Greil Marcus: 6 book recommendations

Greil Marcus is a rock critic and co-editor of A New Literary History of America. His new book is an anthology of writings on Bob Dylan.

He recommended six books to the readers of The Week magazine, including:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

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.

Read about the other books on the list.

The Big Sleep also appears on Barry Forshaw's critic's chart of six American noir masters, David Nicholls' list of favorite film adaptations, and the Guardian's list of ten of the best smokes in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue