorts. Given the choice, Barlow always took the more dangerous path, and never got caught.
Aimlessly, he managed to be in absolutely the right place at the right time. He spent the Summer of Love (1967) in Haight Ashbury, right in the home of The Grateful Dead. In the early 70s, he lived right by Needle Park on New York’s Upper West Side, and dealt cocaine in Spanish Harlem. He got into computers in the mid 80s, and his links to the Dead got him entrée to computer high society, which was populated by deadheads.
Among the right places at the right time, Barlow:
-had his pick of top eastern universities (despite his school record) simply because he was from Wyoming, where few applications originated.
-forged three medical excuses from the draft, and though discovered (he used the same typewriter for all three), got away with it.
-worked with Dick Cheney to get him into Congress, but realized he was a “global sociopath” interested only in pure power. They argued fiercely, and went their separate ways.
-had John F. Kennedy Jr as a 17 year old summer intern on his ranch, taught him how to fly, and warned him about instrument flying, which, like Barlow, he could not master. Before Kennedy plunged his plane in the ocean, they danced together at a Prince concert in New York and got the whole Radio City audience up and dancing – and no one recognized them.
-became a close friend of Timothy Leary, after having been taken to see him as an anonymous undergrad. It was Barlow who Leary wanted at his side when he died, though that didn’t quite work out.
-got a $5000 advance on a novel while an undergraduate, and instead of finishing it, took off to India with the money.
-with no connections, sold several screenplays to Hollywood to raise money for the family ranch.
-wrote the lyrics for 30 Grateful Dead songs.
-with no qualifications but his Dead connection, worked for Steve Jobs on a book idolizing the corporate culture of Apple, and later, the NeXT news magazine.
-co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation with Mitch Kapor, who diverted his private transcontinental flight to Wyoming to meet him.
It was a remarkable, varied, exciting, and high profile life. But it’s not as if John Perry Barlow is anyone’s idol. He was an alcoholic, smoked three packs a day, took more than a thousand hits of LSD, dealt cocaine, cheated on women (a family tradition) with abandon, and tested his luck constantly. With homes in San Francisco, Wyoming and New York, he was an absentee father of three. On the other hand, he consciously and deliberately tried to make things better, opening up copyright for art’s sake, helping Wikileaks in its time of need, and building an environmental startup to clean and recycle biomass. The book ends as it begins, with his newly acquired appreciation of love and how he had finally been able to accept the love freely shown to him over a lifetime. His wish seemed to be that we not wait quite as long.
David Wineberg
June 14, 2018
When first reading the synopsis for this, my reaction was likely a common one: "how could I have never heard of this guy?" You'll want to. Barlow quite possibly qualifies as "The Most Interesting Man in the World" in an American baby boomer last man standing sort of way.
May 12, 2018
So, I'm torn about this one. On one hand, JPB was an interesting character and lived a fascinating life, constantly trying out one thing or another, going wherever the wind blew him, and this made for some pretty good stories. On the other hand, some of these tales were so tall that they disappeared into the clouds, and we don't know what to believe. Add to that the endless name-dropping (everyone from Ram Dass to Dick Cheney to JFK Jr. makes an appearance) and the choppiness of the presentation (chapters jumped all over the place, never staying in a semi-followable timeline), and the book became a bit of effort to read at points.
Also. I know many "counter culture icons" were/are not paragons of ethical behavior, and I do applaud JPB's honesty about *some* of his shortcomings, but I gotta be honest here: after a while the chapters begin to look like a pattern of selfish behavior without a lot of remorse for the effects it must have had on those who loved him. And it seems this pattern continued throughout the writing of this book, as JPB seemed to have no qualms about airing other people's dirty laundry (saying Daryl Hannah is "mildly autistic," "had so many trust issues," and is "not terribly sophisticated"? Opining that JFK Jr. "liked psychedelics" and was in love with JPB's wife?) for no discernible reason - like, didn't affect the narrative one bit and were just rambling asides. NOT A GOOD LOOK.
But I guess ultimately what was the biggest disappointment for me as a reader was the writing style. This is a man who was most well-known for writing song lyrics, yet there was so little melody and poetry to his writing here. It was mostly "this happened, then I went here, and that's all about that I guess. Then this thing happened." I know he'd been struggling with health issues for a while before and during writing this book, so maybe he just didn't have it in him at the time. I don't know. I just hoped for more.
Also. I know many "counter culture icons" were/are not paragons of ethical behavior, and I do applaud JPB's honesty about *some* of his shortcomings, but I gotta be honest here: after a while the chapters begin to look like a pattern of selfish behavior without a lot of remorse for the effects it must have had on those who loved him. And it seems this pattern continued throughout the writing of this book, as JPB seemed to have no qualms about airing other people's dirty laundry (saying Daryl Hannah is "mildly autistic," "had so many trust issues," and is "not terribly sophisticated"? Opining that JFK Jr. "liked psychedelics" and was in love with JPB's wife?) for no discernible reason - like, didn't affect the narrative one bit and were just rambling asides. NOT A GOOD LOOK.
But I guess ultimately what was the biggest disappointment for me as a reader was the writing style. This is a man who was most well-known for writing song lyrics, yet there was so little melody and poetry to his writing here. It was mostly "this happened, then I went here, and that's all about that I guess. Then this thing happened." I know he'd been struggling with health issues for a while before and during writing this book, so maybe he just didn't have it in him at the time. I don't know. I just hoped for more.
May 14, 2018
Mother American Night, with a Kurt Vonnegut-like title, is the autobiographical stories of a Small-town Wyoming rancher who lived a fascinating life that included most everything except running with the bulls in Pamplona. Probably best known for writing or cowriting thirty Grateful Dead songs and becoming part of the counterculture movement of the late Sixties, he also had a long friendship with JFK, Jr. and Senator Alan Simpson, and was at the forefront of the Internet revolution including his involvement with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Julian Assuage. The first two-thirds of the book were a fascinating read, filled with great storytelling and really great writing. The last third didn't flow quite as well. While interesting, it lacked the punch and verve of the rest of the book. It's funny when you open up an autobiography of someone you never heard of before and find it a worthwhile read.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
April 30, 2018
What a long strange trip, the life and times of a crazy, smart ass, psychedelic, son of a cattle baron. John Perry’s life story contains an incredible cast of characters from the Grateful Dead to Dick Chaney. Wherever he went Barlow always seemed to be, Gump like, at the nexus of a cultural revolution. On the West Coast he crossed paths with Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Neal Cassidy, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Owsley Stanley, . . . When on the East Coast he rubbed elbows with the likes of Andy Warhol, Timothy Leary, and The Kennedys. Of course there's also his Wyoming roots represented by his relationships with Chaney, Senator Alan Simpson and JFK Jr. as well as his internet connections to the Legion of Doom, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Wesley Clark, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. A life spent running a cattle ranch, writing novels, Hollywood screen plays and lyrics for the Grateful Dead, smuggling drugs, promoting an open internet, working on the Pure Water Project, and learning to love, R.I.P. John Perry Barlow.
Give it an extra star if you are a Deadhead, a hacker, or some other member of the lunatic fringe.
Give it an extra star if you are a Deadhead, a hacker, or some other member of the lunatic fringe.
August 14, 2025
I'm in a very specific subgroup (I know there are others) of dudes who cannot stand listening to the Grateful Dead, but can devour six hour documentaries or read biographies on them. Theirs is a culture that I just don't get but filled with fascinating people with groundbreaking ideas, along with the shakyass bluegrass they plonked and thumped over the years.
I think that's how I found this memoir by an iconoclast, who still is so much a white boomer guy. He loves dropping names more than Kathy Griffin and some chapters read like PR pamphlets. Besides a touching and beautifully written eulogy to his midlife crisis younger gal (which he immediately sabotages the emotional impact of by bragging that it went viral on the interenet, which he claims credit for helping shape: thanks, buddy), none of the writing speaks to a poet, though it's well-written.
The part that really stuck in my craw was calling the lyrics of a GD song, written by Bob Weir and another guy (who Barlow explicitly says he hates), "the worst song they ever did." Why does he say that? One thing, it had the nerve to call junkie Jerry Garcia a junkie, (which btw Barlow does in another chapter). Barlow, the genius who penned Grateful Dead lyrics like:
.Lord made a lady out of Adam's rib, next thing you know, you got women's lib.
Lovely to look upon, Heaven to touch;
It's a real shame that they got to cost so much.
and
I guess I came to keep from payin' dues
So instead I've got a bottle and a girl who's just fourteen
And a damned good case of the Mexicali blues,
is calling this the worst song? To be fair, I can't listen to it, but that goes for 90% of their songs. Lyricist (this lucky dude got paid 6K a month in the 70's and 80's just to be around if Weir or Mydland needed help writing rhymes), that's one nice glass house you got there.
I will note the audiobook narrator is Ray Porter and he is top notch. I will seek out books he's reading for sure.
I think that's how I found this memoir by an iconoclast, who still is so much a white boomer guy. He loves dropping names more than Kathy Griffin and some chapters read like PR pamphlets. Besides a touching and beautifully written eulogy to his midlife crisis younger gal (which he immediately sabotages the emotional impact of by bragging that it went viral on the interenet, which he claims credit for helping shape: thanks, buddy), none of the writing speaks to a poet, though it's well-written.
The part that really stuck in my craw was calling the lyrics of a GD song, written by Bob Weir and another guy (who Barlow explicitly says he hates), "the worst song they ever did." Why does he say that? One thing, it had the nerve to call junkie Jerry Garcia a junkie, (which btw Barlow does in another chapter). Barlow, the genius who penned Grateful Dead lyrics like:
.Lord made a lady out of Adam's rib, next thing you know, you got women's lib.
Lovely to look upon, Heaven to touch;
It's a real shame that they got to cost so much.
and
I guess I came to keep from payin' dues
So instead I've got a bottle and a girl who's just fourteen
And a damned good case of the Mexicali blues,
is calling this the worst song? To be fair, I can't listen to it, but that goes for 90% of their songs. Lyricist (this lucky dude got paid 6K a month in the 70's and 80's just to be around if Weir or Mydland needed help writing rhymes), that's one nice glass house you got there.
I will note the audiobook narrator is Ray Porter and he is top notch. I will seek out books he's reading for sure.
June 28, 2018
I hurried to read this book because I'm a big fan of the Grateful Dead and all those in their immediate circle. Barlow's Grateful Dead connection was enough to make me want to read this book, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn of his work with various tech/computer/internet ventures.
May 28, 2018
The recently deceased author had a really colorful life. He seems to have known everyone and done everything. Born to a cattle ranching family that was powerful in Wyoming politics, he went to school with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and later went on to write lyrics for the band. He mentored JFK Jr., and was campaign manager for Dick Cheney. Yes, he was an acid loving, alcoholic, Republican. The cognitive dissonance is still rippling in my head. Later he became a computer hacker and cofounded the Electronic Freedom Foundation, well as writing a book that was basically an ad for Steve Jobs and Apple. He hung at Andy Warhol’s Factory and dated the Dalai Llama’s sister. I’d have thought it was all bullshit, but the people involved say his life really was like that.
All was not sweetness and adventure. As I said, he was an alcoholic. He smoked three packs a day, was a coke dealer, cheated on women, and took off with a $5000 advance for a book he never wrote. He did some of the stupidest things with his health and safety; it’s a miracle he lived as long as he did. One thing his life never was, was dull. And he tells his story in short chapters, as if he was telling them over drinks. At least in the first half of the book; somewhere near the end he sort of … slows down. Given that he was in failing health, I suspect that he just ran out of energy for telling. The prose in the latter part of the book even has a different voice to it, as if the first part was Barlow telling it in full, while the co-author had to fill in a lot in the end. A truly amusing book- I figured I wouldn’t be impressed by the man, but I was. Four and a half stars.
All was not sweetness and adventure. As I said, he was an alcoholic. He smoked three packs a day, was a coke dealer, cheated on women, and took off with a $5000 advance for a book he never wrote. He did some of the stupidest things with his health and safety; it’s a miracle he lived as long as he did. One thing his life never was, was dull. And he tells his story in short chapters, as if he was telling them over drinks. At least in the first half of the book; somewhere near the end he sort of … slows down. Given that he was in failing health, I suspect that he just ran out of energy for telling. The prose in the latter part of the book even has a different voice to it, as if the first part was Barlow telling it in full, while the co-author had to fill in a lot in the end. A truly amusing book- I figured I wouldn’t be impressed by the man, but I was. Four and a half stars.
May 10, 2018
Thank you Penguin RandomHouse for the advanced copy of this book - all opinions are my own.
This book took me completely by surprise - John Perry Barlow was a highly interesting man, who lived a provocative and unique life on the path less travelled.
John Perry chose to tell his story in bite sized snippets - snapshots into his life at various stages of what he clearly felt were highly transformative periods. Reading this book feels a lot like what I would imagine sitting and having a drink with John Perry would be like - easy, messy, honest and blunt.
A man who obviously took on living life on his very own specific terms, his was a journey that will not be seen again. From writing songs for the Grateful Dead, to leading the Internet into what exists today, this was a pioneer in a very different sense than the traditional, but nonetheless, a true trailblazer all the same.
Overall, this book manages to be both an easy read memoir and a wildly different perspective on American history in the last few decades - as unique as John Perry himself.
This book took me completely by surprise - John Perry Barlow was a highly interesting man, who lived a provocative and unique life on the path less travelled.
John Perry chose to tell his story in bite sized snippets - snapshots into his life at various stages of what he clearly felt were highly transformative periods. Reading this book feels a lot like what I would imagine sitting and having a drink with John Perry would be like - easy, messy, honest and blunt.
A man who obviously took on living life on his very own specific terms, his was a journey that will not be seen again. From writing songs for the Grateful Dead, to leading the Internet into what exists today, this was a pioneer in a very different sense than the traditional, but nonetheless, a true trailblazer all the same.
Overall, this book manages to be both an easy read memoir and a wildly different perspective on American history in the last few decades - as unique as John Perry himself.
September 11, 2018
This is fine to listen to in the car, as I did. There are enough amusing anecdotes and lots of name-dropping. Parts made me laugh and other parts made me cringe. He comes across as more unlikable than one may expect, or at least than I expected. Odd that he calls "Victim or the Crime" the single worst Dead song--this coming from the guy who boasts about writing the lyrics to "I Will Take You Home," which is the worst Dead song. But he did write the lyrics to "Black-Throated Wind," so he gets a wide berth. That the guy made it to 70 is a miracle and he admits that he needed one every day.
May 11, 2021
I had the pleasure of knowing Barlow, but not exceedingly well. I wish I'd read this book before he died so that I could talk to him about it. Now that he's gone, I have found myself reading a few pages at a time; the voice is so good that it feels like I'm talking with him.
June 18, 2018
I have always been intrigued by John Perry Barlow and after finishing his new book I still am ! Having been a lifelong Deadhead I knew bits and pieces of Barlow but reading his story has been very eye opening. I’ve read so many books about The Grateful Dead ;and this book does not center on the band but it does offer a very honest look at them at times. Barlow is a straight shooter , well maybe not straight (haha) but I felt the truth and honesty in his tome . I was absorb in his story and I bet you will be too.
November 8, 2018
A laid back and slap dash memoir with proper injections of wit and humor. Barlow muses on his life and the roads less taken. The man was not simply an accidental song writer as his background forged him into something beyond an acid enthusiastic 60's hippie. Loved learning perspectives of the earliest days of the internet and the subsequent founding of the EFF to protect the liberties of the new electronic frontier.
Want to read
March 4, 2024Reviewed at the WSJ by Chris Jennings, who liked it:
"A tender, scattershot memoir by John Perry Barlow: cattle rancher, lyricist for the Grateful Dead, Republican operative and champion of a free and open internet."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mother-a... (Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers.)
"A tender, scattershot memoir by John Perry Barlow: cattle rancher, lyricist for the Grateful Dead, Republican operative and champion of a free and open internet."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mother-a... (Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers.)
Read
September 14, 2019This is a biography of John Perry Barlow. He has always been a difficult man to categorize or boil down to an easy stereotype. Barlow was a truly unique individual. He was Wyoming cattle rancher, civil liberties advocate, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a former campaign manager for Dick Cheney, lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and the first person to apply the term "cyberspace" to the internet, etc.
This biography is about as varied and diverse as his life was. It is quite the ride and certainly not for the faint of heart. Say what you will about his various activities and life choices, he was a fascinating man. I believe any reader with a keen interest in the history of the 1960s and 1970s will find some interesting stuff in here. Barlow knew a lot of the "big names" of those times. He serves as a bridge between that era and the "internet age". I believe he was both a "child of his era" and a "pioneer in a new era".
Barlow had a strong sense of a mission. He once said: "Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that."
There are things I enjoyed about this book and others which I didn't. There are many ways in which my worldview, outlook, and lifestyle differ greatly from that which Barlow had. And a good deal of the content of this book reflects that--his language and outlook differs from mine in some very profound ways. And there certainly some significant parts of this book which I did not enjoy and can't recommend. Be that as it may, it was refreshing to read about Barlow from his own words and remember his contributions to the world I once shared with him. So, despite some great distance, I do have a good deal of respect for and fondness towards Barlow. I feel there is a great deal I learned from him and I was very saddened to hear of his death in 2018. And so this book represents a bittersweet re-connection with his persona. I first encountered Barlow in my youth as I was making early explorations into themes of liberty, technology, and poetry.
I feel like I couldn't finish this book or conclude this "review" (It's more of a reflection, really) without remembering his lyrics from "Throwing Stones", which he wrote in 1982:
"Picture a bright blue ball, just spinning, spinnin free,
Dizzy with eternity.
Paint it with a skin of sky,
Brush in some clouds and sea,
Call it home for you and me.
A peaceful place or so it looks from space,
A closer look reveals the human race.
Full of hope, full of grace
Is the human face,
But afraid we may lay our home to waste.
There's a fear down here we can't forget.
Hasn't got a name just yet.
Always awake, always around,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Now watch as the ball revolves
And the nighttime falls.
Again the hunt begins,
Again the bloodwind calls.
By and by, the morning sun will rise,
But the darkness never goes
From some men's eyes.
It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets,
Staking turf, dividing up meat.
Nightmare spook, piece of heat,
It's you and me.
You and me.
Click flash blade in ghetto night,
Rudies looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley, roll them bones.
Need that cash to feed that jones.
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down."
This biography is about as varied and diverse as his life was. It is quite the ride and certainly not for the faint of heart. Say what you will about his various activities and life choices, he was a fascinating man. I believe any reader with a keen interest in the history of the 1960s and 1970s will find some interesting stuff in here. Barlow knew a lot of the "big names" of those times. He serves as a bridge between that era and the "internet age". I believe he was both a "child of his era" and a "pioneer in a new era".
Barlow had a strong sense of a mission. He once said: "Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that."
There are things I enjoyed about this book and others which I didn't. There are many ways in which my worldview, outlook, and lifestyle differ greatly from that which Barlow had. And a good deal of the content of this book reflects that--his language and outlook differs from mine in some very profound ways. And there certainly some significant parts of this book which I did not enjoy and can't recommend. Be that as it may, it was refreshing to read about Barlow from his own words and remember his contributions to the world I once shared with him. So, despite some great distance, I do have a good deal of respect for and fondness towards Barlow. I feel there is a great deal I learned from him and I was very saddened to hear of his death in 2018. And so this book represents a bittersweet re-connection with his persona. I first encountered Barlow in my youth as I was making early explorations into themes of liberty, technology, and poetry.
I feel like I couldn't finish this book or conclude this "review" (It's more of a reflection, really) without remembering his lyrics from "Throwing Stones", which he wrote in 1982:
"Picture a bright blue ball, just spinning, spinnin free,
Dizzy with eternity.
Paint it with a skin of sky,
Brush in some clouds and sea,
Call it home for you and me.
A peaceful place or so it looks from space,
A closer look reveals the human race.
Full of hope, full of grace
Is the human face,
But afraid we may lay our home to waste.
There's a fear down here we can't forget.
Hasn't got a name just yet.
Always awake, always around,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Now watch as the ball revolves
And the nighttime falls.
Again the hunt begins,
Again the bloodwind calls.
By and by, the morning sun will rise,
But the darkness never goes
From some men's eyes.
It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets,
Staking turf, dividing up meat.
Nightmare spook, piece of heat,
It's you and me.
You and me.
Click flash blade in ghetto night,
Rudies looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley, roll them bones.
Need that cash to feed that jones.
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down."
June 15, 2018
Mother American Night is the autobiography of John Perry Barlow, a man who certainly did many things yet was also far more lucky than either talented or skilled.
He presents himself as larger than life and in his own mind he no doubt was just that. In reality, he was someone who, mostly by luck and being at the right places at the right times with no feeling of obligation to anything or anyone, took advantage of the many advantages he was presented. He was talented, not overly so. He was smart, not overly so. He was, however, a master at presenting himself as smarter and more talented than others. The false humility he presents here is both annoying and what makes the book a fun read. And make no mistake, this is a fun read.
I don't want to imply he lied when writing the book. The vast majority of the bare facts (places he was, people he met, etc) are verifiable as true. But in my opinion, and that is all it is is opinion, he stretched his importance and his role in many situations and instances, particularly in the early part of his life. By not having any responsibility and not caring about who is left behind he was able to do whatever he wanted on a whim. It would certainly make everyone's life easier to be able to drop everything every time something interesting and new popped up. But most of us feel an obligation and compassion for those we are already involved with to just up and run every time. Not Barlow, he just took whatever was offered and moved on. I question the extent to which he was as important to everyone he met in his youth, that was all part of building a persona that both enabled future adventures while excusing his flightiness.
It sounds like I didn't enjoy the book and that is not the case. I found it to be a wonderful read, primarily his early years. I just don't accept all of his embellishments as being 100% accurate. In fairness, most autobiographies tend toward such things so it is not unique to this one. That is why autobiographies are fun and somewhat accurate while biographies are often less fun to read but far more accurate. I highly recommend this to people who enjoy and understand autobiography, as well as people who enjoy tall tales spun by a wonderful storyteller, for if there is one true talent that resided in Barlow's person it was as a storyteller.
Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.
He presents himself as larger than life and in his own mind he no doubt was just that. In reality, he was someone who, mostly by luck and being at the right places at the right times with no feeling of obligation to anything or anyone, took advantage of the many advantages he was presented. He was talented, not overly so. He was smart, not overly so. He was, however, a master at presenting himself as smarter and more talented than others. The false humility he presents here is both annoying and what makes the book a fun read. And make no mistake, this is a fun read.
I don't want to imply he lied when writing the book. The vast majority of the bare facts (places he was, people he met, etc) are verifiable as true. But in my opinion, and that is all it is is opinion, he stretched his importance and his role in many situations and instances, particularly in the early part of his life. By not having any responsibility and not caring about who is left behind he was able to do whatever he wanted on a whim. It would certainly make everyone's life easier to be able to drop everything every time something interesting and new popped up. But most of us feel an obligation and compassion for those we are already involved with to just up and run every time. Not Barlow, he just took whatever was offered and moved on. I question the extent to which he was as important to everyone he met in his youth, that was all part of building a persona that both enabled future adventures while excusing his flightiness.
It sounds like I didn't enjoy the book and that is not the case. I found it to be a wonderful read, primarily his early years. I just don't accept all of his embellishments as being 100% accurate. In fairness, most autobiographies tend toward such things so it is not unique to this one. That is why autobiographies are fun and somewhat accurate while biographies are often less fun to read but far more accurate. I highly recommend this to people who enjoy and understand autobiography, as well as people who enjoy tall tales spun by a wonderful storyteller, for if there is one true talent that resided in Barlow's person it was as a storyteller.
Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.
May 22, 2020
I’ve been a Grateful Dead fan for decades and every spring I break out my favorite CDs and stream my favorite live shows. To me, the magic of the Dead was embodied by the primary songwriters Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter who created my favorite songs including Eyes of the World, Ripple, and Scarlet Begonias. Over the years, however, I’ve come to appreciate the secondary songwriting partnership of Bob Weir and John Perry Barlow.
Garcia died in 1995 and Hunter died in 2019. Their deaths hit me pretty hard. JPB died February 7, 2018, but the event passed right through me without leaving a mark. For some reason, I became curious about JPB in the spring of 2020 and I purchased Mother American Night to learn more about the man. The title comes from a line in Black Throated Wind, which is one of my favorite Weir/Barlow songs.
Mother American Night tells the story of a charismatic, psychedelic, gun-toting, cowboy Zelig whose life was inexorably entwined with many of the counter-cultural icons and events of the last 50 years. Born into a prominent Wyoming ranching family, JPB met Bob Weir while at boarding school in Colorado, tripped with Timothy Leary in Millbrook, dealt cocaine in New York City, hung out at Warhol’s Factory, supervised JFK Jr. on his ranch, worked with Dick Cheney(!) on environmental issues in Wyoming, became a prominent advocate for internet civil liberties, and hobnobbed with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The book’s subtitle My Life In Crazy Times couldn’t be more accurate.
My major quibble with Mother American Night is the lack of detail in some areas. In particular I wanted a deep dive into his songwriting process and life in the Grateful Dead, but got only a few anecdotes. Well, there are lots of other Dead books to explore. Next up is Dark Star!
JPB may have been the secondary lyricist in the good old Grateful Dead, but his life was fascinating and second to none. I don’t think we’ll see his like again.
Garcia died in 1995 and Hunter died in 2019. Their deaths hit me pretty hard. JPB died February 7, 2018, but the event passed right through me without leaving a mark. For some reason, I became curious about JPB in the spring of 2020 and I purchased Mother American Night to learn more about the man. The title comes from a line in Black Throated Wind, which is one of my favorite Weir/Barlow songs.
Mother American Night tells the story of a charismatic, psychedelic, gun-toting, cowboy Zelig whose life was inexorably entwined with many of the counter-cultural icons and events of the last 50 years. Born into a prominent Wyoming ranching family, JPB met Bob Weir while at boarding school in Colorado, tripped with Timothy Leary in Millbrook, dealt cocaine in New York City, hung out at Warhol’s Factory, supervised JFK Jr. on his ranch, worked with Dick Cheney(!) on environmental issues in Wyoming, became a prominent advocate for internet civil liberties, and hobnobbed with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The book’s subtitle My Life In Crazy Times couldn’t be more accurate.
My major quibble with Mother American Night is the lack of detail in some areas. In particular I wanted a deep dive into his songwriting process and life in the Grateful Dead, but got only a few anecdotes. Well, there are lots of other Dead books to explore. Next up is Dark Star!
JPB may have been the secondary lyricist in the good old Grateful Dead, but his life was fascinating and second to none. I don’t think we’ll see his like again.
July 4, 2020
Barlow, who died shortly after this book was published left it as the denouement to a lifetime of revelry. Memoirs have gotten a bad rap for good reason and this one doesn’t disprove the point. In 47 chapters over 259 pages John Perry Barlow (John Perry as he calls himself) paints himself as the prototypical cosmic cowboy. Raised on a cattle ranch in western Wyoming and born into the Wyoming aristocracy that comes from owning a large cattle ranch his parents sent him to boarding school to try to stem his destructive tendencies. While at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado he connected with another miscreant (Bob Weir) whose wealthy parents banished him from his home in Atherton, CA for similar reasons. It’s this friendship that becomes the basis of Barlow’s story, the one that is the touchstone of his legacy which resulted in credit for writing ~50 songs performed by the Grateful Dead and their offshoots. The title of the book “Mother American Night” references one of the best (Black-Throated Wind” from Weir’s solo album “Ace” released in 1972:
The black-throated wind keeps on pouring in
With its words of a life where nothing is new.
Ah, Mother American Night, I’m lost from the light.
Ohhh, I’m drowning in you.
Over the course of their songwriting career Weir and Barlow produced some great songs including “Cassidy” and “Estimated Prophet” that ran from the 70’s into the early 90’s. Unfortunately for Barlow much of his contributions landed on less than regarded albums i.e., “Go To Heaven”. It was this connection to the Dead that Barlow continually relies on as part of his identity in later years. Barlow was clearly part of the scene from the 60’s onward courtesy of his relationship with Weir but in this telling comes off as a self-aggrandizing BS artist willing to put himself at the center of every great event during the period. Among his ‘achievements’ are taking over 1,000 acid trips, meeting/tripping with Owsley and Timothy Leary in San Francisco, taking the Dead to Millbrook in upstate NY, meeting Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and essentially becoming a father figure to her son John Jr., introducing John Jr. to LSD and hanging with him while he was dating Daryl Hannah and becoming a pilot, all while running his families cattle ranch, co-founding the Electronic Freedom Foundation and on and on. Every page brings another Zelig-like spectacular event; I expected him to take credit for tweaking Owsley's recipe for Orange Sunshine or finding the cure to cancer and was surprised that he didn’t declare himself a master of at least one martial art. All said, these were interesting times and Barlow puts himself at the center of all the cool shit but he comes across as a small man with an outsized ego – all hat and no cattle as they say in ranching country.
The black-throated wind keeps on pouring in
With its words of a life where nothing is new.
Ah, Mother American Night, I’m lost from the light.
Ohhh, I’m drowning in you.
Over the course of their songwriting career Weir and Barlow produced some great songs including “Cassidy” and “Estimated Prophet” that ran from the 70’s into the early 90’s. Unfortunately for Barlow much of his contributions landed on less than regarded albums i.e., “Go To Heaven”. It was this connection to the Dead that Barlow continually relies on as part of his identity in later years. Barlow was clearly part of the scene from the 60’s onward courtesy of his relationship with Weir but in this telling comes off as a self-aggrandizing BS artist willing to put himself at the center of every great event during the period. Among his ‘achievements’ are taking over 1,000 acid trips, meeting/tripping with Owsley and Timothy Leary in San Francisco, taking the Dead to Millbrook in upstate NY, meeting Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and essentially becoming a father figure to her son John Jr., introducing John Jr. to LSD and hanging with him while he was dating Daryl Hannah and becoming a pilot, all while running his families cattle ranch, co-founding the Electronic Freedom Foundation and on and on. Every page brings another Zelig-like spectacular event; I expected him to take credit for tweaking Owsley's recipe for Orange Sunshine or finding the cure to cancer and was surprised that he didn’t declare himself a master of at least one martial art. All said, these were interesting times and Barlow puts himself at the center of all the cool shit but he comes across as a small man with an outsized ego – all hat and no cattle as they say in ranching country.
March 1, 2018
What an incredible life John Perry Barlow led. This book reads like the exceptionally literary ravings of a madman—there's just no way one man found himself in the middle of all these scenes—except if you know about his biography, it's all true. (Or, at least, true enough for a memoir.) It's as if the patient turned out to be Napoleon all along.
I couldn't help but tearing through this book much faster than I usually read. Barlow's voice is so distinct and so compelling, and it was captured pretty brilliantly here by the co-author Robert Greenfield, who also wrote biographies of some of the major characters in this book: Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, and Owsley Stanley.
If you ever had a chance to speak to Barlow, you might have noticed that he spoke in poetry. It was just the way he talked, and probably the way he thought. It lent to his magnetism, which probably explains why he was included in so many pivotal moments of the 20th and 21st centuries. (I mean, the guy introduced the Dead to Timothy Leary, dated the Dalai Lama's sister, screenprinted Andy Warhols that hang in MOMA, gave JFK, Jr. his first flying lessons, and so much more.)
In n some sense, it'd be an easier book to grapple with if Barlow's live were fiction. His would be a psychedelic Forrest Gump story, and it wouldn't be necessary to think so much about the reliability of his descriptions, or the (sometimes serious) weaknesses in his character. That said, despite or because of those weaknesses, his humanity shines through. I'm very glad he was able to finish this book in the months before he died; nothing will replace the way he could tell a story or just opine on the world, but this book does a good job of showing why that's so true.
I couldn't help but tearing through this book much faster than I usually read. Barlow's voice is so distinct and so compelling, and it was captured pretty brilliantly here by the co-author Robert Greenfield, who also wrote biographies of some of the major characters in this book: Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, and Owsley Stanley.
If you ever had a chance to speak to Barlow, you might have noticed that he spoke in poetry. It was just the way he talked, and probably the way he thought. It lent to his magnetism, which probably explains why he was included in so many pivotal moments of the 20th and 21st centuries. (I mean, the guy introduced the Dead to Timothy Leary, dated the Dalai Lama's sister, screenprinted Andy Warhols that hang in MOMA, gave JFK, Jr. his first flying lessons, and so much more.)
In n some sense, it'd be an easier book to grapple with if Barlow's live were fiction. His would be a psychedelic Forrest Gump story, and it wouldn't be necessary to think so much about the reliability of his descriptions, or the (sometimes serious) weaknesses in his character. That said, despite or because of those weaknesses, his humanity shines through. I'm very glad he was able to finish this book in the months before he died; nothing will replace the way he could tell a story or just opine on the world, but this book does a good job of showing why that's so true.
April 21, 2018
Opening the cover to this book is like getting on a roller coaster, you never know which direction John Perry Barlow's life will take. He seems to have led one of the most incredulous lives you will ever read about. From growing up in rural nowhere Wyoming, he goes on to the big stage of becoming a lyricist for The Grateful Dead. That isn't enough for him though, he goes on to have concerns about the budding Internet and the safety and privacy that will become topics of the nightly news. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) because of these concerns and later started The Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Between The Dead and the Internet John Perry lived fast and hard. He kept the company of some famous as well as infamous people; Timothy Leary, JFK Jr., Steve Jobs, Gilberto Gil, Owsley Stanley, and many others. He did some outrageous things, like attempting to blow up Harvard and dating the Dalai Lama's sister. To find out the rest of the things his life entailed you will have to open the cover and take the ride yourself.
I have not read any of John Perry's essays or other writings, so I don't know if the pace and feel of this book is his, or his ghost writer's. I do know that he was working hard to finish this book before he died, which might be the reason it feels a bit frantic. It lays out fact after fact of his life in somewhat of a disjointed way at times. Or maybe that is just the way his life was since he lived such a full life. That said, it is not a difficult book to immerse yourself in, and feel that you are right there with him.
Between The Dead and the Internet John Perry lived fast and hard. He kept the company of some famous as well as infamous people; Timothy Leary, JFK Jr., Steve Jobs, Gilberto Gil, Owsley Stanley, and many others. He did some outrageous things, like attempting to blow up Harvard and dating the Dalai Lama's sister. To find out the rest of the things his life entailed you will have to open the cover and take the ride yourself.
I have not read any of John Perry's essays or other writings, so I don't know if the pace and feel of this book is his, or his ghost writer's. I do know that he was working hard to finish this book before he died, which might be the reason it feels a bit frantic. It lays out fact after fact of his life in somewhat of a disjointed way at times. Or maybe that is just the way his life was since he lived such a full life. That said, it is not a difficult book to immerse yourself in, and feel that you are right there with him.
July 16, 2025
All over the map
An amiable raconteur to be sure. Supposedly a strain of Irish stock, so I suss out his blarney. This might work well on audio as I imagine John Perry Barlow possesses a gift of the gab. On the page, admittedly very choppy, "as told to" Dead and counterculture rock veteran chronicler Robert Greenfield, so a smart match. I imagine the episodes each ran a few minutes of amiable monologue, probably little drives, to convey the rambling recollections of JPB, which turned out far less Deadhead concentrated or lyrically focused, refreshingly.
Instead, who else might Dick Cheney or JFK Jr., Steve Jobs or Timothy Leary, Gilberto Gil or Julian Assange, let alone schoolmate Bob Weir or old family fellow GOP pol Alan Simpson from their native Wyoming turn to? If one must rely on environmental activists, a hacktivist with principle, and a Wesleyan grad able to nod to Teilhard de Chardin (wish he delved into this noosphere deeper, but that's my fringe taste) as well as William Gibson for his profound, presciently articulated cyberspace concepts that founded the estimable EFF?
The narrative, really a transcript, may not cohere into an elegant composition, but I respect JPB's combinations of quests, interactions, provocations, and interventions for clean water, libertarian "information wants to be free" proclamations (which got Bill Gates to cut off funding EFF immediately), and creative challenges to top-down imposition of the military-industrial complex now expanded to the same Silicon Valley where the WELL and the early explorers of online communal possibilities flocked in a more naive but less rapacious time.
An amiable raconteur to be sure. Supposedly a strain of Irish stock, so I suss out his blarney. This might work well on audio as I imagine John Perry Barlow possesses a gift of the gab. On the page, admittedly very choppy, "as told to" Dead and counterculture rock veteran chronicler Robert Greenfield, so a smart match. I imagine the episodes each ran a few minutes of amiable monologue, probably little drives, to convey the rambling recollections of JPB, which turned out far less Deadhead concentrated or lyrically focused, refreshingly.
Instead, who else might Dick Cheney or JFK Jr., Steve Jobs or Timothy Leary, Gilberto Gil or Julian Assange, let alone schoolmate Bob Weir or old family fellow GOP pol Alan Simpson from their native Wyoming turn to? If one must rely on environmental activists, a hacktivist with principle, and a Wesleyan grad able to nod to Teilhard de Chardin (wish he delved into this noosphere deeper, but that's my fringe taste) as well as William Gibson for his profound, presciently articulated cyberspace concepts that founded the estimable EFF?
The narrative, really a transcript, may not cohere into an elegant composition, but I respect JPB's combinations of quests, interactions, provocations, and interventions for clean water, libertarian "information wants to be free" proclamations (which got Bill Gates to cut off funding EFF immediately), and creative challenges to top-down imposition of the military-industrial complex now expanded to the same Silicon Valley where the WELL and the early explorers of online communal possibilities flocked in a more naive but less rapacious time.
January 23, 2019
The title "My Life and Crazy Times" doesn't sale the book short. John Perry Barlow lived, at least per this book, an incredible life from birth till death. He experienced the world as a true Cowboy and then somehow lived and invested in Corporate America and politics. He has many stories throughout the book which seem they could be tall tales........or maybe embellished just a tad. It would be interesting to read if others...who are part of this book....saw him do all these things. In any case, the book is enjoyable! Obviously these things did happen and Mr. Barlow is a good story teller --- hence, the reason the book sales. I especially enjoyed his transparency at the end of his life....his encouragement for us all to love first and love most. And, his realization that allowing people to love us, being vulnerable to love is when we really live.
December 29, 2020
This was a book I couldn't put down! What an amazing life which all began in the small town of Pinedale, Wyoming. His family had a large cattle ranch and he returned home when his father was sick to manage it for a few years. So full of 1960's and beyond when he went to college and tried drugs, then became friends with Timothy Leary, wrote lyrics for the Grateful Dead, became friends with the Kennedys, etc. Then he became a great advocate for freedom of the internet and worked with Steve Jobs and others. In between he also was a campaign manager for Dick Cheney and a personal friend of Alan Simpson. Insightful and incredible connections to a lot of famous people. I had to check a couple of times to see if this was an autobiography (which it was) or fiction. He died in 2018, the year this book was published.
May 8, 2018
The name dropping in this memoir became overkill. As fiction, I would have set the book aside. It just tired me. So, editing was definitely required. This is a (presumably) real life without focus; the memoir didn’t need to be as well. The now-deceased author felt he was present at almost every significant cultural crossroad of his generation. And if he wasn’t, he might as well have been because he was there the night before or the next morning. Strung out or looking for his next thing, he was an ever-present spirit; or so he says. Maybe he was the spark of his times. He certainly was part of the background music. I wish the book was better. I received my copy from Penguin’s First to Read Program.
July 23, 2018
At least I'm enjoying the ride! A great romp through the tumbleweeds of Wyoming to the streets of Manhattan and beyond with one of the great American anti-heroes. JPB had a connection with many of the greats, from Timothy Leary and Jerry Garcia to JFK, Jr and Alan Simpson. I thoroughly enjoyed his take on his own amazing journey and had a few smiles and laughs on the ride. He worked on this story all the way until his death in February, 2018. I am thankful for the words he wrote that turned into some of my favorite Grateful Dead songs (sung by his lifelong friend, Bobby Weir). Highly recommended for the unique and iconoclastic point of view.
What you are, and what you're meant to be
Speaks his name, though you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy
What you are, and what you're meant to be
Speaks his name, though you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy
February 14, 2019
Mother American Night is an (admitted) ghostwritten autobiography of John Perry Barlow, founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Grateful Dead lyricist, politician, and an important figure in the early days of the Internet. While this book is a nice and easy read, it flies through all of the events of Barlow's life very quickly without substantive descriptions of events, people, or reasoning. At the very least, this book gave me a good starting point to understanding the events that led up to the founding of important institutions like the EFF and Freedom of the Press Foundation. This book is worth a read if you're truly interested in Barlow, but can definitely be skipped over otherwise.
October 26, 2022
I was going to be generous and give this three stars, (I wish Goodreads had a half-star system because it would have been 2.5). But I had to deduct an entire star (at least) because the acknowledgement section contains wording that this book is the "first piece of truly non-fiction ever written." That would be absurd for any book. But it is especially silly in this instance as while I was reading the book I kept thinking, "I wonder how many people in the book would like a chance to offer a rebuttal." Otherwise, it was a fairly entertaining read by a guy who lived life to its fullest and generally led a charmed existence. Fair to say that most people following his particular course end up dead at a young age or otherwise living miserably.
January 4, 2019
Reading this unusual book: ""Mother American Night" by John Perry Barlow. He was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Wyoming. He wrote many of the lyrics of songs by the Greatful Dead. He ran the campaign to get Dick Cheny to win the US House of Representative seat for WYoming in Congress. He also did acid and many other drugs. Very unusual life, some stories of Wyoming I found similar to my experiences, amazing intellect which did not die from all the drugs. Anyway, maybe not a fun read, but a very interesting one. He started the "Electronic Frontier Foundation" to try to protect digital speech as freedom of speech in cyberspace.
November 13, 2020
Despite being a deadhead I've never really held a high opinion of JPB. There were a lot of interesting stories in here definitely, but if anything it made me think even lower of this man. His ego seems to cloud any sort of self reflection and this comes off as him bragging and name dropping his way through the greatest hits without ever actually opening himself up to the reader. He does point out his lows with his highs but instead of showing a pattern of growth he falls into the trappings of most counterculture icons that refuse to learn and instead are just selfish, self centered people at the end of the day.
August 20, 2022
Being a Deadhead/fan of Barlow’s lyrics, I picked up this memoir, knowing it would be full of crazy tales and good writing. Indeed, it was, with some stories so farcical and close to unbelievable that I found myself laughing out loud in astonishment. Barlow’s life in music, politics, ranching, and technology was interesting, forward-thinking, and absolutely wild. The book features a wide range of celebrities (Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, Timothy Leary, JFK Jr., Dick Cheney, Steve Jobs and many, many more) as well as Barlow’s various love interests (some readers like me may have a bit of difficulty with his nonchalant womanizing), making for a juicy, irreverent behind-the-scenes read.
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