It’s been over 30 years since a denim-clad Bruce Springsteen told the world where he was born, and it’s clear America is not over it. A new memoir out from the rock musician is already a bestseller days before its release.
Springsteen’s new book, Born to Run, will be available this week (Sept. 27) from Simon & Schuster. In 500 pages, the man known to many as “The Boss” writes about life in Freehold, New Jersey, his struggles with his parents and mental health, and his determination to “BE the Beatles.” It’s the top-selling book on Amazon in the US.
The Grammy and Academy awards-winner reportedly spent seven years writing his book, and initial reviews say that has paid off. “It helps that Springsteen can write—not just life-imprinting song lyrics but good, solid prose that travels all the way to the right margin,” writes Richard Ford in the New York Times. “He’s funny and solemn, tender and insightful,” says Jim Fusilli in the Wall Street Journal.
An excerpt from the book gives a taste of Springsteen on the page. Here’s his “rock ‘n’ roll survival kit”:
DNA, natural ability, study of craft, development of and devotion to an aesthetic philosophy, naked desire for… fame?… love?… admiration?… attention?… women?… sex?… and oh, yeah…a buck. Then…if you want to take it all the way out to the end of the night, a furious fire in the hole that just…don’t…quit…burning
And critic Dwight Garner draws out a telling passage about how Springsteen raised his three children:
“My kids didn’t know ‘Badlands’ from matzo ball soup,” [Springsteen] writes. “When I was approached on the street for autographs, I’d explain to them that in my job I was Barney (the then-famous purple dinosaur) for adults.” His eldest son says, in shock, “Dad, that guy has you tattooed on his arm.”