Back in 1994, David Shenk and Steve Silberman joined forces to write Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads. A longtime favorite among Relix staffers and Dead fans everywhere, the book is entering the digital age with an eBook edition. In honor of the Fare Thee Well shows, Skeleton Key is now available for $2.99 through July 12 (when the price will return to $11.99). Shenk’s books include The Immortal Game, The Genius in All of Us and The Forgetting. Silberman, a longtime contributor to WIRED and other outlets and has written the forthcoming in-depth history of autism NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity set for publication in August.

As Shenk tells Relix, “It’s a thrill to finally bring this book into the digital world. Though we wrote it back in the days of pulp and ink, it was always meant to be experienced more as an individual exploration than a linear book. We hoped readers would dance from term to term — from “Alembic” to “The Wolf” to “MIDI” to “Musique Concrete.” Now, with digital links, this is possible. To me, it brings the book alive.”

He also clarifies, “We do need readers to realize that this is not an updated edition. Steve and I decided to resissue the book exactly as it was in 1994. Rather than try to account for everything tragic and glorious that’s happened in the generation since, we opted to enjoy the moment that was. And what a moment: 1994-95, the last year of Jerry’s extraordinary life.”

Silberman adds, “It’s so exciting to see our baby join the 21st Century. David and I feel lucky to have chronicled the world of language that all of us created together while having some of the best times of our lives. Thank you Jerry, and thanks to the hundreds of Deadheads and Dead family members who shared their stories with us. When we were writing Skeleton Key, the Internet was just starting to emerge as a popular medium, and the Web hadn’t even been invented yet. But the hyperlinked nature of the early Net profoundly affected us and the structure of our book, with its many cross-references enabling readers to explore the gloriously colorful Deadhead subculture in their own ways. In a way, this is how Skeleton Key was always supposed to be.”