Bruce

Starred review from September 24, 2012
Rock biographer Carlin (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.

Starred review from January 28, 2013
Carlin’s stunning biography charts the course of Bruce Springsteen’s remarkable life, covering everything from his relationships with family and friends to his working-class beginnings in New Jersey and rise to musical stardom, providing an insider’s look at one of the legends of rock ’n’ roll. Narrator Bobby Cannavale delivers a stellar reading, his gritty bass tone drawing in listeners and his driving delivery keeping them enthralled until the very end. This is an absolutely fantastic listening experience about a true American great. An absolute must for fans and music lovers. A Thorndike hardcover.

October 1, 2012
A painstakingly traced chronicle of the remarkable career of powerhouse proletarian rocker Bruce Springsteen. If you want to understand the magic and majesty that is The Boss, the best way is though his music. However, Carlin (Paul McCartney: A Life, 2009, etc.) successfully fills in some of the gaps Springsteen has left behind in his lifelong journey--at least the gaps New Jersey's favorite son now appears willing to address. As one of the most celebrated lyricists in the history of popular music, Springsteen remains a man of few words. In fact, many of the quotes attributed to him have already been published elsewhere. Like a lyric sheet, they often don't say much absent the spark of music. Carlin's own expressiveness, however, is another story and will no doubt have readers reaching for their favorite electronic music delivery system in an attempt to immediately corroborate his take on specific Springsteen tracks and performances. The author presents his subject as a supremely gifted musician and truly heroic figure, albeit one with a lot on his troubled mind. That darkness, attributed to bad genes and a childhood spent in the shadow of his parents' gloom following a tragic death in the family, at times reduces the working-class icon to a moody, self-centered and callous taskmaster. Surprisingly, none of these observations--taken in part or as a whole--is particularly damning. On the contrary, they might even serve to ground the ubiquitous superstar, allowing him to become more human and, ultimately, more understandable. An epic look at the man and his music.

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October 1, 2012
For this authorized biography of anthemic rocker Bruce Springsteen, music critic and unabashed Springsteen fan Carlin, who has also written about Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney, was able to obtain interviews with many of the musician's closest friends and relatives. His access to, among others, Springsteen's mother, sisters, early bandmates, and high-school pals makes for an unusually intimate portrait. Carlin provides detailed accounts of the musician's personal and professional life, from his lower-working-class childhood in Freehold, New Jersey, to his social invisibility in high school, to his local and then regional popularity, and then worldwide stardom. Along the way, Springsteen battled depression, which also afflicted his father; eschewed drugs and alcohol; juggled numerous romantic entanglements; and worked tirelessly on his music and his stage presence, morphing from a shy loner to a mesmerizing performer of hours-long concerts. Like many highly creative people, he was fairly ruthless about allowing his music to dictate his direction, which sometimes led to dissension within the E-Street Band. Springsteen emerges from these pages as a hard worker and a painstaking musician who has never forgotten his working-class roots. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Published in conjunction with Bruce Springsteen's worldwide tour in support of his latest album, this authorized biography is sure to draw plenty of off-the-book-page interest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)