San Francisco native Greil Marcus is one of rock music’s most celebrated critics — with works including Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music and In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-1992 — and an opportunity to see him speak is well worth seizing. Marcus will be at the Contemporary Jewish Museum on Thursday, May 14, at 7pm for a gallery talk about “Music and the American Self,” discussing what “American music” is and the connection between American music and identity.

Joining him in conversation will be Josh Kun, co-author of And You Shall Know Us By the Trail of Our Vinyl, which examines the history of Jewish recorded music from the 1940s to the 1980s through a collection of LPs from the period. The book served as the basis for the Museum’s current “Jews on Vinyl” exhibition.

The talk is only $5 and free for members and youth 18 and under.