Bruce - Peter Ames Carlin

I am a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen so it was with great anticipation that I delved into this biography. This is not a quick nor an easy read and to those who aren't big fans of his, it may not even be considered a good read. For the most part, I really liked the book. The start was a bit confusing as it dug really deep into some of Bruce's family life that seemed at the time to be a mistake on the part of the editor. By the end of the book, I'm still not 100% convinced that it couldn't have been edited a bit tighter but it did add to the storyline that is the complexity of who Bruce Springsteen is.

I think my deepest criticism of this book is that it tried to be two separate things, a biography of Bruce Springsteen and an accounting of his music career. I know that it might seem okay since this is a biography of a musician but really, they are two very separate stories and really should have taken place in two volumes.

As a big fan, it was hard to read about the guy (Bruce) who really wasn't all that good to his love interests, who was often a bit difficult to his friends, and seemed on occasion to be a real pain in the ass. However, somewhere along the way, the obvious hit me. Bruce Springsteen, like all superstars that we idolize and look up to, is a human being. Another sparkling revelation, I know.

Another criticism of this book - The author really got exhaustive about the details of the music and the process behind it. To a point, it was necessary in many cases to further the biography but there came a point where pretty late in the book he wasn't far enough into the career and it seemed the later part of the career didn't get the due amount of space; and I don't just mean physical space but where the book seems to drag through the first 25-30 years of his career, the last 10-15 seem to just be thrown in there in some abridged form.

I think the book has a lot of really interesting information and as a fan, I'm happy to have read it. There are certainly enough Bruce and music fans that will likely make this book a success but I can't help wishing it were done differently.

by Chris Daniele