This article is about the book, for the compilation album by Manic Street Preachers see Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers).

Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century (1989) is a non-fiction book by American rock-music critic Greil Marcus

Greil Marcus

Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...

 that examines popular music

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 and art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

 as a social critique of Western culture

Western culture

Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...

.

The book covers 20th century avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 art movements like Dadaism, Lettrist International

Lettrist International

The Letterist International was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord as a schism from Isidore Isou's Letterist group...

 and Situationist International and their influence on late 20th century counterculture

Counterculture

Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...

s and The Sex Pistols and punk

Punk subculture

The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...

 movement.

A "soundtrack" to Lipstick Traces, compiling many of the songs referenced in the book, was released by Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...

 in 1993. http://www.ubu.com/sound/lipstick.html

In 1999, the book was adapted into a stage production by Rude Mechanicals (a.k.a. Rude Mechs)

Rude Mechanicals (a.k.a. Rude Mechs)

Rude Mechanicals is a collaborative theater company operating out of Austin, Texas, USA. Founded in 1995, the company has created 25 original plays and produced another 25 premieres and workshops. Since 1999, they have run a theater space called The Off Center, where they premiere all of their work...

 of Austin, TX. The play has been performed all across the United States- including a stint Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 in 2001- and in Salzburg, Austria. In 2005, the play was invited to join the New York Public Library

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

's Dramatic Literature Archive.

External links

• Harvard University Press: Lipstick Traces; publisher's site
• Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century; a play created by "Rude Mechs" in Austin, Texas (2000)
• Preview at Google books