Duke University Press has announced the latest entry in its Studies in the Grateful Dead series, Clowns in the Burying Ground: The Grateful Dead, Literature, and the Limits of Philosophy, will arrive in February 2026. Written by Christopher K. Coffman, Master Lecturer of Humanities at Boston University, the book presents intertextual readings of the band’s lyrics to reveal how the Grateful Dead drew deeply from the wells of classical, European, and American literary traditions.
Through a close analysis of the group’s music, lyrics, and personal biographies, Coffman demonstrates how members of the Grateful Dead—including lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow—were influenced by literary canons ranging from Homer and Virgil to Shakespeare and American Romanticism. Viewing the Dead’s celebrated songbook through the lens of the “literary fragment” (a concept borrowed from German Romantic philosophy), he explores how their use of intertextuality, allusion, and other literary devices reflects a unique intersection of poetry and philosophy.
“Critics have long praised the Grateful Dead’s music and lyrics for their power and evocativeness, but we have never had a sustained examination of how the band tapped the wellsprings of Western literature as inspirations and influences,” said Nicholas G. Meriwether, editor of the Studies in the Grateful Dead series. “Coffman’s timely analysis provides a groundbreaking study that will appeal to both aficionados and to those curious about why the Dead have attracted so many generations of thoughtful listeners.”
“Coffman’s literary analysis of the lyrics is bolstered by deft attention to the sonic force-fields and amplified techno-sounds that make the popular music of a group like the GD so vital to the world-making and soul-transforming power recognized and needed by its rock audience across different generations and world contexts,” added Rob Wilson, author of Oceanic Becoming: The Pacific beneath the Pavements. “Coffman’s approach enacts how the GD lyrics and music still are haunting and can live on and on across generations and contexts.”
Clowns in the Burying Ground is the third book in the Studies in the Grateful Dead series, which examines the band’s enduring cultural impact and legacy with a scholarly perspective, bridging the gap between rigorous academic research and popular discussion. Previous titles include Live Dead: The Grateful Dead, Live Recordings, and the Ideology of Liveness by John Brackett and Get Shown the Light: Improvisation and Transcendence in the Music of the Grateful Dead by Michael Kaler. Find more information here.