Born to run / Bruce Springsteen.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The revelatory and wildly bestselling memoir by legendary rock star Bruce Springsteen: "Glorious...a philosophically rich ramble through a rock 'n roll life...It's the lyric he was born to write" ( USA TODAY , 4 out of 4 stars).

Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has 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 U.S.A," "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).

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. xi)
• Book 1 Growin' Up
• 1 My Street (p. 3)
• 2 My House (p. 8)
• 3 The Church (p. 13)
• 4 The Italians (p. 19)
• 5 The Irish (p. 23)
• 6 My Mother (p. 33)
• 7 The Big Bang (Have You Heard the News...) (p. 38)
• 8 Radio Days (p. 44)
• 9 The Second Coming (p. 48)
• 10 The Show Man (Lord of the Dance) (p. 54)
• 11 Workingman's Blues (p. 58)
• 12 Where the Bands Are (p. 61)
• 13 The Castiles (p. 68)
• 14 Once There Was a Little Steven (p. 88)
• 15 Earth (p. 96)
• 16 The Upstage Club (p. 104)
• 17 Tinker (Surfin' Safari) (p. 114)
• 18 Steel Mill (p. 121)
• 19 Homecoming (p. 139)
• 20 Endless Summer (p. 147)
• 21 Beatnik Deluxe (p. 153)
• 22 California Dreamin' (Take Two) (p. 159)
• 23 It's a Bar, You Idiots (p. 165)
• 24 Onward and Upward (p. 170)
• 25 Losing My Religion (p. 179)
• 26 Road Work (p. 185)
• 27 The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (p. 190)
• 23 The Satellite Lounge (p. 200)
• Book 2 Born to Run
• 29 Born to Run (p. 207)
• 30 Jon Landau (p. 212)
• 31 Thunder Road (p. 219)
• 32 Jackpot (p. 223)
• 33 The E Street Band (p. 234)
• 34 Clarence Clemons (p. 241)
• 35 New Contracts (p. 246)
• 36 Living with the Law (p. 254)
• 37 Darkness on the Edge of Tom (p. 260)
• 38 The Drop (p. 263)
• 39 Downtime (p. 271)
• 40 The River (p. 275)
• 41 Hitsville (p. 286)
• 42 Hello Walls (p. 295)
• 43 Nebraska (p. 298)
• 44 Deliver Me from Nowhere (p. 301)
• 45 California (p. 308)
• 46 Born in the USA (p. 313)
• 47 Buona Fortuna, Fratelio Mio (p. 318)
• 48 The Big Big Time (p. 321)
• 49 Going Home (p. 338)
• 50 Regresar a México (p. 343)
• 51 Tunnel of Love (p. 343)
• 52 Goin' Cali (p. 358)
• Book 3 Living Proof
• 53 Living Proof (p. 367)
• 54 Redheaded Revolution (p. 370)
• 55 Changes (p. 374)
• 56 LA Burning (p. 377)
• 57 Going to the Chapel (p. 379)
• 58 Earthquake Sam (p. 387)
• 59 "Streets of Philadelphia" (p. 396)
• 60 The Ghost of Tom Joad (p. 400)
• 61 Western Man (p. 406)
• 63 Eastern Woman (p. 415)
• 63 King of New Jersey (Hollywood Days) (p. 418)
• 64 Bringing It All Back Home (p. 421)
• 65 Revival (p. 423)
• 66 The Rising (p. 437)
• 67 Wild East (p. 444)
• 68 The Seeger Sessions (p. 449)
• 69 Magic (p. 455)
• 70 Super Bowl Sunday (p. 460)
• 71 Moving On (p. 465)
• 72 Wrecking Ball (p. 468)
• 73 Losing the Rain (p. 471)
• 74 The Wrecking Ball Tour (p. 476)
• 75 Zero to Sixty in Nothing Flat (p. 484)
• 76 Garage Land (p. 488)
• 77 High Hopes (p. 491)
• 78 Home Front (p. 497)
• 79 Long Time Comin' (p. 502)
• Epilogue (p. 506)
• Acknowledgments (p. 509)
• Photo Credits (p. 611)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

FOREWORD    I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud. So am I. By twenty, no race-car-driving rebel, I was a guitar player on the streets of Asbury Park and already a member in good standing amongst those who "lie" in service of the truth . . . artists, with a small "a." But I held four clean aces. I had youth, almost a decade of hard-core bar band experience, a good group of homegrown musicians who were attuned to my performance style and a story to tell.      This book is both a continuation of that story and a search into its origins. I've taken as my parameters the events in my life I believe shaped that story and my performance work. One of the questions I'm asked over and over again by fans on the street is "How do you do it?" In the following pages I will try to shed a little light on how and, more important, why.     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.      These are some of the elements that will come in handy should you come face-to-face with eighty thousand (or eighty) screaming rock 'n' roll fans who are waiting for you to do your magic trick. Waiting for you to pull something out of your hat, out of thin air, out of this world, something that before the faithful were gathered here today was just a song-fueled rumor.      I am here to provide proof of life to that ever elusive, never completely believable "us." That is my magic trick. And like all good magic tricks, it begins with a setup. So . . .   Excerpted from Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Whomever critics deem the voice of his or her generation too often eventually fade into the woodwork or struggle to keep pace with the next musical trend. Springsteen has on rare occasion delivered a more pop sound ("Dancing in the Dark") and addressed issues of social justice ("Philadelphia"), but as his autobiography suggests, he has never struggled as have so many artists to maintain relevance and popularity. The Boss's real challenge has been on the personal side, for he, like some in his family, has dealt with depression. Doing a serviceable job at narration, Springsteen delves into his creative process and sheds light on his rise from bar bands to the Super Bowl halftime show. It is an energetic, anthemic ride, worthy of listening to full blast on a thunder road of one's choosing. Verdict Highly recommended. ["A rollicking ride from the glorious and the emotional to the fun and soaring; one of rock's finest and most memorable memoirs": LJ Xpress Reviews 10/28/16 review of the S. & S. hc.]-Kelly Sinclair, Temple P.L., TX © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In his long-awaited memoir, Springsteen takes readers on an entertaining, high-octane journey from the streets of New Jersey to all over the world. A natural storyteller, Springsteen commands our attention, regaling us with his tales of growing up poor with a misanthropic father and a mother who had endless faith in people. The Boss delights us with humorous stories of his first guitar-which he couldn't get his seven-year-old fingers around-and his inspiration to become a musician after seeing Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show: "I WANTED... I NEEDED... TO ROCK! NOW!" Once he's hooked, he can't give up this insatiable hunger to rock like Chuck Berry, or the Rolling Stones, or the Beatles; soon he's playing in his first band, the Castiles, and eventually with another band, Steel Mill, opening up for Grand Funk Railroad, Ike & Tina Turner, and Iron Butterfly. Springsteen weaves a captivating story, introducing us to the essential people in his life: Patti Scialfa, Clarence Clemons, Steven Van Zandt, and producer/managers Mike Appel and Jon Landau, among many others. He offers absorbing accounts of the making of each album, and he considers Born to Run as the dividing line between musical styles, as well as the mark of the beginning of his success; he also admits that his bands were never democracies and that he makes the decisions. Most insightful, he reveals his ongoing battles with depression-"shortly after my sixtieth I slipped into a depression like I hadn't experienced"-and his eventual ability to live with this condition. Springsteen writes with the same powerful lyrical quality of his music. (Sept. 27) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Has anyone in contemporary pop culture pursued the rock 'n' roll life with such determination as Bruce Springsteen? He has said he had no choice since he couldn't do anything else. In this long (but not long enough) and entertaining autobiography, Springsteen begins in his hometown of Freehold, New Jersey, on Randolph Street (my street). This is where he grew up. This is where he learned the ways of the world as filtered through his pessimistic father and optimistic mother and the extended family of people descended mostly from Irish and Italian immigrants and a grandmother who spoiled him with unconditional love. He describes the sounds and smells of his New Jersey home as well as the family's constant struggle to get by (We were pretty poor, though I never thought about it). The dark poetry of Catholicism first kindled his imagination and would serve as a source of imagery for many of his songs. He also shares early memories of his father, sitting along with other men in silence in a smoke-filled bar, his powerful legs, a face slightly discolored and misshapen by alcohol, and always suggesting the possibility of violence. His relationship with his moody father became the topic of many of his songs and in these pages he conjures up images of him with equal amounts of fear, anger, respect, and, ultimately, love. But he makes it clear that his father did not understand the young Bruce: When my dad looked at me, he didn't see what he needed to see. This was my crime. From his gregarious mother he learned what it meant to be truthful, kind, and compassionate, and to have pride in yourself and your work. And from her side of the family, he also learned that he loved to entertain. Springsteen discusses with great honesty his own shortcomings, including his long-held fear of relationships, his passive-aggressiveness, and his capacity for emotional cruelty. Like other family members, a black melancholy hung over him. Bouts of depression occurred numerous times over the decades: first when he was 16 and again shortly after his 60th birthday and, most devastatingly, a few years ago. He also makes light of his singing voice. I have a bar-man's power, range and durability . . . . My voice gets the job done. Much here will be well known to most Springsteen fans, but what makes it different, what makes it stand out, is to read Springsteen's own take on familiar events, whether watching Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show, meeting the iconic E Street sax man Clarence Clemons for the first time (It was a dark and stormy night), or his audition for the legendary John Hammond at Columbia Records. He discusses each album in chronological order, as well as the endless touring. But Born to Run is singular, like its author. Anyone who knows Springsteen's songs will recognize his voice: the cadences, the rhythms all recall his unique songwriting style. It is also full of small and big insights. Like his songs, one sentence can reveal everything you need to know about his upbringing (I never saw a man leave a house in a jacket and tie unless it was Sunday or he was in trouble). Despite his seriousness, Springsteen often acts the clown: goofy, self-deprecating, and humble. The memoir shows this side of his big personality in funny little comments and asides. And so many of his sentences sing, such as when he describes the birth of his youngest child, Sam, as having a moon-round kisser, Irish to the bone. As he grew older, he looked like a Joycean urchin off the streets of Dublin. Through the magic of his songs, and now the wizardry of his prose, Springsteen has healed many a heart by reimagining moments from his own life. I'm a repairman, he writes. That's part of my job. Touching and full of light and shadows, Born to Run will bring tears and laughter to even the most cursory of Springsteen fans.--Sawyers, June Copyright 2016 Booklist