6 book recommendations from Greil Marcus

[Dave Monroe]

6 book recommendations from Greil Marcus
Lately, the legendary rock critic has been delving into an eclectic
mix of Pynchon, Chandler, and Colson Whitehead
posted on November 12, 2010, at 12:13 PM


Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin, $16). I had tremendous fun
with this 2009 novel when it came out, but it’s stayed in my mind as a
vision of ugliness—heroin in hippie L.A. as a vast conspiracy, the
scope of which private eye Doc Sportello is only beginning to glimpse
when the book ends, which is why there has to be a sequel.

[...]

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Vintage, $14). I don’t even like
L.A., but for some reason it’s figuring heavily in this list. This
1939 novel is the Los Angeles of old buildings that have charm for a
reader now, even if they had none for Chandler, and the beginning of
the most indelible vernacular phrase-making in modern America.

http://theweek.com/article/index/209187/6-book-recommendations-from-greil-marcus