Another Island Bookstore find: Greetings From Bury Park, by Sarfraz Manzoor. From Amazon:
British TV and radio journalist Manzoor describes growing up in Britain in the ’70s and ’80s by way of his love affair with the music of Bruce Springsteen. Only two years old when he emigrated from Pakistan, Manzoor was torn between the demands of his traditional family and the seductions of mainstream culture. His discovery of Springsteen at age 16 gave Manzoor a personal muse who allowed him to bridge the gulf separating the two worlds. For Manzoor, Springsteen’s lyrics about alienation, isolation and generational misunderstandings addressed perfectly his inchoate feelings of rebellion and guilt. In Springsteen Nation, Manzoor found a culture that transcended his own divided loyalties and accepted him as just another fan.
The title of the book, of course, is a reference to Springsteen’s first album, Greetings from Asbury Park.
PopMatters blog says “Greetings From Bury Park rises above the predictable coming-of-age genre on the strength of Manzoor’s unflinching honesty and his unique world view. He rejects his father’s blind allegiance to religious rules and Pakistani traditions, but he never rejects his father. His rebellion is quiet and respectful—no drug or alcohol binges, no rehab, no destructive behavior. And he poignantly shows how he comes to admire the life his father led even though it wasn’t what he chose.”
You don’t have to love Bruce to enjoy this book – PopMatters says, “You don’t have to be a Springsteen fan to enjoy this book or understand Manzoor’s devotion. You just have to recall a time when you were still open enough that music had the power to shatter the world view you inherited.”
The Washington Post Book Review says:
In testifying to rock and roll’s power to spark personal and perhaps even social change, Greetings from Bury Park provides a fascinating look at one family’s Westernization and at the pressure to assimilate that so many immigrants face. It also reminds us of the joyous liberation we felt when we discovered our own tastes and delighted, for the first time, in music our parents couldn’t stand.
As always, let me know if you’ve read this. I’m intrigued – I always enjoy books about one’s relationship with the seminal music of one’s youth, like Jonathan Tropper’s The Book of Joe. (And it certainly doesn’t hurt when it’s The Boss.)