Mystery Train

Greil Marcus’s study of American rock ‘n’ roll is justly regarded as one of the most accomplished examples of contemporary music writing. Using a handful of artists — a brace of bluesmen, The Band, Sly Stone, Randy Newman and Elvis Presley — Marcus illuminates and interprets the American Dream in rigorous prose, touching on myth, landscape and oral tradition. The result is an invigorating and wholly original study — here in its revised, sixth edition — that remains a high watermark in cultural criticism.