Born to Run
The revealing, wildly entertaining, and bestselling memoir from the legendary Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest songwriters and performers of any era. Born to Run is the greatest rock ‘n’ roll story ever told.
Essential reading for 2025’s 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s seminal album “Born to Run” and coinciding with the highly anticipated film “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, about the writing and recording of Springsteen’s classic “Nebraska” record.
Following his 2009 Super Bowl halftime performance, Bruce Springsteen 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 USA,” “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).
Essential reading for 2025’s 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s seminal album “Born to Run” and coinciding with the highly anticipated film “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, about the writing and recording of Springsteen’s classic “Nebraska” record.
Following his 2009 Super Bowl halftime performance, Bruce Springsteen 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 USA,” “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).
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
508 pages
What’s it about?
This is Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography. The book covers his childhood, parents, career, marriages, and his relationships both in and out of the music world.
What did I think?
I came of age when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were THE BAND! I can’t think back on college without hearing a soundtrack of “Born to Run” or “The River”. His music is indelibly stamped onto the pages of my life. As my good friend Leslie would say- "how could you not want to read about Bruce?"
Here was my major revelation (although it shouldn’t have been such a revelation)- Bruce Springsteen is one serious guy! I sometimes read a passage and thought- “Oh my, I wish he didn’t take himself and everything else so seriously”. I am a big believer in finding some humor in life, and I did not see a lot in these pages. I did find him to be honest, and he is obviously trying to be the best person he can be. I find both these traits really admirable. His passages on depression shed light on a brutal disease. I give him immense credit for opening up and sharing- and of course the man can write!
Should you read it?
All in all it was a well-written account of a rock star’s life. Even more it is the story of a man that worked really hard to make his dreams come true. It is worth the time and effort to read, and yet you may come away slightly disillusioned. Springsteen may be representative of the working-man, but he sometimes comes across as a bit of a control freak. A man who insists on total dominion over all those that are in his orbit. “People always ask me how the band played like it did night after night, almost murderously consistent, NEVER stagnant and always full balls to the wall. There are two answers. One is they loved and respected their jobs, one another, their leader and the audience. The other is …because I MADE them!” Not as egalitarian as I would of supposed, but interesting reading.
Quote-
“All I do know is as we age the weight of our unsorted baggage becomes heavier…much heavier. With each passing year, the price of our refusal to do that sorting rises higher and higher. Maybe I’d cut myself loose one too many times, depended on my unfailing magic act once too often, drifted that little bit too far from the smoke and mirrors holding me together. Or… just got old……old enough to know better. Whatever the reason, I’d found myself, once again, stranded in the middle of….”nowhere,” but this time the euphoria and delusions that kept me oiled and running had ground to a halt.”
If you like this try-
On the Move by Oliver Sachs
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Quiet by Susan Cain
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
508 pages
What’s it about?
This is Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography. The book covers his childhood, parents, career, marriages, and his relationships both in and out of the music world.
What did I think?
I came of age when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were THE BAND! I can’t think back on college without hearing a soundtrack of “Born to Run” or “The River”. His music is indelibly stamped onto the pages of my life. As my good friend Leslie would say- "how could you not want to read about Bruce?"
Here was my major revelation (although it shouldn’t have been such a revelation)- Bruce Springsteen is one serious guy! I sometimes read a passage and thought- “Oh my, I wish he didn’t take himself and everything else so seriously”. I am a big believer in finding some humor in life, and I did not see a lot in these pages. I did find him to be honest, and he is obviously trying to be the best person he can be. I find both these traits really admirable. His passages on depression shed light on a brutal disease. I give him immense credit for opening up and sharing- and of course the man can write!
Should you read it?
All in all it was a well-written account of a rock star’s life. Even more it is the story of a man that worked really hard to make his dreams come true. It is worth the time and effort to read, and yet you may come away slightly disillusioned. Springsteen may be representative of the working-man, but he sometimes comes across as a bit of a control freak. A man who insists on total dominion over all those that are in his orbit. “People always ask me how the band played like it did night after night, almost murderously consistent, NEVER stagnant and always full balls to the wall. There are two answers. One is they loved and respected their jobs, one another, their leader and the audience. The other is …because I MADE them!” Not as egalitarian as I would of supposed, but interesting reading.
Quote-
“All I do know is as we age the weight of our unsorted baggage becomes heavier…much heavier. With each passing year, the price of our refusal to do that sorting rises higher and higher. Maybe I’d cut myself loose one too many times, depended on my unfailing magic act once too often, drifted that little bit too far from the smoke and mirrors holding me together. Or… just got old……old enough to know better. Whatever the reason, I’d found myself, once again, stranded in the middle of….”nowhere,” but this time the euphoria and delusions that kept me oiled and running had ground to a halt.”
If you like this try-
On the Move by Oliver Sachs
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Quiet by Susan Cain
This was wonderfully narrated by The Boss himself and I could have probably listened to him for at least a few more days! I'm glad I listened to (read) this. I'm getting much more read via audiobook these days, while driving back and forth to visit my mother in the hospital. I very much loved listening to Bruce's story and found the details fascinating.
Not that he'll read my review, but I have to say 'Thank you for being willing to share with us, Mr. Springsteen!"
Not that he'll read my review, but I have to say 'Thank you for being willing to share with us, Mr. Springsteen!"
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