I love to haunt the stacks in a book store that feature books about music. Whenever I enter a new book store I make a beeline for the Music and Arts section of the store. I will find at least two-three new titles or thumb through old favorite books I don’t own yet.

My two favorite music book authors are Greil Marcus and Peter Guralnick. They are each articulate writers who write authoritative, well researched works. My admiration for their writing stems from their superior command of the music subjects they cover. They each paint a poetic landscape that is captured in stunning prose and incredible descriptive depth. Their passion for music, its artistry and the artists who create the sounds reaches way inside of me.

Greil Marcus has released a new book, The Doors, A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years, published by PublicAffairs books. The book is receiving  solid press and there are two Web articles in particular about the book, the author and The Doors I want to bring to your attention. One was written two weeks back for the New York Times by Dwight Garner, “Listening Again to Rock’s Wild Child and Finding Grandeur and Dread”.  That article stimulated my interest and I thumbed through a copy at Yale Bookstore on Black Friday.

I didn’t buy it that day but I placed it back in the stack with gingerly care as if to say, “I’ll be back for you someday soon…”

Then today I saw a Facebook share post about The Doors on NPR. “The Doors Prove Strange Days Are Still With Us.” It was a continuation of Greil Marcus and his subject The Doors. So I got to read a chapter excerpt and to hear Greil Marcus’s thoughts about this eternal band I love so much.

So Santa Claus I am adding this book to my Christmas list

Related articles

• The Doors – A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years – By Greil Marcus – Book Review (nytimes.com)
• Greil Marcus examines culture through prism of pop (sfgate.com)