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Lisa of Troy's Reviews > The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music—A Memoir of Dreams, Music and Legendary Collaborations

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
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it was amazing

Perfect for anyone who loves music or emotional intelligence!

Before you do anything, open YouTube and type in "Dave Grohl Plays Nirvana NYC 2021."

This book spoke to me as a music lover. When I was in middle school, I was given a choice: a radio or TV. Of course, we were too broke to afford cable TV so the choice was easy: radio! I must have listened to Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls at least 2,000 times.

The Storyteller was an extremely entertaining memoir where Dave's love of music shines and shines through. Dave strolls through his childhood and his days in the business, primarily with Scream, Nirvana, and the Foo Fighters. Although Dave never mentions it, he is simply a master in emotional intelligence. He spent years touring in a van with numerous other bandmates. If I had to tour in a van, I would not last more than 24 hours. Recently, there was a lawsuit filed by the baby on the cover of Nirvana's most famous cover (now a man in his 30's) who is claiming that he was taken advantage of and would like the cover to be altered (despite the fact that he has reenacted the cover scene many times and has stated that he didn't really do anything for Nirvana). When Dave Grohl was asked what he thought, "I have many ideas of how we should alter that cover but we'll see what happens. We'll let you know. I'm sure we'll come up with something good. I think there is much more to look forward to and much more to life than getting bogged down in those kinds of things." This guy is a rock star just for saying that! Instead of cutting this freeloader down to size, he went positive and said that he has a lot of creative ideas. How cool is that?!

The Storyteller had me laughing out loud often. I never even knew who Dave Grohl was before reading this book so you don't have to know who he is to enjoy it. For this book, I practiced immersion reading (listening to the audio while following along in a printed copy). The audiobook was read by Dave Grohl himself. He has an incredible rich voice that was a pleasure just to listen to. There is also about 10 minutes of bonus material in the audiobook that was not in my Kindle version.

Overall, a must read if you really love music! Rock on!

2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities

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Reading Progress

October 9, 2021 – Shelved
October 10, 2021 – Started Reading
October 10, 2021 –
25.0%
October 12, 2021 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-50 of 73 (73 new)


Mark  Porton I love this guy! I hope you're well Lisa :)


Rebecca Just got my copy! Can’t wait to read it. Fantastic review Lisa! 💖


message 3: by Engrossed (new)

Engrossed Reader Great review, I saw this on Audible over the weekend and was debating whether I should get it. You've made up my mind for me. Thanks


message 4: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Filed away as a maybe bc I don't do music biographies (often, if at all). He is though a good drummer. Hopefully if I get to it his writing is good too. Thanks for your thoughts Lisa.


message 5: by Diane (new)

Diane Wallace Great review, Lisa! I always enjoy music from him and his band ;)


message 6: by [deleted user] (new)

Absolutely stunning review, as always, Lisa, I might add.


message 7: by Ghoul (new)

Ghoul Von Horror I bought this for my boyfriend


Ravenous Raven of Mordor Woah he even voiced the audiobook 😮 Dave Grohl is amazing!
Fun fact: During a live show he fell of stage and was rushed to hospital with a broken leg, he ended up returning that same night about 2-3 hours later and played out the rest of the show.


Karen Love him�. and� I forgot to recommend this on Overdrive so now I’m #114 on 4 copies🤦‍♀�


Karen Oh�. and wonderful review Lisa!


message 11: by Kerrin (new)

Kerrin Great review. I watched the video. I am not a Nirvana fan, but I did like some of the Foo Fighters music.


Melissa (Semi-hiatus for Work) My husband is dying to read this book, he loves Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. Great review!


Lisa of Troy Mark wrote: "I love this guy! I hope you're well Lisa :)"

Thanks, Mark! I'm hanging in there. Still recovering from my heart surgery while fighting infection. Trying not to be grumpy because the doctors removed all of my effective medication while they are waiting for my heart to form scar tissue. At least I have my books :)


Lisa of Troy Rebecca wrote: "Just got my copy! Can’t wait to read it. Fantastic review Lisa! 💖"

Thanks, Rebecca! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!


Lisa of Troy Engrossed wrote: "Great review, I saw this on Audible over the weekend and was debating whether I should get it. You've made up my mind for me. Thanks"

Thanks, Engrossed! I listened to this on Audible as well. I also just signed up for something called Scribd for access to more audiobooks as Audible is costing me a small fortune every month. Hopefully, I can save some money while still reading the same number of books!


Lisa of Troy Sarah wrote: "Filed away as a maybe bc I don't do music biographies (often, if at all). He is though a good drummer. Hopefully if I get to it his writing is good too. Thanks for your thoughts Lisa."

Thanks, Sarah! This was my first music memoir so not really sure how it stacks up against others but now I'm curious..... :)


Lisa of Troy Diane wrote: "Great review, Lisa! I always enjoy music from him and his band ;)"

Thanks, Diane!


Lisa of Troy Swaroop wrote: "Lisa,
A wonderful review - thank you!
🙂🥁🍁☘️"


Thanks, Swaroop! I hope you enjoy your week of reading! Love the drum emoji!


Lisa of Troy Bob (aka Bobby Lee) wrote: "Absolutely stunning review, as always, Lisa, I might add."

Thanks, Bob! Much appreciated!


Lisa of Troy Ghoul wrote: "I bought this for my boyfriend"

True love = books!


Lisa of Troy Ravenous Raven of Mordor wrote: "Woah he even voiced the audiobook 😮 Dave Grohl is amazing!
Fun fact: During a live show he fell of stage and was rushed to hospital with a broken leg, he ended up returning that same night about 2..."


Yes! This was covered in The Storyteller! That is amazing! He really cares about his fans. It reminds me of when I was supposed to go to a Garth Brooks concert with floor tickets. We rent a super high end hotel, ate at a high end restaurant, and then when we got to the concert, we were escorted to the triple nose bleed section behind a post. No way did I select these tickets. Ticketmaster switched out the ticket that I selected with a ticket that was available. Devastation would not begin to cover how I felt. So I really, really respect Dave for going on with the show.


Lisa of Troy Karen wrote: "Love him�. and� I forgot to recommend this on Overdrive so now I’m #114 on 4 copies🤦‍♀�"

Oh Overdrive! I already have my 15 holds so I am maxed out! But can't beat free!


Lisa of Troy Karen wrote: "Oh�. and wonderful review Lisa!"

Thanks, Karen!


Lisa of Troy Kerrin wrote: "Great review. I watched the video. I am not a Nirvana fan, but I did like some of the Foo Fighters music."

Thanks, Kerrin! The video was so shocking to me, because drums are something that I usually feel versus see. They are put into the corner and usually the plexi-glass is up, shielding the sound. I had no idea how physically demanding and complicated playing drums is! I've watched the video at least a half dozen times, and it never get old! Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!


Lisa of Troy Melissa (LifeFullyBooked) wrote: "My husband is dying to read this book, he loves Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. Great review!"

Thanks, Melissa! I hope he enjoys this book as much as I did!


message 26: by Engrossed (new)

Engrossed Reader Lisa of Troy wrote: "Engrossed wrote: "Great review, I saw this on Audible over the weekend and was debating whether I should get it. You've made up my mind for me. Thanks"

Thanks, Engrossed! I listened to this on Aud..."


I had a trial of Scribd and really enjoyed it. The mix of ebooks, audiobooks, documents, podcasts, etc is quite good. There were only a few books that I looked for and couldn't find.

I'm still debating whether to sign up as the reviews were terrible. But of the issues raised,
1. I never experienced any difficulties cancelling my trial, so can't comment on that but
2. when searching for books, started having to search multiple times to see if was there and searching the catalogue online in addition to the app
3. reached the artificial 'read too many limit' or 'not really an unlimited service' and the next few audiobooks I had my eye on (audiobooks were 80% of my reading there) were literally only available the day after my trial ended.

All that aside, I will probably join - it does make financial sense. Happy listening and reading 😀


Susan  (on hiatus) Wonderful review Lisa!


Lisa of Troy Susan wrote: "Wonderful review Lisa!"

Thanks, Susan!


message 29: by Msb (new) - rated it 5 stars

Msb Great review! I think my favourite part of the whole book is when he describes how he is walking through a museum with exhibits of those he looked up to, then they go from two-dimensional ideas to three-dimensional humans. That part really hit home that he’s just a regular guy who happens to be super creative and talented and charismatic. Love Dave, not a huge Foo Fighters fan, but enjoy their music. Dave is just something else. I really want to do an immersive read, though I could hear his voice in my head as I read the words. What a great book!


message 30: by Alp (new) - added it

Alp Thanks for this Lisa, can't wait to read the book. And since you enjoyed 'Grohl Plays Nirvana NYC 2021', try this one instead: 'Dave Grohl - Smells Like Teen Spirit @ the Ford' 🙌


message 31: by JD (new) - rated it 5 stars

JD Great review Lisa, this is a book I have to get!!!


message 32: by Yvette (new) - added it

Yvette Great review. Starting this today.


message 33: by Joe (new)

Joe Krakovsky Nice review, but I could never practice immersion reading for I read as slow as I type and still make mistakes!


Persephone's Pomegranate Dave Grohl is a national treasure.


Carolyn I’m kind of stumped at you mention of “emotional intelligence� & how it pertains to this book? Hmmmmm. I love the subject of emotional intelligence but definitely did not see it as a theme in this. I would love for you to tell me more about what you mean�


Valerie Cowan I listened to the audio version, read by Dave Grohl, and I think hearing the emotion in his voice made the book even better! He doesn’t take himself seriously, but his music he takes VERY seriously.


message 37: by Carol (new)

Carol Murray I’m just starting his book and loved the Introduction. I had no idea who he was, and I’m so delighted to get to know him through his writing. Great review.


Debbie This is a great review. You nailed it. I just finished it. I read about Kurt Cobain’s suicide and right after that I saw that Taylor Hawkins died. Considering he referred to Taylor as his best friend I can’t imagine the pain he is in right now. This is a great read. Even if you are not a fan of Nirvana or The Foo Fighters it’s worth checking out.


Leslie Waugh Sweet review, thank you, Lisa. I am nearly finished with the audio version and was curious about others' impressions. I had to stop and go YES! at seeing you mention the NYC video. I have one of them bookmarked (there are few from his book tour in October), Dave drumming along to "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I can't watch it enough right now, having learned more about Nirvana's history and Dave's explanation of how he was born into music. It's quite something � it feels to me like a seance, or a channelling, something besides just drumming, an impression possibly colored by the chapter on the psychic in Australia and living in a haunted house. I also highly recommend it, or one of at least two, from the Ford in October 2021.


Martin Happ I just finished the book (loved it!) and now want to go back through and do the immersion reading. The idea of Dave reading to me as I read along sounds wonderful.


Lisa of Troy Hope you enjoy the audiobook as much as I did! I just put together my top 10 audiobooks, and this one made the list!


message 42: by Luffy Sempai (new)

Luffy Sempai I don't like Grohl being a giant among midgets. A regular sized fish in a small pond. Let's keep him on that drum kit. That's where he belongs. You might also check Matt Cameron's drumming with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam :)


message 43: by [deleted user] (new)

Fantastic review, Lisa! This was my kids� music!


Miya (severe pain struggles, slower at the moment) Gorgeous review Lisa!! I really want to read this!


message 45: by Joe (last edited May 10, 2022 11:41AM) (new)

Joe I don't know much about Dave Grohl, but I enjoyed your appraisal of this book and excerpt a lot, Lisa. The iPhone video a fan shot of Grohl explaining why he won't sign autographs for them and his demeanor is great, considering the default for most celebrities is to pop on their sunglasses and pretend the fans aren't there. He seems to handle these encounters with aplomb.

Great choice on the radio vs. TV decision.


message 46: by Liong (new)

Liong Good reviews.


Lisa of Troy I just watched the video about Dave Grohl, that he only wants to sign autographs if it is for charity because so much of what he signs then just ends up on the internet, on eBay for resale. Although this might disappoint fans, I absolutely agree with him. He could probably spend all day signing autographs. Good for Dave for sticking to his position!


Lisa of Troy Thanks, Liong!


Lisa of Troy Thanks, Patcee! Hope you are enjoying your current read!


Lisa of Troy Thanks, Miya! Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!


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