Real Life Rock

by Greil Marcus

The Washington Post hails Greil Marcus as “our greatest cultural critic.” Writing in the London Review of Books, D. D. Guttenplan calls him “probably the most astute critic of American popular culture since Edmund Wilson.” For nearly thirty years, he has written a remarkable column that has migrated from the Village Voice to Artforum, Salon, City Pages, Interview, and The Believer and currently appears in the Barnes & Noble Review. It has been a laboratory where Marcus has fearlessly explored and wittily dissected an enormous variety of cultural artifacts, from songs to books to movies to advertisements, teasing out from the welter of everyday objects what amounts to a de facto theory of cultural transmission.

Published to complement the paperback edition of The History of Rock & Roll in Ten Songs, Real Life Rock reveals the critic in full: direct, erudite, funny, fierce, vivid, astute, uninhibited, and possessing an unerring instinct for art and fraud. The result is an indispensable volume packed with startling arguments and casual brilliance.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Criticism, Film, Essays

600 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 2015

About the author

Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. In recent years he has taught at Berkeley, Princeton, Minnesota, NYU, and the New School in New York. He lives in Oakland, California.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Real Life Rock" is Greil Marcus' long-term column of top-ten items per month. Written for various publications and websites. What is impressive is not his taste or opinion, but his ability to wander through pop culture and pick up the pieces that interest him the most. I don't always agree with his opinions, but I do admire the thought and writing skill that he uses to support his visions of culture on the run. For instance, he took the title "Real Life" from Magazine's first album. He loved the title of the album, but not the album itself. I, on the other hand feel that it is one of the great musical moments of the 1970s. And on top of that, he admires my father's (Wallace Berman) artwork, but thought the writing/essays were dull in the book about my dad, "Support the Revolution," which is silly, because I wrote an essay for that... Hey! Nevertheless, he is a superb writer, and I like how he thinks about music and how it relates to the bigger picture. The book is a collection of his columns from 1986 to 2014. The book does not constitute a snapshot of the late 20th century, but more how Marcus sees the world around him, and his critical writing is very personal, and his taste is very consistent throughout the years. One sees Bob Dylan, The Doors, Joy Division, Gang of Four, The Mekons, Guy Debord, David Lynch, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Eleanor Friedberger, Bryan Ferry, over and over again, but no David Bowie! No Sparks! In fact, there are a lot of music and musicians that he doesn't mention in any shape or form. Which is OK, because this is Greil Marcus' world and we're allowed to go in, but we shouldn't bring in additional (critical or musical) guests. It's interesting to read his columns in one volume, instead of reading "Real Life" on a monthly basis. I would have often looked at Artforum Magazine on the newsstand, and the first thing I would look at is his column. I never get pissed off with his viewpoint, but I'm fascinated in how he uses music as a springboard into the other arts. The majority here is music, but there is film, and even TV commercials that he comments on. "Real Life Rock" is a good way to go into Marcus' brain to see how it works, and what comes up in his world. If you are a long-time reader of his column, there is usually nothing surprising, but on the other hand you do get his sense of aesthetic, and that is what I try to find in a critic. Not if he or she likes a work, but how they "see" that art. "Mystery Train" was my introduction, and "Lipstick Traces" made me a card-carrying fan, but I don't follow him blindly into the alley, but still, the adventure to go with him is quite good.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this advance proof copy from Goodreads. Since I am a die hard rock and roll fan I was sure happy to win this book. This is a book composed of columns this author has written for different companies concerning music, performers, the bands and everything music related. In later columns he also added pop culture and he also lists the songs, the groups, when they did commercials, when they were on tour, when they any tv appearances. He also mentions when directors and producers used these songs in the soundtracks of their movies. I remember when Arnold used Gun's and Roses in his movie and he was also in their MTV video. He talks about Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Motley Crue, Aerosmith and Steven Tyler, Billy Ray Cyrus, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, Bob Marley, Pink, the E Street Band, Kayne West, Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Rihanna and every band there is I think. You can the process of music in the book, how the styles have changed. This book is really packed with music and pop culture information.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book for free in a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway.
I really enjoyed reading this book! I thought it was quite interesting and it was unlike any book that I've read so far. It kept my attention for the most part.
I would recommend this book to anyone in need of an unusual book to read!

[Kimley]

This is going to take forever... cause it's impossible to read without checking all this stuff out...

But what a lot of fun!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been following Greil Marcus for years, ever since I stumbled across his columns in Rolling Stone and later in The Village Voice. His ability to weave rock music into the broader tapestry of culture, politics, and history hooked me from the start. Whether he’s dissecting a Bob Dylan lyric or connecting a punk anthem to medieval heretics, Marcus has this knack for making you hear music differently, like he’s peeling back layers you didn’t know were there. His writing feels like a conversation with a brilliant friend who’s obsessed with music but sees it as a lens for understanding everything else.

This collection of his Real Life Rock Top 10 columns is Marcus at his best, capturing fleeting moments in songs, films, and even random cultural artifacts with sharp insight. He’ll jump from a Sleater-Kinney riff to a forgotten blues singer or a quirky museum exhibit, and somehow it all clicks. Each entry is a snapshot of his curious mind, blending humor, history, and a deep love for music’s power to reflect our lives.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beast of a book. I've been reading it off and on for almost three years and it's the kind of thing that I could return to over and over for the rest of my life probably. It is basically one top ten list after another (with sequence not the focus as much as what was most important on Marcus' mind at the time) with Marcus covering all things cultural, but mostly music-related. There's no doubt - and it's almost universally accepted - that he's a gifted writer. What amazed me is how consistently insightful and funny he stayed over roughly 30 years of commentary. I didn't always agree with him and he often came across as crotchety, but he always justified his position well. Essential reading and almost a required resource for anyone interested in mid-80's-mid-90's (and before) culture. Majestic!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has taken me eight months to read this, in bites of 50 or so I-book pages, between other books. I was exited, agitated, exasperated, annoyed, pleased, angry..... but always interested, not necessarily in each individual item bout often in the themes that developed,, probably not deliberately. I put books and albums onto my want list, and in the latter case, sometimes wondered why I had done so when I listened to them. I even googled art works and photographs so I could try to understand, sometimes I did, sometimes I did not. I don’t share his love of punk; I reflect absolutely his phobia on Lucinda Williams and, although I share his general skepticism on tribute albums, there are more good tracks than he admits! But I really admire his work!

[Timothy Swartout · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tome is a collection of the author’s “Real Life Rock Top 10” columns from various publications from 1986 to 2014. It’s a monster of a long read but is never less than entertaining and thought-provoking, often leaving me to wonder really wonder, how can one person fit so much knowledge of our culture and its many expressions into his brain, and then throw it out there so eloquently? The reviews run the gamut from albums of its time, movies you have most certainly never heard of, art showings long-since completed and forgotten, live concerts real and imagined, overheard conversations, the list goes on, seemingly forever. The mind reels, but loved every moment of this one.

[Kevin Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost always interesting and the staggering scope of topics (mostly music but also politics, art, culture, etc) is impressive, even if some artists seem to be mentioned more tunes than necessary (to me but to him, which is fair enough)

[Jerry James · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ordered this giant box of review chocolates on impulse, not knowing who the hell this reviewer is, but hoping for some rock-n-roll deliciousness. I only liked a couple bites. I left all them on some park bench.

[Thomas Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a peeve than a review but here goes: This guy pretty much burps Bob Dylan's farts and then repeatedly and nastily attacks Lucinda Williams for . . . lack of authenticity? It's just weird.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This massively dense collection of Marcus’ top ten columns is well worth the effort you’ll put into reading it; his knowledge of music (and culture in general) is seemingly bottomless.

[Bob Peru · Rating 4 out of 5]

even when i don’t agree with his judgements marcus is always smart and pithy. he’s not a fan of leonard cohen or lucinda williams. he’s both astute and off base re dylan. but entertaining always.

[eden! · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had a nickel for every time he mentions Cat Power, Bob Dylan, or “Gimme Shelter,” I’d be a very rich woman.

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I first came across Greil Marcus' criticism on Salon.com, where his column, "Real Life Rock," appeared from 1990-2003. This led me to track down a couple of his books, The Shape of Things to Come and The Dustbin of History. These books like his columns are full of interesting insight into all sorts of topics, not just music. He has an engaging and eclectic mind with far ranging interests. Real Life Rock (2015) collects all of his columns (formatted as monthly Top 10 lists "Real Life Top 10") from the following publications: The Village Voice 1986-1990, Artforum 1990-1998, Salon 1999-2003, City Pages 2003-2004, Interview 2006-2007, The Believer 2008-2014. The early columns confirm some of my musical tastes and establishing recurring themes in his selections. Marcus is very knowledgeable in the origins and greats of rock n roll-so there's lots of references to classic blues, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan. But these lists are not only concerned with music-he lists films, books, commercials, among other things. Some things he likes:Elvis Costello, The Fastbacks, Gang of Four, The Mekons and any spin off, solo project related to the band, riot grrl bands especially Sleater Kinney. He has special loathing for Lucinda Williams. In one column he does a take down of New Yorker film critic David Denby. I was inspired to search out some references and music that he championed as a result I reconnected with The Mekons and became a fan of The Handsome Family, Young Marble Giants, Waco Brothers, Lydia Loveless, and was introduced to "Almost You: The Songs of Elvis Costello" tribute album. Every mention of a tribute album is followed by: "Are tribute albums the worst? Most entries are lively and full of the convictions of an opinionated curator of modern culture.

[Christopher McQuain · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a slog (it took me many months to get through it), and it's mostly my fault: I read this book from cover to cover, in the chronological order in which Marcus's "Real Life Top 10" columns compiled here appear, and that's clearly not the right way to read it. This is a reference book with an index; it's to be dipped into at random or with a goal, and might be best read one entry a week, for hundreds of weeks on end. As I read it, though, Marcus's singular voice, obsessions, erudition, knowledge, and taste actually came to seem tiresome in a way it never could in, for example, his great LIPSTICK TRACES; again, I stress that this is my fault, for reading the book in a way in which that voice's periodical expression comes to seem at once too much and not enough.

Humor side note: Marcus is a frequent smart-ass who usually earns his surplus of attitude. However, there's a bait-and-switch here between two running jokes, the intentional one ("aren't tribute albums terrible?" opens each and every entry on a tribute album) and the unintentional one -- Marcus's inexplicable, cartoonish hatred of Lucinda Williams, which must pop up here close to 10, or even more, times over the almost 30 years' worth of collected columns. How on earth did this unlikely bête noir come to haunt Marcus so savagely that each outrageous, hilarious derision (hilarious not for any cleverness but for its disproportionate rancor) seems twice as petty as the last? There's got to be an interesting story behind it, and THAT's a book I could happily read cover to cover, probably in one sitting.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over a 6 year period, reading it when I only had time to read something short, but also allowing myself to savor it and not get burned out by its density and length.
Marcus’s approach here is a cultural time capsule but viewed with precision, insight, and a sense of both history and humor. Marcus is also an excellent writer and a unique stylist. He is, hands down, our best living writer on pop culture.
Overall, you get the sense of an unusually curious and rigorous mind applying itself to songs or books or films or artists that otherwise would have not merited a close reading, may have been misunderstood or may have simply disappeared.
Certain items recur - The Great Gatsby, Wisconsin Death Trip, the awfulness of tribute albums (often followed by a great performance Marcus found on one of these tributes), the phoniness of Lucinda Williams.

You won’t agree with all of it but that’s actually the point.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic read, a meandering tour through the history of American Rock and Roll. I was not familiar with the author's various newspaper and magazine columns over the years, but it seems he really knows his stuff with a long career of covering this beat. The almost encyclopedic catalogue of stories, facts and anecdotes of the big names of rock and roll (Dylan, the Stones, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Bob Marley, etc) is fascinating. Hard to put down, but definitely something to dip into over and over again.

I wont this book as part of the Good Reads First Reads giveaway program - thanks!

[Jason Brezinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many things to track down from these lists. Books, bands, songs.
And a very good eye on history as it's happening. It's interesting to read the columns written during the entry of the W Bush presidency and see how they map onto the end of 2016. Very Battlestar Galactica: All this has happened before and it will happen again.
But, never minding that, still the book is a great way to find out new stuff.

[Matt Ogborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't really a book you finish, instead flipping through it obsessively every once in a while. Marcus is totally full of shit at least 40% of the time, but the relentless encyclopedic nature of this one is right up my alley. And sometimes he's absolutely right on the money.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lie: the book goes on the headboard of the bed, and I'll dip into it until I put something else there.

Greil Marcus will say harsh things about people and songs and books and ideas you love. Deal with it.

[Liz Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is a dream come true, since I missed several eras of "Real Life Rock" as it changed publications.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this in chunks; stop for a while, read something else, come back to it. There's a lot to take in, not only because the book is 500+ pages of two-column layout and fairly small print, but because Marcus' net is so wide as he critiques popular culture that there's, well, a lot to take in. A collection of his "Real Life Rock Top 10" lists from 1986 - 2014, anything than can somehow fall under the umbrella of popular culture is fair game: music (with a penchant for early American murder ballads and obscure punk bands), art, books, films, television, newspaper articles, even the occasional overheard conversation. Since the format is a list, the observations are a marvel of economy, focus and wit.