Definable Traces in the Atmosphere: Selected Writings

by Mike Marqusee, Liz Davies

This rich selection of Mike Marqusee’s writing captures the kaleidoscopic mind of a polymath who delighted in deploying one sphere of knowledge to provide exhilarating insight into others.

These pages capture the connections and contrasts between William Blake and Thomas Paine, Bob Dylan and Muhammad Ali, cricket and the nation state, Jewish identity and the BDS campaign, flamenco music and the films of John Ford, and the vagaries of political activism, often working closely with those who, subsequent to Mike’s untimely death in 2015, went on to lead the Labour Party.

The extraordinary profusion of Mike’s interests was rooted deep in the soil of principles: a lifelong commitment to socialism, a recognition of the transformative nature of art, an expansive internationalism, and a commitment to intellectual and personal honesty heedless of cost.

Acute and erudite, the pieces that make up Definable Traces in the Atmosphere reveal an intellect both serious and engaged. But Mike was never a writer who succumbed to the doctrinaire or the earnest. In marveling at this tapestry of some of his most memorable writing we can share another defining characteristic of its author’s outlook: a joyful appreciation that life’s pleasures are there for the sampling.

Genres: Essays

316 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Mike Marqusee was an American-born writer, journalist and political activist who has lived in Britain since 1971. He was the author of numerous books including If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew, Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the Sixties, Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties, Anyone but England: An Outsider Looks at English Cricket, a novel, Slow Turn, and a collection of poetry, Street Music. He was a regular correspondent for a range of publications including The Guardian, Red Pepper and The Hindu.

Reviews

[John Millard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Knew nothing about him so the learning was fun. I do not follow sport of any kind but I did appreciate the insights into the political importance of international competition as described in the writings about cricket.

[Andrew Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marqusee was a principled socialist activist but also a very skilled writer. This collection ranges over many of his interests, including cricket, music, radical history and much else besides. Highly recommended.