edited by Jonathan D. Cohen and June Skinner Sawyers contributions by Jim Cullen, Joel Dinerstein, Gillian G. Gaar, Martyn Joseph, Deepa Iyer, Greil Marcus, Louis Masur, Paul Muldoon, Lauren Onkey, Richard Russo, A. O. Scott, Colleen Sheehy, Wesley Stace, Frank Stefanko, Irwin Streight, Wayne Swan, David L. Ulin, Elijah Wald, Daniel Wolff, Kenneth Womack, Natalie Adler, Eric Alterman, Regina Barreca, Nancy Bishop, Dermot Bolger, Peter Ames Carlin and Jefferson Cowie
Rutgers University Press, 2019 eISBN: 978-1-9788-0528-6 | Cloth: 978-1-9788-0526-2 Library of Congress Classification ML420.S77L66 2019 Dewey Decimal Classification 782.42166092
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Bruce Springsteen might be the quintessential American rock musician but his songs have resonated with fans from all walks of life and from all over the world. This unique collection features reflections from a diverse array of writers who explain what Springsteen means to them and describe how they have been moved, shaped, and challenged by his music.
Contributors to Long Walk Home include novelists like Richard Russo, rock critics like Greil Marcus and Gillian Gaar, and other noted Springsteen scholars and fans such as A. O. Scott, Peter Ames Carlin, and Paul Muldoon. They reveal how Springsteen’s albums served as the soundtrack to their lives while also exploring the meaning of his music and the lessons it offers its listeners. The stories in this collection range from the tale of how “Growin’ Up” helped a lonely Indian girl adjust to life in the American South to the saga of a group of young Australians who turned to Born to Run to cope with their country’s 1975 constitutional crisis. These essays examine the big questions at the heart of Springsteen’s music, demonstrating the ways his songs have resonated for millions of listeners for nearly five decades.
Commemorating the Boss’s seventieth birthday, Long Walk Home explores Springsteen’s legacy and provides a stirring set of testimonials that illustrate why his music matters.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
JONATHAN D. COHEN received his PhD in history from the University of Virginia. He is the managing editor of BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies and the coeditor of All In: The Spread of Gambling in Twentieth-Century United States (2018).
JUNE SKINNER SAWYERS has published extensively on Bruce Springsteen, including Racing in the Street: The Bruce Springsteen Reader (2004) and Workingman: The Faith-Based Politics ofBruce Springsteen (2014). Born in Glasgow, she currently teaches humanities courses at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
"Long Walk Home: Reflections on Bruce Springsteen did something I wouldn’t have thought possible: it deepened my appreciation for the artist by broadening my understanding of his relevance and influence. I’d long known that Bruce had wide, diverse, international appeal. Now I have a better understanding of why. Highly recommended."
"A killer collection of Boss studies and stories, as varied as Springsteen's own body of work and a fitting tribute to the man — at 70, both an American legend and an artist as vital as ever."
— Christopher Phillips, Editor of Backstreets.com
“Long Walk Home: Reflections on Bruce Springsteen at 70 offers a comprehensive, timely overview of Springsteen’s life and work. The eminently qualified essayists in Sawyers and Cohen’s anthology astutely address Springsteen’s achievement in terms of the artist’s evolving legacy, with a valuable accent upon exploring his lasting contributions to twentieth- and twenty-first- century popular music and culture.”
— Kenneth Womack, author of Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles
"Taken together, the 26 essays in Long Walk Home give readers a rich understanding of why the Boss matters so profoundly to his audience; how each of us has been moved, challenged, and shaped by Springsteen's music."
— Roxanne Harde, co-editor of Walking the Line: Country Music Lyricists and American Culture
"In a collection as carefully compiled as a Springsteen album, Cohen and Booklist contributor Sawyers celebrate the Boss at 70....For more than four decades, Springsteen’s music has been part of our popular music and culture and will continue to be, long after his final album is released. As this compilation illustrates, his 'Glory Days' are far from over."
"The book nods to Springsteen’s international, intercultural popularity and success....The most thought-provoking essays in Long Walk Home are by writers who are not from the stereotypical Springsteen fan base."
— Times Literary Supplement
"Relatable passages and...excellent writing."
— Newark Star-Ledger
"The expanding field of Springsteen Studies is fascinating, and includes stellar volumes written by many of the contributors to this collection. Kudos to co-editors Jonathan D. Cohen (managing editor of “'BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies') and June Skinner Sawyers (editor of “Racing in the Streets: The Bruce Springsteen Reader”) for giving Springsteen fans an extraordinary new addition to that canon. Long Walk Home is worthy of its subject and a timely reminder of Springsteen’s promise in the 1999 anthem 'Land of Hope and Dreams' that 'dreams will not be thwarted/ faith will be rewarded.'”
"Long Walk Home endeavors to examine the impact the art and the artist have had on individual people around the world. The book fulfills this mission admirably. Individual contributions are of uniformly high quality. The collection as a whole is an engaging read that will interest scholars and fans alike."
— Prudence Jones, BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Why Springsteen?
Jonathan D. Cohen and June Skinner Sawyers
Part I Springsteen Stories
1 Growing Up with Bruce Springsteen
Eric Alterman
2 How Bruce Springsteen Made a Middle-Aged Woman Believe in the Magic of Rock and Roll
Nancy S. Bishop
3 From the Backstreets to the Badlands: My Springsteen Journey
Deepa Iyer
4 The Ripple Effect
Frank Stefanko
Part II Springsteen, Politics, and American Society
5 The Role of the Popular Artist in a Democratic Society
Jefferson Cowie and Joel Dinerstein
6 Starting a Fire: Bruce Springsteen’s Political Journey from “Born in the U.S.A.” to “American Skin (41 Shots)”
Gillian G. Gaar
7 Springsteen’s American Dream
Louis P. Masur
8 At the River
Paul Muldoon
9 The Ties That Bind
A. O. Scott
Part III Springsteen Live
10 Live at the Roxy
Greil Marcus
11 The Magic Circle
Wesley Stace
12 Twist and Shout
David L. Ulin
Part IV Springsteen the Artist
13 Brilliant Disguise: The Completely True Fictional Adventures of Bruce Springsteen
Peter Ames Carlin
14 Interview with Martyn Joseph by Irwin H. Streight
15 This Train: Bruce Springsteen as Public Artist
Colleen J. Sheehy
16 Born to Write: Bruce Springsteen, Flannery O’Connor, and the Songstory
Irwin H. Streight
17 Ten Great Springsteen Moments (and Five Iconic Concerts)
Kenneth Womack
Part V Springsteen, Sex, Race, and Gender
18 Our Butch Mother, Bruce Springsteen
Natalie Adler
19 Springsteen’s Women: Tougher Than the Rest
Gina Barreca
20 Shackled and Drawn
Lauren Onkey
21 American Skin: Springsteen and Blackness
Elijah Wald
Part VI Springsteen and Aging
22 Summer’s Fall: Springsteen in Senescence
Jim Cullen
23 Work and Play: Mid-Life Music
Daniel Wolff
Part VII Springsteen beyond Borders
24 Bruce Springsteen’s River in Dublin
Dermot Bolger
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