A Compelling Document of Sheer Goodness

Robert Christgau is a music journalist, essayist and self-styled “Dean of American Rock Critics.” He began writing rock criticism for publications like The Village Voice in the late 1960s, and for 37 years served as the Voice’s chief music critic and senior editor — where he launched the annual Pazz & Jop critics’ poll. He is known for his terse, letter-graded capsule album reviews collected in his “Consumer Guide” series.