Review: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

Is Dave Grohl the nicest man in music? Is he on *everybody’s* fantasy dinner party guest list?

I’ve just finished his memoir, The Storyteller, and fell in love with both the writing and the man. This didn’t feel like the usual rock ‘n’ roll memoir. It felt…hopeful. It focused more on the magic of music, rather than the destruction of its players - even though, of course, pain and grief do feature predominantly. So how is that even possible?

I think the reason it’s possible is because Dave Grohl seems like a genuinely nice bloke who appears to have more interest in exploring heart and soul than conveying rock n roll ‘edge’. He doesn’t boast of getting wasted and arrested (well, there’s a teeny bit of that but it has more than a whiff of ‘geek’ about it. And very self aware.) He boasts of meeting his idols - not his peers (which, to most of us readers, we would presume they are). He is a musician and a music ‘fan’. He buzzes when he meets Lemmy, and he knows how big a deal it is to introduce Joan Jett to his daughters.

Fandom sometimes feels a bit shameful. When we move from our teenage years to adulthood we often feel a bit cringe having spent years putting our favourites on a pedestal. Posters on walls. T-shirts on chests. Getting tongue-tied if we happen to get up close and personal after a gig. But Dave Grohl’s mega famous himself - and he doesn’t apologise for this. Not once. He revels in its magic.

Going back to my ‘heart and soul’ over ‘edge’ comment, I think that also comes through in his writing about Kurt Cobain. He talks of his friend and musician, Kurt, not the ‘drug addicted rock star’ Kurt - which we’ve seen so much of in the media. So the pain comes from love and friendship, rather than darkness. We’re not skirting around anything here, we’re just being reminded that rock stars are human beings.

I also enjoyed learning of his love of being a family man - of being a husband and a dad and a son. Of finding himself faced with a pivotal moment - when his love of music came second for the first time (I’ll share no spoilers, but I will tell you how sweet it is. Very).

There is clarification upfront that no ghost writers were used (he wrote the book in lockdown), which also makes the book that bit more special. The writing is gorgeous - well crafted, engaging. It does what it says on the tin - Dave Grohl is a natural storyteller. And this is a collection of stories any fan will get completely lost in.

HOWEVER, if there’s one thing I wish I had considered before diving in, that would be to try the audio book first. A few people mentioned that it’s a brilliant listen, because it is, of course, read by the man himself. So although I can’t review the audio book, I feel pretty confident in recommending it!

The Storyteller is published by Simon & Schuster (UK) and Harper Collins (US). PS, there’s an audio book sample if you click on the US orders button below.

Enjoy!

Photo of Dave Grohl by Diego Mora Barrantes on Unsplash