Craig S. (innermacro) reviewed Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century on + 2 more book reviews
Perhaps it's my own fault for not reading reviews of this book before I picked it up and started reading it. This book is less of a book about punk than it is a very detailed review of various avant-garde counterculture movements in the 1900s. Marcus' style of writing was difficult for me to follow - he seems to jump back and forth between topics and examples too quickly to maintain a coherent delivery. I think I would have found the book more interesting if he developed his ideas more completely before moving to the next point, but maybe that was his intention? At any rate, readers looking for a book on punk or new wave may be interested in learning where bands like Cabaret Voltaire, the Communards, or the Durutti Column got their names, but the book content with respect to the scene in the 70s and 80s is pretty sparse by comparison. Readers looking for a history of counter-culture will find this a five star.
