A very engaging and enjoyable biography that gets a delicate balance just right. Biography is a tricky project to get right, the lives of others are of minimal interest to others outside of a very small, usually connected, circle. Fame does not mean that a life is any more interesting, just that the larger , unconnected circle of people who are familiar with the some aspect of a person’s life is larger. Getting the balance right between sharing details about what has made the person famous with enough personal details to support the claim to be a biography is tough. Bruce Springsteen has managed it with grace, charm and sharp humour.
Bruce Springsteen never had a full time job other than being a musician, it is a career he has pursued in spite of hitting a low point that would have served as a full stop to most. He was played a set with an actual teenage garage band in their suburban garage, not as a teenager but as an adult musician desperately hustling work. The desire to play never wavered and the sheer intensity of this comes across consistently through the book, increasing fame has not diminished or increased it, it has simply been an outcome of the brutal determination to do what he feels is job.One of the great pleasures of the book to a fan of his music like myself is the time Bruce Springsteen takes over the details of the process of writing, recording and playing his music. It is fascinating to see what music he talks about and what music he does not, what gets details and what gets mentioned.
Bruce Springsteen is a very deliberate musician, constantly aware of his own limitations and working to compensate for them, writing music with a plan in mind. This does not make the process any easier and the description of how the songs have been written is deeply engaging. His appreciation that what he had in mind and the way the audience understands them is welcome. His exploration of his life as working musician in a business is great, the dynamic balance between himself and the musicians he has worked with, in particular the E Street Band, is explored with sympathetic detail.
The other significant aspect to this book is his relationship with his parents, in particular his father from whom he inherited a difficult mental landscape. His openness about his mental health struggles is understated and natural, is is presented as part of his ongoing existence. The episode where his father and a friend organise a fishing trip in Mexico is a joy, the strange places that family bonds take us is beautifully described.
Bruce Springsteen has traveled very from from his roots because he was wiling to work incredibly hard and make the most of opportunities that came his way. When he got the chance to sing with the Rolling Stones and rehearse with them, he revealed the secret of his long career, he is a unashamed music fan. That is the deepest thread in this book and the one that allows the reader to share the journey with pleasure.
