“As I write, Johnny Rotten's first moments in "Anarchy in the U.K." - a rolling earthquake of a laugh, a buried shout, then hoary words somehow stripped of all claptrap and set down in the city streets - I AM AN ANTICHRIST - Remain as powerful as anything I know. Listening to the record today - listening to the way Johnny Rotten tears at his lines, and then hurls the pieces at the world; recalling the all-consuming smile he produced as he sang - my back stiffens; I pull away even as my scalp begins to sweat.” KnowsWorldWayWritingFirstsMomentsTodayLinesPowerfulCitiesLaughingRecordsPiecesStreetsTearsListeningBuriedAnarchySweatRollingRottenConsumingEarthquakesAntichristCity StreetsJohnny Rotten Author:Greil Marcus
“I was the first records editor at Rolling Stone, and there were no rules. There was nothing to fall back on as to how do you write about this kind of music, so people were trying absolutely everything with a great sense of freedom and experimentation and success and failure, and a feeling of, “My God, people are actually paying attention to this. Let’s pretend they aren’t because we don’t want to be intimidated by what somebody might think of what we’re saying.” PeopleThinkingWantWritingTryingFirstsKindFeelingsMightFallAttentionRecordsStonesPay AttentionEditorsRollingSuccess And FailureIntimidatedExperimentationRolling StonesFall Back Author:Greil Marcus
“Farber had a huge effect on me as a writer. I don't mean I write like him. Farber is, first of all, a great stylist, a great writer. Anyone can read Manny Farber's film criticism, whether that person is a novelist, a poet, another critic, a historian, and learn a lot about writing by reading him.” WritingFirstsMeanPersonsFilmReadingEffectsPoetHugeCriticismCriticsNovelistsHistorianGreat WritersStylistFilm Criticism Author:Greil Marcus