Born in the U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen in American Life, 3rd edition, Revised and Expanded

By Jim Cullen

Rutgers University Press

Pioneering the field of Springsteen scholarship when it first appeared in 1997, Born in the U.S.A. remains one of the definitive studies of Springsteen’s work and its impact on American culture. Moving beyond journalistic and biographical approaches, Jim Cullen situates the artist in a wider historical canvas that stretches from the Puritans to Barack Obama, showing how he has absorbed, refracted, and revitalized American mythology, including the American Dream, the work ethic, and the long quest for racial justice. Exploring difficult questions about Springsteen’s politics, he finds a man committed to both democratic and republican principles, as well as a patriot dedicated to revealing the lapses of a country he loves.

This third edition of Born in the U.S.A. is fully revised and updated, incorporating discussion of Springsteen’s wide output in the 21st century. While addressing Springsteen’s responses to events like 9/11, it also considers the evolution of his attitudes towards religion, masculinity, and his relationship with his audience. Whether a serious Springsteen fan or simply an observer of American popular culture, Born in the U.S.A. will give you a new appreciation for The Boss.

Marshals impressive scholarship to assimilate the Boss into the main currents of American thought.’
A.O. Scott, The New York Times Book Review

Jim Cullen writes with authority and empathy about the blue-collar roots that shaped Bruce Springsteen and gave rise to his music of rebellion. This is a provocative look at one of America’s cultural icons.’
Eleanor Clift, Newsweek

Cullen’s line-by-line analysis of Bruce’s songs crackles with insight. New York Daily News

In articulating what’s behind the vaguely red-white-and-blue sentiments that Springsteen’s songs so often evoke, he has written a book as unpretentious and good-hearted as its subject. Boston Phoenix

This is a well-written, painstakingly researched, and surprisingly unpretentious book. Asbury Park Press

Cullen’s unapologetic pursuit of deeper cultural meanings in Bruce Springsteen’s music and life is refreshing … he proves a sensitive interpreter of Springsteen’s work. Publisher’s Weekly

Cullen’s study of Bruce Springsteen is a full-fledged cultural critique … his parting words, ‘When I listen to Bruce Springsteen, I remember how to be an American,’ finally ring true. Kirkus Reviews

Offers illumination and thoughtful, discriminating observations about its myriad subjects. And it has aged almost as well as Nebraska. Eric Alterman, The Nation

JIM CULLEN teaches at the recently founded upper division of Greenwich Country Day School. His many books include The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation as well as Those Were the Days: Why ‘All in the Family’ Still Matters, and Bridge & Tunnel Boys: Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and the Metropolitan Sound of the American Century, both from Rutgers University Press.

A Springsteen Chronology (ix)

Introduction (1)

Chapter 1: Republicans and Republicans: Reagan and Springsteen at Center Stage (9)

Chapter 2: Democratic Character: Springsteen and the American Artistic Tradition (31)

Chapter 3: Realms of Kings: Springsteen and the American Dream (59)

Chapter 4: Born in the U.S.A.: Springsteen and the Weight of War (83)

Chapter 5: The Good Life: Springsteen’s Play Ethic (109)

Chapter 6: Man’s Job: Springsteen’s Masculinity (133)

Chapter 7: God and Bruce Springsteen (169)

Conclusion (203)

Acknowledgments (207)

Notes (209)