Folk Music

Decade after decade, Greil Marcus has proven himself to be not only a brilliant cultural critic about the music, lives, and stories that have helped shape contemporary American consciousness; he has also done much to articulate why our music has always stood at the axis of sound, and politics. This book is not only a valuable addition to the canon, it further elevates Marcus to what he has always been: a supreme artist-critic. -Hilton Als Here is Greil Marcus at his most brilliantly insightful, eloquent, persuasive, brimming with information about Bob Dylan and his music, unique in his ability to combine the most candid sort of memoirist prose with truly inspired commentary. As Dylan 'sees himself' in his subjects, so Greil Marcus 'sees himself' in Dylan, the most original musical genius of our time, the perfect subject for the most original music critic of our time. -Joyce Carol Oates Greil Marcus's writing on Dylan constitutes one of the great living bodies of work by one mold-breaking creative mind interpreting the art and meaning of another. Dylan's multitudes find their champion in Marcus's critical exuberance. -Todd Haynes Marcus is unsurpassed in showing how Dylan reflected the cultural moment even as he changed it. This moving, personal, compelling book traces Dylan's complex relationship to American culture through some of Dylan's most iconic songs, enabling us to understand these songs in fresh ways while also giving us a profound history of how we understand ourselves. -Dana Spiotta Greil Marcus' writing on Bob Dylan is as essential as Dylan himself. Through the prism of Dylan's visionary genius, Marcus unveils a fascinating history of the soul of modern America. -Olivier Assayas