Almost a Dead Head: James Parker bears witness to a 14-disc archive of Grateful Dead film footage
James Parker, a contributing editor to The Atlantic magazine, is one of the best writers of cultural criticism working today. I subscribe to The Atlantic partly because I know I'll get a scatter shot of weird imagery, little known facts, untwisted spin, and, usually, surprising empathy and insight from him. In the past year he's written intelligent and entertaining criticism on everyone and everything from Glenn Beck, "Game of Thrones," the band R.E.M., and the Goosebumps books. His R.E.M. piece in particular demonstrates his sophisticated drive to get at the deep meaning always embedded in popular culture. The new Atlantic just arrived at my house yesterday and once again Parker's talent is presented as he gives us his essay, "A Long, Strange Trip: How a new 14-DVD box set turned me on to the Dead." It's my favorite James Parker yet. He admits from the outset that he could care less for The Dead. "I had an aural impression of the Dead sou...