A review by patmcmanamon
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

3.0

I've been a Bruce Springsteen fan since high school in the early '70s so his autobiography brings a lot of thoughts and feelings. First, get ready for a different kind of writing. Bruce Springsteen pens his tale the way he writes his song lyrics -- with long, emotional phrases that in music have impact but in book writing can come across as overwrought. But that's him and that's why those of us who love his music love him. Wise to be prepared, though. The best elements in this book are the human ones, many of which serious Bruce fans already know. It's something to read that a man who seems so in control of himself and his feelings struggles significantly with angst and depression. That's one of the strongest takeaways I have. Bruce on stage has the world in his hands, and he loves it, just as he loves the music, its power and its ability to express and awe. He loves writing music and he loves rock and roll itself. Bruce is clearly born to do music, born to run (see what I did there?) from his Jersey surroundings to something bigger, an experience that he feels is transcendent when he's on stage and he and the E Street Band connect with the audience. Bruce loves bringing the audience to something he feels is transcendent as they join his three hour journey on stage. Away from the stage, he is a walking bundle of contradiction and struggle. And he lays most of his feelings at the feet of the distant relationship he had with his brooding father. I'm a huge Bruce fan, but reading this book doesn't deepen the relationship I have with his celebrity. He freely admits to his narcissism, does not hide his ego and describes how he controls the E Street Band in ways that just aren't totally comfortable, even though it clearly works and led to wild success and wealth. But there's a lot of humanity in this book that help connect with Bruce the person. His struggles are our struggles, and to know that even the most famous among us has them brings a strange level of comfort. Bruce deals with self-doubt, second-guessing, depression that hits like a sledgehammer (that he in part attributes to the melancholy that is part of his Irish heritage) and some unsettled relationships, past and present -- along with some very deep, personal and settled ones rooted in love. To me, one line stands out that I'll paraphrase referring to his father: You didn't love me, so how can I love myself. In the end Bruce is human, with dreams and struggles and feelings. Which is maybe what he's been telling us all along in his music.