Culture May 6, 2010

If you are looking to discover what singer Van Morrison was like growing up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, or what gossip former bandmates have about him, don’t look for it in When That Rough God Goes Riding. Cultural critic Greil Marcus of Berkeley doesn’t write biographies as much as ruminations. His book’s subtitle, “Listening to Van Morrison,” provides a key to his purpose here: listening to, and pondering, Morrison’s music.