Born to Run

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (2016) I became aware of this book when reading Deliver Me from Nowhere (Warren Zanes, 2023), though I was aware of his Broadway show, so I should have known about it. I listened to the audio book, which I rightly assumed would be an excellent reading by Springsteen—it’s always great just hearing him talk—he’d probably make a trip to the grocery store funny and dramatic. I feel kind of bad, since I was a big fan of his music in the Seventies and early-Eighties, but then abandoned him. But then, I abandon everyone, for no real good reason—just constantly moving on. So it was nice to catch up on what’s happened since that time, which is plenty. This is a long and detailed book, but fascinating from beginning to end—it’s poetic, spiritual, and moving. Also, revealing. A lot of stuff I had no idea about, like his dealing with depression. A lot of struggles—but of course. The various relationships with band members—particularly interesting to me. The stories of his cross the country trips were my favorite episodes. Also, the few times when my own experience coincided—like the New Years show where he was injured with a big firecracker—that was always one of my Springsteen stories—so I was excited that he remembered it, and chose to include it, because of course, as many stories as are here, it’s a massive condensation of a more than eventful life. His lament about a copper beech tree being gone made me feel a weird connection (since I’m often thinking about the loss of a couple copper beech trees)—a simple thing like that, but then, what’s more profound than a tree?

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