"It may be the most sophisticated political thriller ever made in Hollywood," film critic Pauline Kael wrote of John Frankenheimer's terrifying 1962 political thriller about an American serviceman bra
For nearly thirty years, Greil Marcus has written a remarkable column called “Real Life Rock Top Ten.” It has been a laboratory where he has fearlessly explored and wittily dissected an enormous varie
Greil Marcus has been one of the most distinctive voices in American music criticism for over forty years. His books, includingMystery Train and The Shape of Things to Come, traverse soundscapes of fo
A noted rock critic selects 10 songs recorded between 1956 and 2008—including Etta James' "All I Could Do Was Cry," also recorded by Beyonce, and Joy Division's "Transmission"— then proceeds to dramat
In 1975, Greil Marcus’s Mystery Train changed the way readers thought about rock ’n’ roll and continues to be sought out today by music fans and anyone interested in pop culture. Looking at recordings
A fan from the moment the Doors’ first album took over KMPX, the revolutionary FM rock & roll station in San Francisco, Greil Marcus saw the band many times at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium an
The book begins in Berkeley in 1968, and ends with a piece on Dylan’s show at the University of Minnesota—his very first appearance at his alma mater—on election night 2008. In between are moments of
Listening to Van Morrison represents Greil Marcus's quest to trace Morrison's particular genius through seminal moments in his long career, beginning in 1965, breaking open in 1968 with the incomparab
Forty years after the singer Jim Morrison was found dead in Paris and the group disbanded, Greil Marcus muses on how one could drive from here to there, changing fom one FM pop station to another,
A fan from the moment the Doors’ first album took over KMPX, the revolutionary FM rock & roll station in San Francisco, Greil Marcus saw the band many times at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium an
This book is about a single, serpentine fact: late in 1976 a record called 'Anarchy in the UK' was issued in London, and this event launched a transformation of pop music all over the world.
Marcus's Rolling Stone piece on Dylan's album Self Portrait - often referred to as the most famous record review ever written - began with 'What is this shit?' and led to his departure from the maga
A Special Edition with a New Introduction and an Updated DiscographyThis is Greil Marcus’s acclaimed book on the secret music made by Bob Dylan and the Band in 1967, which introduced a phrase that has
This book is a quest to understand Van Morrison's particular genius through a close look at the most extraordinary and unclassifiable moments in his long career, beginning in 1965 and continuing in fu
The book begins in Berkeley in 1968, and ends with a piece on Dylan’s show at the University of Minnesotahis very first appearance at his alma materon election night 2008. In betwee
Van Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music. When "Astral Weeks" was re-released as a live album in 2009 it reached the top of the Billboard ch
A renowned music critic exlpores the life and music of Van Morrison--what makes him one of the most unique musical artists of our time and what distinguishes his most transcendent moments. By the auth
Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train, widely acclaimed as the best book ever written about America as seen through its music, began work on this new book out of a fascination with the Sex Pistols: th
Focusing on a handful of performers - Harmonica Frank, Robert Johnson, the Band, Sly Stone, Randy Newman, and Elvis Presley - Greil Marcus opens up the American story of ambition and defeat, dreams a
A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceA San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the YearA London Times Literary Supplement Best Book of the YearIn this exhilarating and kaleidosc
America is a nation whose sense of righteousness goes hand in hand with paranoia. Greil Marcus explores the influence of culture and politics on the American psyche - and the idealism, horror, eloquen
In 1965, one song defined a generation caught the questing spirit of the era and changed the rules of the possible in popular music for all time. This book captures the heady atmosphere of the recordi
Greil Marcus saw Bob Dylan for the first time in a New Jersey field in 1963. He didn't know the name of the scruffy singer who had a bit part in a Joan Baez concert, but he knew his performance was u
In June of 1992, when all the polls showed that Bill Clinton didn't have a chance, he took his saxophone onto the Arsenio Hall show, put on dark glasses, and blew "Heartbreak Hotel." Greil Marcus, one
In life, Elvis Presley went from childhood poverty to stardom, from world fame to dissipation and early death. As Greil Marcus shows in this remarkable book, Presley's journey after death takes him ev
Was punk just another moment in music history, a flash in time when a group of young rebels exploded in a fury of raw sound, outrageous styles, and in-your-face attitude? Greil Marcus, author of the r
"How much history can be communicated by pressure on a guitar string?" Robert Palmer wondered in Deep Blues. Greil Marcus answers here: more than we will ever know. It is the history in the riff, in t
A latest release of a top-rated annual features the insights of a forefront critic guest editor and collects an extensive array of essays, articles, fiction, and other pieces on music and its related
Previously published as Invisible Republic and already considered a classic of modern American cultural criticism, The Old, Weird America is Greil Marcus's widely acclaimed book on the secret music (
