Greil Marcus

Acclaimed music critic Greil Marcus discusses the evolution of Lipstick Traces--from its reception as a cult classic to its recent adaptation at the hands of Texas theater troupe Rude Mechanicals.

Tonight Greil Marcus talks about his 1989 book Lipstick Traces and its recent theatrical transformation at the hands of the Rude Mechanicals of Austin, Texas. He'll reveal what happens when one falls through the looking glass of a book project, returning with something altogether different than what one set out to find. And he'll discuss what happens when an author surrenders control of his or her work and sends it out into the world--only to have it come back again in a form one could have never anticipated.

Greil Marcus is the author of Mystery Train (1975); The Dustbin of History (1995); The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes (1997/2001); and, most recently, Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives (2000). He writes regular columns for Interview and salon.com and contributes often to Bookforum, Threepenny Review, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times.