Offers an innovative study of Bruce Springsteen and his position in American culture that blends scholarship with personal reflection, providing both an academic examination of Springsteen's work and a moving account of how it offers a way out of emotional solitude and the potential lonesomeness of modern life.

This book begins with a visit to the Jersey Shore and ends with a meditation on the international legacy of Springsteen's writing, music, and performances. Gavin Cologne-Brookes's innovative study of this popular and musician and his position in American culture blends scholarship with personal reflection, providing both an academic examination of Springsteen's work and a moving account of how it offers a way out of emotional solitude and the potential lonesomeness of modern life. The author proposes that the American philosophical tradition of pragmatism, which assesses the value of ideas and arguments based on their practical applications, provides a lens for understanding the diversity of perspectives and emotions encountere