Greil Marcus is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Greil Marcus is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Bob Dylan’s the bootleg series, volumes 1–3 [rare & unreleased] 1961–1991 (Columbia) contains a shadow version of his entire career, embedded within 58 performances. They range from a tune taped in a Minnesota hotel room in 1961 to an outtake from the 1989 album Oh Mercy; along the way, three CDs collect concert recordings, alternate takes, rehearsals, and publishing demos, programmed roughly year by year. A lot of it is dross, a history of unfinished ideas or untranscended clichés, a book of footnotes. Other parts work as a series of interruptions—of

Greil Marcus’ “Social History als Schlatter” appears in the current issue of Texte zur Kunst. He is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Greil Marcus is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Greil Marcus is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Greil Marcus has recently completed a book on Elvis Presley since his death. He is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Greil Marcus is a writer who lives in Berkeley. “Real Life Rock” appears monthly in Artforum.

Greil Marcus' most recent book is Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, recently published in paperback by Harvard University Press. He is a contributing editor of Artforum.

Greil Marcus’s most recent book is Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, just published in paperback by Harvard University Press. He is a contributing editor of Artforum.