About the Book
One of the secrets to Bruce Springsteen's enduring popularity over the past fifty years is the way fans feel a deep personal connection to his work. Yet even as the connection often stays grounded in details from his New Jersey upbringing, Springsteen's music references a rich array of personalities from John Steinbeck to Amadou Diallo and beyond, inspiring fans to seek out and connect with a whole world's worth of art, literature, and life stories.
In this unique blend of memoir and musical analysis, John Massaro reflects on his experiences as a lifelong fan of The Boss and one of the first professors to design a college course on Springsteen's work. Focusing on five of the Jersey rocker's main themes—love, masculinity, sports, politics, and the power of music—he shows how they are represented in Springsteen's lyrics and shares stories from his own life that powerfully resonate with those lyrics. Meanwhile, paying tribute to Springsteen's inclusive vision, he draws connections among figures as seemingly disparate as James Joyce, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Thomas Aquinas, Bobby Darin, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Shades of Springsteen offers a deeply personal take on the musical and cultural legacies of an American icon.
Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Springsteen's Biography
2 Springsteen and Politics
Teaching with Springsteen
Essay 1. Teaching Politics (and More) with Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen and Patriotism
Essay 2. "Born in the U.S.A." and Patriotism
Essay 3. "But Was It Right?"
Studying Springsteen
Essay 4. Image and Reality: A Review of Springsteen's Autobiography Born to Run
Essay 5. A Note on the State of Springsteen Scholarship
Springsteen, Class, and Depression
Essay 6. Springsteen and Depression
Essay 7. Straddling Class and Demons
Essay 8. "Used Cars" and the Hidden Injuries of Class
Essay 9. Wrecking Ball and Class Warfare?
Essay 10. Why I Am a Democratic Socialist and Springsteen Isn't—Yet
Springsteen and Race
Essay 11. Racism and "American Skin (41 Shots)"
Conclusion: Springsteen and Politics
3 Springsteen, Love, and Relationships
Essay 12. A Fitzgerald/Springsteen Pastiche: "Gatsby" Down the Jersey Shore
Springsteen, Fathers, and Sons
Essay 13. Springsteen to Springsteen: Speaking of Love
Essay 14. Flying
Essay 15. Pakistani Son, Pakistani Father: An Updated Review
of Sarfraz Manzoor's Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion,
and Rock 'n' Roll
Compassion and Understanding in Love (and Even in Politics)
Essay 16. "Scumbag Bobby" and Springsteen's "Spare Parts"
Essay 17. The Nixon in All of Us
Springsteen and Tunnel of Love
Essay 18. Springsteen on Relationships in Tunnel of Love
Essay 19. Bravery and Honesty in Patti Scialfa's Rumble Doll Album
The Sacred and the Profane
Essay 20. The Sacred and the Profane: Springsteen, Caravaggio, "Earth Angel," and "Reno"
Essay 21. The Sacred and the Profane? The Love of a Daughter and George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words"
Essay 22. The Good News according to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Essay 23. Springsteen and Apocalypse Sex
Conclusion: Springsteen and Love
4 Springsteen, Synchronization, Sports, and Masculinity
"Glory Days"
Essay 24. Springsteen's "Glory Days" and Synchronization
Essay 25. Synchronizing with Springsteen
Essay 26. "Glory Days" and Uncle Phil
Two More "Boring Stories" of "Glory Days"
Essay 27. Replay
Essay 28. The Stuff of Life
Springsteen and Fatherhood
Essay 29. Fatherhood: From a Different Perspective
The Traditional Model of Masculinity
Essay 30. The Traditional Model of Masculinity and Me
Essay 31. Bruce Springsteen and the Traditional Model of Masculinity
Grandpa Bruce?
Essay 32. Man to Man in Maine
Conclusion: Springsteen, Sports, and Masculinity
5 Loose Ends
Essay 33. Why Write? Some Answers Provided by Bruce Springsteen, Roger Rosenblatt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Alexander Hamilton
Essay 34. Concluding Statement
References
Index
About the Author :
JOHN MASSARO writes about politics and popular culture. A Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY-Potsdam, he is currently retired and living in Wells, Maine. His previous books include Supremely Political: The Role of Ideology and Presidential Management in Unsuccessful Supreme Court Nominations.
Review :
"John Massaro writes about classic Springsteen themes––politics, love, sports, and masculinity––with insight, care, and thoughtfulness. Massaro finds meaning in the singer's lyrics that should resonate with Springsteen fans, whether long-time admirers or those just learning about him."— June Skinner Sawyers, co-editor, Long Walk Home: Reflections on Bruce Springsteen
"Shades of Springsteen fits squarely into what is now a sizeable literature of Springsteen studies. The tenor of that discourse, like that of fandom generally, has a deeply personal dimension, but Massaro is part of what might be termed a strongly ethnographic cast in recent Springsteen writing....Rutgers University Press, which published Shades of Springsteen, has been at the vanguard of this trend in honoring its local son....Shades of Springsteen is a useful contribution to a vibrant, ongoing conversation."— Jim Cullen, New Jersey Studies
First Person: Springsteen and politics, Adirondack murder mystery, ins and outs of dog training - interview with John Massaro— "First Person," North Country Public Radio (Canton, NY)
"Book on The Boss published by Potsdam Professor," by Craig Thorton— WWNY7
"Massaro's work is academically sound — he's done his research, quoting everyone from Jung to Albert Camus to Ta-Nehisi Coates, not to mention a who's-who of Springsteen experts like Peter Ames Carlin, Eric Alterman, Marc Dolan and Andy Greene. But the book is also part memoir, with stories of Massaro's own father and family experiences that resonate within Springsteen's words, and vice versa. It's a fine analysis even without them, but don't skip those sections: If you've read this far, I have a feeling you'll relate."— Blogness on the Edge of Town
"A gifted speaker and writer, John Massaro speaks very astutely to contemporary issues involving love, masculinity, and sports, connecting with both the reader and Springsteen."— Kenneth Womack, author of Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles
"Massaro's thesis of connective tissue in the themes of the book's subtitle Politics, Love, Sports and Masculinity that he artfully argues drive Springsteen's canon and best explains the songwriter's ability to overcome his own issues of depression, is solid. He digs deep, but with an entertaining flair, explaining how all of these themes comes through in nearly every stanza of Springsteen's songs."— James Campion, The Aquarian
