Born to Run

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, 510 pages.
Bruce Springsteen has written a very readable and enjoyable account of his life, from childhood to his rock and roll beginnings and on through super-stardom. He tells the strange story of his grandmother's sort of obsessive love for him when he was very young, recalling that at age three and four he could do whatever he pleased, staying up until 3am and the sleeping all day. His mother was able to remedy this situation after a while, but not before Bruce felt the lasting effect of being the center of the world. Springsteen's relationship with his father was also fairly trauma-filled, and the dysfunction there also formed him. Who is not a sum of all their parts, though. Springsteen acknowledges the mental unwellness of some of his forbears, but then moves on to the music. He was part of a local band called the Castiles which had a local following. He and fellow Jersey natives also made it big locally with Child (renamed Steel Mill when they discovered another band already using the name Child). Several members of that band joined Bruce on his first album and eventually became the E-Street band. Lots of interesting stories written in a readable, introspective style. Great for fans of Springsteen and his music.