Born to Run
Sep 2016 · Simon and Schuster
4.5star
72 reviewsreport
Ebook
528
Pages
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About this ebook
The revealing, wildly entertaining, and bestselling memoir from the legendary Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest songwriters and performers of any era. Born to Run is the greatest rock ‘n’ roll story ever told.
Essential reading for 2025’s 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s seminal album “Born to Run” and coinciding with the highly anticipated film “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, about the writing and recording of Springsteen’s classic “Nebraska” record.
Following his 2009 Super Bowl halftime performance, Bruce Springsteen privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life. The result is “an utterly unique, endlessly exhilarating, last-chance-power-drive of a memoir” (Rolling Stone) that offers the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs.
He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as “The Big Bang”: seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work.
Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs (“Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “The River” “Born in the USA,” “The Rising,” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences.
“Both an entertaining account of Springsteen’s marathon race to the top and a reminder that the one thing you can’t run away from is yourself” (Entertainment Weekly), Born to Run is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This book is a “a virtuoso performance, the 508-page equivalent to one of Springsteen and the E Street Band’s famous four-hour concerts: Nothing is left onstage, and diehard fans and first-timers alike depart for home sated and yet somehow already aching for more” (NPR).
Essential reading for 2025’s 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s seminal album “Born to Run” and coinciding with the highly anticipated film “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, about the writing and recording of Springsteen’s classic “Nebraska” record.
Following his 2009 Super Bowl halftime performance, Bruce Springsteen privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life. The result is “an utterly unique, endlessly exhilarating, last-chance-power-drive of a memoir” (Rolling Stone) that offers the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs.
He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as “The Big Bang”: seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work.
Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs (“Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “The River” “Born in the USA,” “The Rising,” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences.
“Both an entertaining account of Springsteen’s marathon race to the top and a reminder that the one thing you can’t run away from is yourself” (Entertainment Weekly), Born to Run is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This book is a “a virtuoso performance, the 508-page equivalent to one of Springsteen and the E Street Band’s famous four-hour concerts: Nothing is left onstage, and diehard fans and first-timers alike depart for home sated and yet somehow already aching for more” (NPR).
Ratings and reviews
4.5
72 reviews
Jim Williams
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March 11, 2017
Bruce doesn't leave many details out, and I enjoyed being along for the ride. You can't just blow through this book in a couple of days. You have to pay attention, because he put as much into writing this book as he puts into writing songs. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this one.
4 people found this review helpful
Barbara Rasch
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December 14, 2016
Reading this is like sitting on a barstool next to The Boss and having him tell you stories. Great book. I recommend it to any fan of real rock and roll and the man himself.
10 people found this review helpful
Keith Altomare
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October 12, 2017
Bruce who always writes great songwriting fiction could be great writing a novel. I'd buy it
3 people found this review helpful
About the author
Bruce Springsteen has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of twenty Grammy Awards, the Academy Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors. He lives in New Jersey with his family. His latest work, together with Barack Obama, is Renegades: Born in the USA, a candid and entertaining collection of conversations that expand on their groundbreaking Higher Ground podcast.
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