With the obvious exceptions of Bob Dylan and The Beatles, there is perhaps no musician who has inspired as many books as Bruce Springsteen. From Peter Ames Carlin and Dave Marsh‘s authoritative bios to Sarfraz Manzoor’s reflection on how The Boss helped him navigate London as a teenaged Pakistani immigrant to the inevitable bevy of Philosophy And and Gospel According To titles that no doubt serve as cornerstone texts for college courses of the same name, the world is not hurting for thoughts about Bruce Springsteen.
But until now, we didn’t have Bruce Springsteen’s thoughts on Bruce Springsteen. That’s going to change this fall when Simon & Schuster releases his autobiography, Born to Run. Springsteen apparently began writing the book—whose cover you can see below—seven years ago, shortly after The E Street Band played halftime of the Super Bowl (this was back in the days when a senior citizen accidentally sliding into a camera was what passed for controversy in such shows). According to a press release, the book will find Bruce reflecting on his childhood in Freehold, New Jersey, his time working the bar-band circuit around Asbury Park, the true story behind “Born to Run,” and the personal hardships that pushed some of his best work—which hardships the press release intriguingly says are being discussed “for the first time.”
Of course, literature has always played an important role in Springsteen’s work. Though his formal education was limited, he has never shied away from talking about the importance books have played in his formation as an artist—most notably Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States and Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find. Whether Springsteen has any Misfits lurking in his own proverbial woods remains to be seen.
Born to Run is out September 27 via Simon & Schuster.
