Customer Reviews

Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning among Springsteen Fans

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The book arrived from amazon yesterday and I never put it down. Having been a Bruce Springsteen fan for the last 15 years it was uncanny reading. I could relate to almost every aspect of this work as if the author was describing me. The experiance of being a Bruce Springsteen fan has never been easy to relate to people, I no longer have to, I will just lend them the book. Being a New Zealander it has been a mammoth excercise keeping up with Bruce Springsteen, seeing shows, waiting for albums and the like, we are just so far away, but this book showed me that the experiance of being a fan is the same world-wide. Imagine a book which describes you and your experiances and passions so well that you begin to wonder if someone has been following you for the last two decades taking notes...freaky.

This book came to me as a gift from a friend who knew of my fanaticism for the Boss's music. It is part scholarship and part testimonial, written in the style of the best New Yorker journalism: not quite high brow but a cut above ROLLING STONE et al. It's just great to know that there are deep and abiding tramps like us who can publish a book that talks the talk of ones who have walked the walk, from Asbury Park to L.A. . . . and back again. And now that Bruce & the Band are going to hit the road again, this is JUST the book to prepare for a summer of staying in line for tickets . . . as long as it takes. If you love the Boss and you love good writing, you'll love this book. Thanks Bunny! m.d.

If you judge the book by its cover, it looks like a Bruce book. This isn't a book about Bruce Springsteen, nor is it about specific Bruce fans MORE than it is an academic study of people who all like the same artist. It's technical, scientific, and just happens to use specifically-Springsteen fans as the control group.

I believe Bruce was used because his following happens to be notoriously massive, including several generations. This is probably because his music often centers around middle class life.

Several issues:

+ Conversion of a fan - when a person has not always been fond of an artist but turns into a fan. Religious comparisons included.

+ The live experience - what kinds of physical things typically happen, and interviews of psyched concert-goers

+ Community - friendships formed based on fandom, internet communication, etc

+ Participation - things fans outwardly do/behavior study

Now, it's all based on fans of the same subject, so there is a constant reference to Bruce. The people are talking about Bruce - but THEY are the subject of the book.

Know that, before you decide whether or not you want it. I adore these kinds of studies and happen to love Bruce, too - so naturally, I dug this book. But if you're looking for Bruce-specific information, grab something like his Rolling Stone interviews collection.

"In the end, while fans' feelings may fluctuate, connecting with Springsteen means that he becomes a part of each fan, a continuing presence to which they may turn again and again. On the whole, fandom is not some particular thing one has or does. Fandom is a process of being; it is the way one is." --Daniel Cavicchi, the author