Thoughts on Bruce Springsteen's Memoir

Book #46 - Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen - An excellent memoir in which he tells his life story, warts and all. As a music fan and writer I'm all about good lyrics and I like Springsteen both for good music and even better lyrics and because he uses his music to get people thinking and acting on various issues.

I hoped for explanations in the book about how he came to write certain songs, as well as write albums that were less popular and accessible, yet so important because of the song topics (I'm thinking here about albums like Nebraska and Ghost of Tom Joad.). I was greatly moved by his description of his struggles with his dad, having spent some time writing on that topic myself.

But the best part for me, as someone who encourages people to talk publicly about mental health issues to reduce the stigma, was reading Bruce talking, at great length, about his struggles with depression, which became almost crippling at times.

If you are going to read this, and I suggest you do, I recommend listening to it on audio. Bruce continues the trend, which I'm loving, of celebrities reading aloud their own books. To hear Bruce's story in his own voice, occasionally with an instrumental by him of one of his songs, moves this book from an 8 to a 9.