BRUCE: A REVIEW OF THE BIOGRAPHY OF "THE BOSS" AND A GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
BRUCE

BY PETER AMES CARLIN

ABOUT THE BOOK:

This sweeping biography of one of America’s greatest musicians is the first in twenty-five years to be written with the cooperation of Bruce Springsteen himself. With unfettered access to the artist, his family, and band members—including Clarence Clemons in his last major interview—acclaimed music writer Peter Ames Carlin presents a startlingly intimate and vivid portrait of a rock icon.

For more than four decades, Bruce Springsteen has reflected the heart and soul of America with a career that includes twenty Grammy Awards, more than 120 million albums sold, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award. He has also become an influential voice in American culture and politics, inspiring President Barack Obama to admit: “I’m the president, but he’s the Boss.” 

Built from years of research and unparalleled access to its subject and his inner circle, Bruce presents the most revealing account yet of a man laden with family tragedy, a tremendous dedication to his artistry, and an all-consuming passion for fame and influence. With this book, the E Street Band members finally bare their feelings about their abrupt dismissal in 1989, and how Springsteen’s ambivalence nearly capsized their 1999 reunion. Carlin deftly traces Springsteen’s often harrowing personal life: from his lower working- class childhood in Freehold, New Jersey, through his stubborn climb to fame and tangled romantic life, and finally to his quest to conquer the demons that nearly destroyed his father. 

In Bruce, Carlin encompasses the breadth of Springsteen’s astonishing career and explores the inner workings of a man who managed to redefine generations of music. A must for fans, Bruce is a meticulously researched, compulsively readable biography of one of the most complex and fascinating artists in American music.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Peter Ames Carlin has been a senior writer for People, a TV critic for The Oregonian newspaper, and is the author of Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney: A Life. Carlin lives with his wife and three children in Portland, Oregon.

PRAISE FOR BRUCE:

"For all those of us who grew up on the Jersey Shore, chasing Bruce and the band every weekend: the chase is over. It’s all here. Everything we didn't know then -- we're surprised to learn now. It's close, it's intimate -- the master of introspection allows some full-on inspection of his life."

-- Brian Williams, NBC News

“There are many things I could and should be doing right now, but I am not… I am reading and rereading this book. Why did you do this to me?”

-- Jon Stewart

"An epic look at the man and his music."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"Rock biographer (Paul McCartney) delivers a straight-on, rockin’ and rollin’ life of the Jersey youngster who sold his soul to rock and roll the night he saw Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1957. Drawing on exclusive interviews with members of the E Street Band, including Clarence Clemons’s final interview, and unrestricted conversations with Springsteen’s family, friends, manager Jon Landau, and Springsteen himself, Carlin takes us on a fascinating journey through Springsteen’s childhood, youth, and his rise to fame out of his early years playing in bands such as the Castiles, Earth, and Child to his most recent concerts in support of his Wrecking Ball album. Carlin energetically drives through the streets of Asbury Park, the bars and arenas around the world where Springsteen continues to work his magic. Carlin gives Springsteen the definitive treatment, and this is by far the best of the many books about the rock and roller, capturing his many moods, his desire to retain his privacy, but his secret craving for superstardom, and, above all, his consummate musicianship and his deep passion for pleasing audiences with rollicking, energetic shows."

-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Bruce Springsteen has been a muscular American icon for so long it's hard to remember that he was once a scrawny kid from Nowhere, New Jersey, struggling to find his way. Peter Ames Carlin not only brings that kid into sharp focus, he connects the dots between the small-town boy and the superstar he became, in all his memorable incarnations--boardwalk poet, working-class hero, middle-aged philosopher, rock and roll evangelist, political activist. This is the big, expansive biography Bruce's fans have been waiting for."

-- Tom Perrotta

"This is a Bruce bio like no other. Carlin's dogged research, tough-minded prose, and above all, ability to draw out the previously private thoughts of almost everyone involved in this remarkable story combine to transform much of what we thought we knew about Bruce. Carlin's recounting of Springsteen's personal and professional struggles, and those of the members of the mighty E Street Band, make this a quintessential American story and one that will resonate, and inspire, as long as the music itself does."

-- Eric Alterman, author of It Ain't No Sin to Be Glad You're Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen

MY REVIEW/THOUGHTS:

Peter Ames Carlin has given readers a very special gift leading up to this holiday season. Thanks to Carlin being able to connect with contemporaries, artists, friends and relatives, Carlin has written what I think is the quintessential biography of The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. The other plus for Carlin is that he had permission and access to the normally very private Bruce Springsteen himself.

In writing and documenting the amazing life and career of this gifted artist, Carlin has given a perceptive and captivating look at the man who grew up from a fairly normal childhood to become one of the top icons in music history. Not only writing about Bruce’s childhood in Freehold, N.J., and the special relationship with his father and grandmother, but also Carlin includes the women in Bruce’s life. With input from Springsteen and the band members themselves, readers are privy to the almost mystical connection that is the E. Street Band. The inclusion of the late Clarence Clemon’s as well as the split in 1989 and reunion almost a decade later is all part of the magic that is BRUCE.

Whether you are a lifelong Springsteen fan or not, you will find this to be a fascinating and brilliantly written account as Carlin has done such thorough research. The result is lyrical itself as it not only tells the story of a man but also the American culture he grew up in.   

GIVEAWAY 

THANKS TO KAITLYN AT SIMON AND

SCHUSTER, I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS

AMAZING BIOGRAPHY OF THE BOSS, BRUCE

   

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE IN

ORDER TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY

 
HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT BRUCE THAT WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING WHEN VISITING BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU CAN COMMENT ON EACH ON SEPARATELY AND GAIN MORE ENTRIES THAT WAY 

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY

 

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, NOVEMBER 27

GOOD LUCK!