Rating: 
Summary: More About Alterman Than Bruce
Review: I was completely underwhelmed by this book. It's more
about Eric Alterman's "take" on Bruce than just "what
happened". I don't care about Eric Alterman's perceptions
of Bruce, or how everything Bruce has ever done is made
to relate to something about Judaism, or how Alterman's
own social reality is assumed to be the ONLY reality--
the book has a very arrogant and self-obsessed tone
throughout. I wanted to read about Bruce. Not about
Alterman's world view, music view, and social commentary.
As in, I don't care that Alterman decided to have children
after years of saying he didn't want any, or how important
it is not to miss a High Holiday to go see a Springsteen
concert. The trying-too-hard praise of "Catholic Americans"
comes off a bit silly as well, especially after the snide comment
about Dylan's Christian converson. "Catholic Americans"?
Come on. We're Americans. Drop the hyphens
if yer so big into social commentary! It gets annoying
when you got a book about a musician in order to learn
about the musician, and instead
you get navel-gazing drivel.
Gimme a book a BRUCE if you're gonna put him
on the cover and make lots of money from it.
I'm not even gonna bother passing this book
on. It's going straight in the bin.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent, quick-read for all Bruce fans
Review: I was excited when I learned on the internet that this book was going to be released. Eric Alterman does a great job gathering an enormous amount of information, which he uses to put the reader in the room with Bruce. From the John Hammond audition, to the many late nights in the studio trying to perfect an album, to the night Mr. Alterman got to meet his hero, the reader is right in the middle of it all. Along with this, Alterman sprinkles in personal stories of sacrificing anything to get to see Bruce in concert. Any true fan knows what he is talking about and can relate to his love of Springsteen and his music. The book was so well written that it will cause me to research other things that Alterman has done. Feel free to send me your comments, or if you want a Bruce fan to chat with.
Rating: 
Summary: Hey Ho Rock 'n' Roll...
Review: It Ain't No Sin to be Glad You're Alive, is a critical/biographical look at Springsteen that is wholly objective, yet deeply personal. This combines for a narrative that ultimately moves the reader the way the best of Springsteen's music does - to the emotional realization that rock 'n' roll can matter in our lives, that it does matter. Alterman's occasional personal asides only liven the material. For a reader who is roughly the same age as Springsteen's carreer, the insight into what it felt like to be a teenager when Born to Run came out was especially powerful. Also, as someone who has never seen him in concert, the closing made me feel a little closer to what I missed without creating a larger sense of loss. That is, Alterman connected through his writing and recreated the feeling of the experience as best as one can on paper. A great book for lovers of Springsteen or lovers of rock in general.
Rating:
Summary: A man for its time
Review: More than a biography, this book is more a long essay about the cultural significance of the music of Bruce Springsteen and its far reaching - almost religious - impact on audiences: how Bruce was perceived during the Born to run era, the infamous Time & Newsweek's covers, the hype, the ups of downs of the eighties and the final, successful come back tour. Bruce has always been - except during the Lucky Town/Human Touch episode - a critical success if not always a sales success, and many quotes from rock critics are added to prove the point, and the author does not hide his love for Springsteen's work, but his views are always well-centered.But the greatest value of this Alterman's work is perhaps the solid interpretation he makes of the albums and the songs. He has helped me see his music and each album under a new light and, must I say it, only deepened my admiration for the Boss.
Rating:
Summary: For family of fans
Review: Notwithstanding a few glaring factual errors, Alterman accomplishes what no other writer has: he explains the rational (in the view of this Bruce nut) near-religious ferver and devotion of Bruce Springsteen's core fans. I want my wife to read this book, so she might understand why I drop everything and fly around the country every few years to see a 50 years old man and his close friends sing and play for three hours a night. The stories are largely derived from Dave Marsh's hagiographies, but the book works.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this one ----- Listen to the music....
Review: Poor attempt at a personalized appreciation of Springsteen. Admidst personal anedotes and judging Springsteen's political credentials nothing new is revealed. As if you needed to know anything more than what you learned listening to Badlands while driving that long dark highway next to the town you grew up in..... Buy a record, pass on the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!
Review: Pure and simply the best book about Springsteen--or any other rock star--I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Until the tour starts up again, this will have to do.
Review: The perfect balance of scholarship and heart, this book looks at Bruce Springsteen's music in the context of life at the end of the 20th century. The author makes no secret of being a fan--a long term, dedicated, would do almost anything to see him type of fan. But this is not a fawning, hero worshipping treatise. Bruce, the fallible human being, the two legged mortal, just like the rest of us, is examined here. Happily, the book is about the music, and deals with the personal aspects of his life only when commenting on how they influence his song writing and performance. Anyone in search of salacious celebrity gossip should look elsewhere. But if the soundtrack of your life begins with Greetings From Asbury Park and ends with 18 Tracks (and the wait for the next release), you will read things that make you laugh, reflect, appreciate, and be glad that you--and Bruce--are alive.
Rating:
Summary: Very weak.
Review: THe writer is a gifted one, but the book is weak. It should have been longer. This is HARDLY the definitive Bruce biography. This has yet to be written... Anyway, it's a fast reading that will give you a general portrait of his career. But, one observation about his defense of the total commercialism of the BORN IN THE USA album: I like the BORN IN THE USA album. But, if the video for DANCING IN THE DARK is not a total sell out, well, I don't know what a sell out is anymore..
Rating:
Summary: he captures what being a Springsteen fan is about!
Review: This book goes through his career and explains why the music means so much to so many people... It took what is in my heart and put in on paper!
|
