What’s happening: Greil Marcus book appearance

In his new book, “When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison,” formidable cultural critic Greil Marcus waxes reverential on the Celtic bluesman’s initially ignored, now-iconic “Astral Weeks” yet dismisses 16 albums’ worth of Morrison’s music from 1980 to 1996 as “characterless” and forgettable. Fighting words, to be sure, for Van Morrison’s legion of devotees; but the author of “Lipstick Traces” and “The Old, Weird America” is nothing if not willfully idiosyncratic when it comes to writing about legends of rock ‘n’ roll he adores. He’ll be at Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Fri. Free. (323) 660-1175. https://www.skylightbooks.com.