Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
John Perry Barlow wrote thirty 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. By any standard imaginable, John Perry Barlow has led a truly remarkable life. Black Throated Wind is the heartrendingly sad, hysterically funny, and often unbelievable yet always completely true story of a singular individual who has always pushed the edge of every envelope just as far as it would go while living his life to the fullest in the company of some of the most extraordinary public figures of our time. Referred to by more than one publication as "The Most Interesting Man In The World," Barlow has throughout his Zelig-like life maintained close and long-lasting relationships with such diverse cultural figures as Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Steve Jobs, and Gilberto Gil, the renowned Brazilian musician who also served as that country's Minister of Culture.
During his long and varied career, Barlow has written the lyrics to thirty songs by the Grateful Dead while also running his family's twenty-two thousand acre cattle ranch in Cora, Wyoming. Despite being a freely self-confessed acidhead, he served as a campaign manager for Dick Cheney during his successful run for Congress from that state in 1978--the same year he hosted an 18-year-old JFK, Jr. at his ranch for some summer seasoning. Plunging into the world of computers when he was forty-two years old, Barlow became a renowned internet guru who first defined the unique nature of cyberspace and then 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 always be at the cutting edge of popular culture in both America and the world. And as impressive as his public accomplishments have been, the saga of 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 story teller in the great American tradition of Mark Twain and Will Rogers.
Synopsis
John Perry Barlow's wild ride with the Grateful Dead was just part of a Zelig-like life that took him from a childhood as ranching royalty in Wyoming to membership in the Internet Hall of Fame as a digital free speech advocate. Mother American Night is the wild, funny, heartbreaking, and often unbelievable (yet completely true) story of an American icon. Born into a powerful Wyoming political family, John Perry Barlow wrote the lyrics for thirty Grateful Dead songs while also running his family's cattle ranch. He hung out in Andy Warhol's Factory, went on a date with the Dalai Lama's sister, and accidentally shot Bob Weir in the face on the eve of his own wedding. As a favor to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Barlow mentored a young JFK Jr. and the two then became lifelong friends. Despite being a freely self-confessed acidhead, he served as Dick Cheney's campaign manager during Cheney's first run for Congress. And after befriending a legendary early group of computer hackers known as the Legion of Doom, Barlow became a renowned internet guru who then cofounded the groundbreaking Electronic Frontier Foundation.
His resume only hints of the richness of a life lived on the edge. Blessed with an incredible sense of humor and a unique voice, Barlow was a born storyteller in the tradition of Mark Twain and Will Rogers. Through intimate portraits of friends and acquaintances from Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia to Timothy Leary and Steve Jobs, Mother American Night traces the generational passage by which the counterculture became the culture, and it shows why learning to accept love may be the hardest thing we ever ask of ourselves.