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From Publishers Weekly
In attempting to blend the social and musical history of New Jersey's faded seaside resort Asbury Park—where Bruce Springsteen first made his name in the 1970s—Wolff has an overabundance of engrossing material that never quite coheres to animate his thesis that the history of Asbury Park is the history of America. Founded in 1871 by James A. Bradley as a Methodist retreat, Asbury Park was designed to attract religious, moneyed vacationers who wanted a resort uncorrupted by alcohol and gambling. But the history of the resort is not so pretty, according to Wolff. The many African-Americans who served the rich there were restricted to the dingiest part of the beach. The Ku Klux Klan moved in, as well as organized crime. Continuing racism led to rioting in the 1970s, when the ghetto erupted in looting and the destruction of local businesses. Wolff (You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke) weaves into his narrative the musical heritage of Sousa, Sinatra and Bill Haley to underscore the social changes affecting the town over time. Asbury Park's current renewal efforts are mired in troubles—but the song Wolff hears there is still one of hope.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Anyone familiar with Bruce Springsteen's music knows about the role place plays in his work, and no place more than Asbury Park, New Jersey, a seaside resort town that has seen many ups and downs and for Springsteen exists in imagination as well as reality. In this luminous history of Springsteen's Asbury Park, journalist, biographer, and poet Wolff tells the story of a promised land. This Asbury Park somehow inspired hope in people like Springsteen, who were able to see beyond its often shabby exterior to what once was and could be again. Asbury Park was also the hometown of Springsteen's fellow outsider, author Stephen Crane (1871-1900), who saw it as symbolic of both a still-young nation's ideals and the hypocrisy of late-nineteenth-century America. Contradictions are a part of Asbury Park's history. Established to honor Francis Asbury, the pioneer of American Methodism, the city was envisioned by founder James Bradley as a resort town. Despite its small size, it has embraced many paradoxical visions--model religious community, beach town, haven for music from ragtime to rock--and represented freedom, fun, and democracy, though also Northern racism, violence, and corruption. Writing about the idea of a place, Wolff creates popular history at its best. Springsteen fans will love it, and so will anyone interested in American social history. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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THIS IS THE history of a place that never existed. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
brush manufacturer, baby parade Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ocean Grove, Convention Hall, James Bradley, Springwood Avenue, Long Branch, New York City, New York Times, Stephen Crane, Cookman Avenue, Independence Day, Atlantic City, Ocean Avenue, Van Zandt, Arthur Pryor, Civic-Church League, Clarence Hetrick, Red Bank, United States, Joe Mattice, Wesley Lake, Asbury Evening Press, Daily Journal, Shore Press New!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Down the Shore, October 26, 2005 Reviewer: Richard G. Weissman - See all my reviews    This book is a great resource. As a person who grew up "down the shore" adjacent to Asbury Park, I've learned a tremendous amount about the area's history. Interesting read with a great level of detail and chapter notes. I had borrowed it from the library but wanted my own copy to add to my shore book collection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Who knew? , October 22, 2005 Reviewer: Nathaniel Whalen "baseball fan" (Chicago) - See all my reviews    Who knew that the history of a town that I had never heard of in New Jersey would yield such an interesting read? The town is set up in such a way that it resembles some of the seedy racist behaviors that all of us would like to believe don't exist anymore but need to come to terms with. There is plenty of talk about Springsteen, but there is also plenty of well-researched information on the rest of the love-to-hate-'em characters in the town.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: A revelation on every page, October 15, 2005 Reviewer: A Fan (Two Steps From The Blues, USA) - See all my reviews I am a Jersey kid by birth. I graduated high school the same year as Bruce Springsteen, but about 50 miles away. It might as well have been 5 million miles. As a kid, there were family trips to the boardwalk at Asbury Park. When I was in high school, there were concerts at Convention Hall. I even dated a girl who's family spent part of the summer in Ocean Grove, but that's a story for another time. To me, Asbury Park was the length and breadth of the beach and boardwalk. It was obvious, even to an infrequent visitor like me, that the city was in terrible decline, but it took this book to explain how and why that happened, and, at the same time, place that experience within a much larger context. The stresses caused by the fundamental dichotomies that Asbury Park was built on are the same ones that challenge much of the U.S. Religion and commerce, racial conflict, the strengths and weaknesses of machine politics, even the tug-of-war of fantasy and reality, they are all in Asbury Park's history, and they are all around us, wherever we are. Those conflicts all took a terrible toll on Asbury Park, just as they all take a toll everywhere. In this book, Daniel Wolff tells us the history of a small place, and in the telling, illuminates larger truths. It is no coincidence that Springsteen's fame grew as he found ways to express his universal themes without tying them to a specific place and time. In his own way, Daniel Wolfe lets us see how and why that happened. As serious as the subject matter is, the book is written in a deftly lighthanded style that makes reading it a completely enjoyable event. Don't miss it.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful: Riding on "the Boss'" coattails, August 18, 2005 Reviewer: N J Carol "njcarol_2000" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews This choppy, although factually researched history of Asbury Park is interesting. However, it ties itself to Springsteen (three references in the book title), as a way to sell books. The history of the rise and fall of Asbury Park could be that of any racially mixed, northeastern city...Atlantic City, Camden, etc. The topics of racism, religious prejudice, and fincancial greed are well documented. However, late in the book, the author tries to tie this in with the trite theme of popular music as a reflection of changing times. He then jumps to Springsteen - with little new information. The ride on Highway 9 takes a detour here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Great Summer read, July 22, 2005 Reviewer: Bobby V (Nyack, NY) - See all my reviews Great Summer read. Uncover the dark secrets behind the rise & fall of Asbury Park, NJ, and get a slap in the face about the rest of America during the same time. Sprinkle in some great insights about Springsteen and his music and you just might learn something even though it's Summertime. Bobby V Nyack, NY

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Another Gem from Daniel Wolff, July 20, 2005 Reviewer: Patsi Bale Cox (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews At its very best biography is social history. That's what Daniel Wolff did so brilliantly with his biography of Sam Cooke, and has done again, this time with the story of a town. Prior to reading this book I had thought of Asbury Park only in passing, and usually in relation to Springsteen. Wolff made me care about Asbury Park and understand it within a much larger scope. My only gripe about Wolff is that he doesn't produce more -- let's face it, he stands among the Ritz of writers.

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• Subjects > Entertainment > Music > History & Criticism
• Subjects > History > Americas > United States > General
• Subjects > History > Americas > United States > State & Local > General
• Subjects > History > Americas > United States > State & Local > Mid-Atlantic
• Subjects > History > Americas > United States > State & Local > New Jersey
• Subjects > History > Historical Study > Social History

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