Bruce SpringsteenReseñas

well written, interesting life

I admit it is hard for me to be entirely objective about this book, given that I am a 40 -year fan of Mr. Springsteen. Many of his fans who have been following for a long time, know bits and pieces of his life through the stories he is told over the years at his epic concerts, in addition to witnessing his rise to fame and his enduring musical legacy. Mr. Springsteen is and always has been an excellent storyteller, in the songs he has written and in his monologues accompanying the music and in interviews with media. That storytelling capability carried over very well to this autobiography. I savored every word of this book, from his observations about family and love and life and fatherhood, in general, to the insights into the music business, the specific events that shaped his rise to stardom and the enduring professionalism of the E Street Band, his discussion of his own sometimes debilitating depression and the mental illness that plagued his father and other members of his family. Even though I read this slowly, digesting chapters or partial chapters before moving on, I so enjoyed the writing itself, the beautiful prose and imagery, that I plan to re-read this lovely book again very shortly.

The central question of Springsteen's Born to Run is: How the hell do you get from Freehold, N.J., to superstardom (including hosting a podcast with a former president) in only 50 ish short years? The Boss’s autobiography, “Born to Run,” answers this paradox nicely. Many of the stories that Springsteen tells diehards will know about it but what makes this book special is how Springsteen pulls back the curtain to reveal how his own family life - including his upbringing - and search for love and acceptance as an adult has shaped his blue-collar songwriting. The most poignant parts of the autobiography come towards the end, when Springsteen discusses connecting with his mentally ill father as he nears his death bed, muses on his friendship with Clarence Clemons, and discloses his own struggles with depression. This is a surprisingly vulnerable autobiography ("Chronicles Vol.1" by Dylan this isn't). We often think of rock stars as being larger than life, but in many ways, Springsteen has always tried to remain true to his roots. What this autobiography reveals is the heart of the rock star. The Boss is just a man, with his own demons and struggles, searching for living proof and a bit Lord's undying light, just like the rest of us. And perhaps that is why his music connects with his fans.

Beautiful storytelling. So happy to see his openess to tough topics like race and politics and war. Thankful for his honesty when it comes to mental health. Thank you for sharing more than your music!

one of the best autobiography I have ever read. Poetically written.

Bruce Springsteen fans ought to love this book, but be forewarned, it really is an autobiography and not a memoir. It tells the story of a life. It doesn't really reveal the life. Springsteen starts at the beginning and tells his story without missing a single detail. When I use the word "tells", I mean it. He recites what happened to him. He really doesn't use many specific anecdotes or bring his stories to life for the reader. But if you want to know what happened, the book does a great job on that front. He also sometimes uses lyrical or poetic language that I found enjoyable to read and hearkens to his songwriting roots.

For me to really love this book, I needed to care more. If I was a huge fan, I'm sure I would have. If he had told his story with more emotion, I might have. But, neither was the case. Combine that with the tremendous amount of detail about the actual creation of the music and the tours, I just felt as though it was more of a chore than a pleasure to read.

The most interesting parts, from my perspective, were the decisions he had to make regarding band members and how to lead the band. Early on, he positioned himself as the sole decision maker and the final voice on creative and business matters. It is fascinating how any organization, no matter how small, must struggle with personnel decisions and personalities. The relationship with his father was probably where Springsteen was the most frank and how he dealt with the ups and downs of that relationship was also interesting to read.

All in all though, I really didn't like this book more than 3 stars. This is what happens when you read an autobiography for a book club. I think that most people who care enough to pick up the book in the first place will be quite delighted.

An excellent read from cover to cover by the legend himself - a very honest account I would think.

Got this as an audiobook. I’m not a huge Bruce fan. I saw him in concert in the late 70s and it may have been one of the finest concerts I’ve ever seen. I also think he’s a talented songwriter and overall a sensitive and intelligent person. But I’ve just never really been in love with his music. At any rate, he narrates his own book and his speaking voice is great. Just superb. Really loved the first quarter of the book,which was about his childhood and his first introductions to being a musician. Besides his wonderful voice, the writing’s not bad either. As the book went on though I started getting bored with it all. I bailed out at about the 50% mark, right after “Born to Run” was released.

Good but a better song writer. Interesting though didn't make me warm to him as an individual. Get the feeling Patti's put up with a lot!

The arc that forms the spine of this book is a tale of intergenerational conflict and reconciliation. An emotionally distant, disapproving father prone to unpredictable outbursts of violence and the son torn between rebellion and the hunger for his father’s love and respect.
It’s a tale that is a paradigm of the power of rock and roll.
Springsteen grew up in a time and place when the gospel of deliverance came in tablets of rock that spun at 45 rpm, broadcast from radio stations that belied their own raison d’etre as mass media marketing machines to serve as lifelines in the dark for hungry individual souls. He imbibed the music and contributed his own anthems to that canon.
His tale has a happier end than many—a fact he seems recognizant of—as he comes to understand his father’s depression and paranoid delusions and owns up to similar darkness in his own makeup. The ties that bind, indeed.
The book is honest and revealing without being sensationalistic or indiscreet. As the account progresses, it becomes more episodic. This is understandable. Our childhood memories—Springsteen’s are remarkably detailed—and our first scuffling steps toward finding our calling etch themselves more deeply in our memory than anything that follows.
Yes, I have my quibbles. Some judicious editing would have snipped repetitions. The tone of the overloaded sentences is uneven, as vivid images and street jive mix with cliche. But I enjoyed this remarkable chronicle of hard work, talent, and luck fueled by a burning ambition to be the best. The labor of battling to the top of the music profession turns out to only be a step toward something more challenging, the task of becoming a good man. For mixed in with the chronicle of a musician’s career is an openness about his battle with depression, admitting that for decades he has availed himself of both professional therapy and prescribed medication; this, along with the wise, tough love of a good woman, make an inspiring tale. Bruce Springsteen came to love and respect his father (feelings he always had toward his mother) yet chose not to become his father.

Bel libro, davvero. Forse troppo centrato sulla vita e realtà americana, credo non ci siano più di 2 o 3 parole sull'Europa: ma alcuni momenti sono stupendi (i migliori musicisti americani, ad esempio, o il problema razziale). Bellissime foto, la maggior parte non recenti.
Se si è statunitensi e la si pensa in un certo modo secondo me è un libro da comprare.

Signed by Bruce Springsteen.

1 Bruce Springsteen– Streets Of Philadelphia
Mixed By – Bob Clearmountain
Producer – Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin
Written-By – Bruce Springsteen
4:13
2 Peter Gabriel– Lovetown
Mixed By – David Bottrill
Producer – Daniel Lanois, Peter Gabriel
Written-By – Peter Gabriel
5:27
3 Pauletta Washington– It's In Your Eyes
Mixed By – Anton Sanko, Denny McNerney
Producer – Anton Sanko
Written-By – LeRonald Walker, Samuel Waymon*
3:44
4 Ram (16)– Ibo Lele (Dreams Come True)
Mixed By – Bobby Denis*
Producer – Richard Morse, Yvon Ciné
Written-By – Richard Morse
4:13
5 Sade– Please Send Me Someone To Love
Mixed By – Hein Hoven
Producer – Hein Hoven, Sade
Written-By – Percy Mayfield
3:42
6 Spin Doctors– Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
Mixed By – Frankie LaRocka, Peter Denenberg
Producer – Frankie LaRocka, Spin Doctors
Written-By – John Fogerty
2:39
7 Indigo Girls– I Don't Wanna Talk About It
Mixed By – Pat McCarthy
Producer – Peter Collins
Written-By – Danny Whitten
3:36
8 Maria Callas– La Mamma Morta (From The Opera Andrea Chénier)
Composed By – Umberto Giordano
Conductor – Tullio Serafin
Orchestra – The London Philharmonic Orchestra
4:48
9 Neil Young– Philadelphia
Mixed By – John Nowland, Neil Young, Tim Mulligan
Written-By, Producer – Neil Young
4:03
10 Howard Shore– Precedent
Producer, Conductor, Composed By – Howard Shore
4:04

RENEGADES (2021) is a coffee table-size book published as a companion to the podcast conversations recorded between Obama and Springsteen in 2020-2021 (reproduced in print here). It is filled with photos old and new of the two principals and their families, pics which enhance their rambling talks on just about everything - absent fathers, childhood, adolescence, music, race, politics, careers, fatherhood, the importance of family and more. It seems an unlikely friendship, given the differences in their backgrounds, and the fact that Springsteen is a dozen or more years older, but the relationship comes across as warm and mutually respectful. And the exchanges are filled with humor, heartfelt, often moving, revelations, and bits of trivia and incidental information you'd probably never have found anywhere else.There are also scribbled and printed pages of song lyrics, and annotated copies of speeches included. But the conversations and photos are the heart of this handsome volume. I am a longtime fan of both these guys - and I'm older than both of them. A very enjoyable read and the photos are wonderful. Very highly recommended.

-Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

The tense choices were a little strange feeling at first, but they worked better as I got used to it. Very interesting and enjoyable.

Human Touch 6:32
Soul Driver 4:40
57 Channels (And Nothin' On) 2:29
Cross My Heart 3:52
Gloria's Eyes 3:36
With Every Wish 4:39
Roll Of The Dice 4:17
Real World 5:27
All Or Nothin' At All 3:23
Man's Job 4:38
I Wish I Were Blind 4:39
The Long Goodbye 3:30
Real Man 4:33
Pony Boy 2:14

Picked this up after watching, and reading ‘Blinded by the Light’. Obviously it’s about music. Obviously it’s about Bruce Springsteen. I have to admit that my appreciation of Bruce Springsteen has increased as I have aged.
This book isn’t just about music though. There’s a narrative about family, life and struggles with inner demons.
Very enlightening and gives insight into the background of many of the works of Bruce Springsteen.

Välskrivet och intressant. Mycket fokus på Bruce personliga känslor och han förklarar hur han tänkt innerst inne vid olika tidsperioder i sitt liv. Det hinns även med en hel del historier om betydelsen av vissa låtar och hur olika musiker fått/fått sluta sina jobb tillsamman med honom. Fint uppbyggd i mer eller mindre kronologisk ordning.

The foregoing reviews tell you what the book is and where it came from as a physical entity.
Its more than that; it is an extremely satisfying, thought provoking and hopeful social exploration. It is perfect for reading right through, for dipping into (often) and for just looking at the photos of two accomplished men and their times.
I sure hope they are right.

Based on their excellent podcast, this coffee table book expands on their conversations and includes lots of photos, copies of some of Obama's speeches, Springsteen's lyrics and reproductions of archival documents and ephemera. I loved the podcast and this book was a great adjunct to it but I have to be honest: it weighs a ton and isn't easy to hold and read in bed.

I like these two men and have read and enjoyed both of their biographies so I was quite interested in what this book might offer. The majority of the book is transcript style and documents conversations between them on a variety of subjects. It also has lots of great photographs, a selection of Springsteen's song lyrics and copies of some of Obama's important speeches. It gets pretty red, white & blue in places but overall, it was an interesting, quick read.½

This gorgeous coffee-table book is an extension of the two close friends’ podcast. Read my full review here.½

Let me throw out two things, right off the top. The first is, I am, at best, a very, very mild Springsteen fan, at best, and personally, I haven't had much interest in anything of his since Tunnel of Love. The second is, I goddamned loved this book.

There's a whole bunch of reasons for that.

The first is—and let's be real, it's a well-known fact that most famous people's biographies are ghostwritten by someone with some talent, not the famous person—but this book was stunningly well-written. If it was a ghostwritten, then bravo to that nameless soul. But, this is one I could see Bruce taking on himself. Either way, the level of craftmanship with the actual writing is way, way up there.

Second is the actual subject matter. I tend to groan when I start a biography, simply because I know I'll have to suffer through the subject's childhood and awkward adolescence, blah blah blah. With this one, I was flat out riveted from the first page, and wanted to hear more and more about ten-year-old Bruce's life. Yeah, it's that good.

Now, that's not to say that it's perfect when it comes to covering everything in Bruce's life. He tends to stick directly to himself, where I would have loved to have heard his thoughts on things like Manfred Mann's two big covers from his first album. He covered Spirits in the Night and, even bigger, the phenomenal Blinded By The Light. Nothing. He also never mentions Patti Scialfa's album. His own wife? Come on!

There are also times where you can actually feel him tiptoeing around some dicey topics involving his E Street Band members, and some other personalities, but I get that he's also not out to burn anyone.

Third, while still somewhat on the topic of subject matter, I'm impressed that he's both honest and open about his and his family's mental illness issues, and that he didn't write a "I fucked this person, then I fucked that person, then I played this concert..." He's much more inward-looking, introspective. I love that.

Fourth, he gives you lots of insight into the writing of certain key songs and albums, which I'm always fascinated in. Though, surprisingly, he also completely skips over some albums, not even mentioning Lucky Town, Human Touch, or Devils & Dust.

In the end, I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this long book from the very first, to the very last page. Very likely the best biography I've ever read.

Update 12-04-2020 Happy to tell you the problem was ME, not the book. I will respectfully ask The Boss to forgive me as I wasn't in my right mind the day I tried to read it. My internet was out for the 10 millionth time and I lost a complete day of work.

This time around I loved the book. And I cried at least three times in the final chapters. My favorite parts were hearing about the cross country road trips and his experiences with the music business. I was still bored hearing about his rise through the local club circuit.

I'm still not a big music fan...I only like some of his hits. That being said, it's been A REALLY LONG TIME since I attempted to listen to a complete album of his, so maybe I will one of these days. I'll make sure I'm in a good head space and not rushing around trying to do 5 things at once.

I jotted down some of his book and movie recommendations and added them to my TBR/TBW lists. I always do that. I like to check out the inspiration for the inspiration.

Oh and I found the photos! The first time I skimmed through I was mad that there were no photos. You know how biographies and memoirs annoy you buy shoving photos in the middle of the book and you have to decide whether you want to stop and look at them and maybe see some spoilers or if you want to wait until you finish the book and go back to look at them? Well, Bruce was clever and put all the photos at the back of the book. Genius! That's where they should ALWAYS be.

Anyway, you do not have to be a Springsteen fan to enjoy this book. He's a very good writer and knows how to tell a tale. Anyone who enjoys a good memoir would like this one. I'm so happy to change my rating from no stars to 5 stars.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update 11-20-2020 Boring A.F. Had to bail on this one. Oh and he's 71 now and his oldest kid is 30. Not sure how that's possible.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just ordered a "like new" hardcover with dust jacket for seven bucks. Woo hoo! I've read some excerpts and Bruce sounds like a great writer, which makes sense since he's a great song writer, duh... Anyway, looking forward to reading this one! Can't believe he's 70!

I expected that this memoir would not live up to expectations but I was wrong. It was an interesting and honest book. Not surprisingly it had an extremely strong "voice", much as his songs have always had. There are parts that are moving, riotously funny, poignant, and some that are truly important dealing with Depression. A wonderfully entertaining and edifying read.