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Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth CenturyGreil Marcus, author of Mystery Train, widely acclaimed as the best book ever written about America as seen through its music, began work on this new book out of a fascination with the Sex Pistols: that scandalous antimusical group, invented in London in 1975 and dead within two years, which sparked the emergence of the culture called punk. "I am an antichrist " shouted singer Johnny Rotten where in the world of pop music did that come from? Looking
Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train, widely acclaimed as the best book ever written about America as seen through its music, began work on this new book out of a fascination with the Sex Pistols: that scandalous antimusical group, invented in London in 1975 and dead within two years, which sparked the emergence of the culture called punk. "I am an antichrist " shouted singer Johnny Rotten--where in the world of pop music did that come from? Looking for an answer, with a high sense of the drama of the journey, Marcus takes us down the dark paths of counterhistory, a route of blasphemy, adventure, and surprise. This is no mere search for cultural antecedents. Instead, what Marcus so brilliantly shows is that various kinds of angry, absolute demands--demands on society, art, and all the governing structures of everyday life--seem to be coded in phrases, images, and actions passed on invisibly, but inevitably, by people quite unaware of each other. Marcus lets us hear strange yet familiar voices: of such heretics as the Brethren of the Free Spirit in medieval Europe and the Ranters in seventeenth-century England; the dadaists in Zurich in 1916 and Berlin in 1918, wearing death masks, chanting glossolalia; one Michel Mourre, who in 1950 took over Easter Mass at Notre-Dame to proclaim the death of God; the Lettrist International and the Situationist International, small groups of Paris--based artists and writers surrounding Guy Debord, who produced blank-screen films, prophetic graffiti, and perhaps the most provocative social criticism of the 1950s and '60s; the rioting students and workers of May '68, scrawling cryptic slogans on city walls and bringing France to a halt; the Sex Pistols in London, recording the savage "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen." Although the Sex Pistols shape the beginning and the end of the story, Lipstick Traces is not a book about music; it is about a common voice, discovered and transmitted in many forms. Working from scores of previously unexamined and untranslated essays, manifestos, and filmscripts, from old photographs, dada sound poetry, punk songs, collages, and classic texts from Marx to Henri Lefebvre, Marcus takes us deep behind the acknowledged events of our era, into a hidden tradition of moments that would seem imaginary except for the fact that they are real: a tradition of shared utopias, solitary refusals, impossible demands, and unexplained disappearances. Written with grace and force, humor and an insistent sense of tragedy and danger, Lipstick Traces tells a story as disruptive and compelling as the century itself.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Belknap Press
Published: 11/01/2009
ISBN: 9780674034808
Pages: 482
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.30w x 1.00d
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★★★★★ 5
Great Tray For Storing My Everyday Carries
Size: 8.5" x 5.8" x 1.9", Color: Black
My everyday carry items (wallet, keys, etc.), used to just get thrown around wherever when I'd get home, but this little tray makes a great, defined, space for me to keep those things when I don't need them on me. The soft lining reduces the obnoxious sound of throwing keys on a hard surface, and of course keeps me from scratching up a surface. The build feels quality and I haven't seen any damage to it yet. Also the all black version with gold buckle looks quite good and adds a subtle touch of luxury. Absolute recommend for the price.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Just the right size to empty your pockets.
Size: 8.5" x 5.8" x 1.9", Color: Orange
Perfect size to empty my pockets when I get home. Fits my wallet, keys, AirPods, etc. excellent quality.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Nice and classy
Size: 8.5" x 5.8" x 1.9", Color: Black
Bought this for my husband for Christmas and he loved it. Super classy elegant well made box. Perfect for bedside nightstand for your watch and rings.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Nice looking and durable
Size: 8.5" x 5.8" x 1.9", Color: Black
I bought this for my little nephew to put his rocks in and out and to keep them in. It’s perfect and durable.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Perfect size
Size: 8.5" x 5.8" x 1.9", Color: Black, Size: 8.5" x 5.8" x 1.9", Color: Black
Love the look of leather and metal together.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2026