Working on a Dream
The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:28th Mar '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Working On a Dream is a powerful and engaging study of this songwriter and performer's art. Springsteen has consistently summoned his creative power and artistic vision to indict political developments and demand the cultivation of a more compassionate and progressive society.
Bruce Springsteen's music has directly inspired, influenced, and uplifted millions of devoted fans, who hold a special place in their hearts and minds for his work. This title contains an analysis of Springsteen's best known hits and his most obscure songs, comparisons to other important works of American culture."Working On a Dream" is powerful and engaging study of this songwriter and performer's art. Springsteen has consistently summoned his creative power and artistic vision to indict political developments and demand the cultivation of a more compassionate and progressive society. For almost four decades, Bruce Springsteen's music has directly inspired, influenced, and uplifted millions of devoted fans, who hold a special place in their hearts and minds for his work. Springsteen's rise to the top of American music coincided with the triumph of American conservatism, and the veneration of marketplace values above democratic principles and humanistic priorities. Springsteen has consistently summoned his creative power and artistic vision to indict these political developments and demand the cultivation of a more compassionate and progressive society. And yet his often harsh critique of the status quo and radical ideas for reform have either been ignored or misunderstood, as a result of his 'All American' image and his narrative storytelling style. On nearly every major issue - poverty, racism, urban decay, war, and peace - Springsteen's music has offered a unique vision for moving forward with the agenda of creating the 'country we carry in our hearts' - as he called it in an op-ed for the "New York Times". Filled with provocative analysis of Springsteen's best known hits and his most obscure songs, comparisons to other important works of American culture - ranging from "The Sopranos" to "Edward Hopper" - and a wealth of information about the last fifty years of American politics, culture, and society, "Working On a Dream" is a powerful and engaging study of this songwriter and performer's art.
Masciotra's readings are insightful, even brilliant at times. ...Masciotra argues in Working on a Dream, by way of painstaking dissections of Springsteen's lyrics, his stories are in the deepest sense about a nation that systematically subverts itself: undermines its communities, isolates citizens from one another, exercises its power recklessly, and destroys the sense of solidarity that is so crucial to a healthy society. * In These Times *
Make no mistake about it, Masciotra is a complete Springsteen devotee, but even if you are not a fan there is still much of interest in this finely detailed and intensely written volume.Generally adopting a thematic rather than a strictly chronological or biographical approach, Masciotra anchors his politics firmly to the left and finds the love, anger, despair and hope so often present in Springsteen's work an invaluable guide to both understanding and changing the lot of those presently either despised or rendered invisible in the heart of the American dream....Unlike the all too clever, intentionally shallow and gossip-obsessed rubbish that we generally get, this is musical journalism definitely worth reading. * The Morning Star *
The book leaves you with hope that music can challenge people and even change situations. * Reviewed in - wait for it - Families First magazine, Sept/Oct 2010 (UK) *
Exemplary beyond any literary doubt and quite possibly the finest Springsteen book I've ever read. -- David Marx * David Marx Reviews website, http://davidmarxbookreviews.wordpress.com *
ISBN: 9780826425058
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 436g
288 pages