The fascinating story behind the making of Bruce Springsteen’s most surprising album, Nebraska, revealing its pivotal role in Springsteen’s career—now with a new afterword

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)

“Brilliant . . . For fans of American music, Deliver Me from Nowhere makes a great ghost story.”—The Boston Globe

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteen’s hugely successful album The River should have been the hit-packed Born in the U.S.A. But instead, in 1982, he came out with an album consisting of a series of dark songs he had recorded by himself, for himself. But more than forty years later, Nebraska is arguably Springsteen’s most important record—the lasting clue to understanding not just his career as an artist and the vision behind it, but also the man himself.

Nebraska is rough and unfinished, recorded on cassette tape with a simple four-track recorder by Springsteen, alone in his bedroom, just as the digital future was announcing itself. And yet Springsteen now considers it his best album. Nebraska expressed a turmoil that was reflective of the mood of the country, but it was also a symptom of trouble in the artist’s life, the beginnings of a mental breakdown that Springsteen would only talk about openly decades after the album’s release.

Warren Zanes spoke to many people involved with making Nebraska, including Bruce Springsteen himself. He also interviewed more than a dozen celebrated artists and musical insiders, from Rosanne Cash to Steven Van Zandt, about their reactions to the album. Zanes interweaves these conversations with inquiries into the myriad cultural touchpoints, including Terrence Malick’s Badlands and the short stories of Flannery O’Conner, that influenced Springsteen as he was writing the album’s haunting songs. The result is a textured and revelatory account of not only a crucial moment in the career of an icon but also a record that upended all expectations and predicted a home-recording revolution.

It is a pious paradise wrested from the dunes; a salty carnival of dreamers, drifters, and just plain folks; a city made legendary by Bruce Springsteen and Stephen Crane but grounded in generations of turbulent American reality. Even those who never lived there feel proprietary about Asbury Park--a place of shared experiences and strong passions, where grand sandcastle plans wash up against changing times and tides. Legendary Locals of Asbury Park captures a parade of personalities, from the visionaries who challenged nature to the true believers who sought, against tremendous odds, to make a year-round life in this city of summers. The shopkeepers and show people, the advocates on the front lines of social change, and the chroniclers who witnessed history are all among those who helped a small town cast a giant profile, here and on the big boardwalk beyond

Asbury Park, founded as a Christian resort community on the Jersey shore by developer James A. Bradley at the turn of the century, was carved from a small but impressive tract of undulating sand dunes and towering forests. This marvelous new photographic
history chronicles the early development of Bradley's resort, and looks at some of the other influential civic and religious leaders who contributed to the city's heritage. Bradley's ability to market and promote Asbury Park in the early years was noteworthy; the first streets in town were named after prominent political and religious figures, and a good deal of signage advertised the city's
Christian image to those passing through. To attract visitors, Bradley sponsored the East Coast's first baby parade and music on the boardwalk. Over the years, Asbury Park became home to a variety of different cultures and religious faiths, and this book--published in the centennial year of the city's incorporation--offers
early evidence of the city's diversity.

As the 20th century got under way, Asbury Park was booming. Real estate advertisements promoted a residential resort "where country meets the sea." The nearly one-square-mile gridded municipality attracted individuals who saw opportunities, from architects and artists to entrepreneurs and people looking for employment. But with the death of its founder and leading benefactor, James A. Bradley, and the rise of machine politics under Mayor Clarence E.F. Hetrick, Asbury Park's civic and economic fortunes started to change. In World War II's long aftermath, suburbs, shopping malls, and modern amusement destinations sprang up outside its municipal borders. Its once-bustling economy faltered, and civil unrest festered until 1970, when it turned violent. It took more than 10 years for new changes to find their way to the drawing boards. But it was in the 21st century that new business and civic leaders with a more inclusive pioneering spirit started turning Asbury Park's fortunes around.

Sink your teeth into this frankly delicious history of Rippers, Texas Wieners, and other iconic dogs of the Garden State.

Any local will tell you that the Garden State is home to a surprising number of unique local and regional hot dog styles. Chili-drenched hot Texas wieners in Paterson. Potato-packed Newark-style Italian dogs at Jimmy Buff’s. Dirty water pushcart franks topped with mustard and sauerkraut. And juicy M.O.P. dogs (that's mustard, onion, and pickle) like the ones served at Hot Dog Johnny's. The origins of New Jersey's iconic hot dogs begin well over a century ago and include obscure holes-in-the-wall and world-famous roadside stands like the historic Rutt’s Hut.

A fun deep dive for foodies, travelers, and local history buffs, author Mark Neurohr-Pierpaoli’s travel guide to the history and traditions of New Jersey's hot dog serving styles is your next great bite!

Explore the Shore on the Silver Screen

From the boardwalk to the bay, the Jersey Shore boasts a rich but somewhat overlooked history of filmmaking along its 130 miles of beautiful coastline.

Atlantic City, the Garden State’s most iconic town, has been featured in dozens of critically acclaimed films, including TheKing of Marvin Gardens (1972), Atlantic City (1980), and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Asbury Park, though largely known for its music scene, has graced the screen in numerous films, music videos, and television shows set and produced within the city’s mere 1.61 square miles of land and water, including The Wrestler (2008), I Saw the TV Glow (2024), and Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025). Cinematic gems like Coyote Ugly (2000), AmityvilleHorror (1979), A Complete Unknown (2024), and many others were produced on location from South Amboy to Cape May. And of course, there is Kevin Smith, the Red Bank native whose cinematic love letters to his home state helped change the face of independent film.

Marci Mazzarotto profiles more than 140 films, spanning 110 years, along with sundry TV shows and music videos that contribute to the richness of Jersey Shore’s film history. 

The perfect book for fans of the Boss!

Learn all about Bruce Springsteen’s life and career in this illustrated book! Filled with all the iconic hallmarks of a Who HQ biography, music fans will have a chance to learn new things about their favorite rock star or discover him for the first time!

Not only was Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA," he has risen to become a twenty-time Grammy winner and American icon.

Bruce Springsteen grew up in a blue-collar New Jersey town, where his parents struggled to make ends meet. Bruce didn't fit in at school but found solace in rock and roll and playing guitar. After the breakup of a local band he'd joined, Springsteen went out on his own and people began to take notice. He signed with Columbia Records and under pressure to come up with a hit, wrote "Born in the USA," which tells the story of America during the years of the Vietnam War. A multi-millionaire and twenty-time Grammy winner, the Boss has remained a working class hero whose music deals with the political and social changes in our country.

An unprecedented look at a very young Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, from the group’s creation and early New Jersey days to their meteoric rise and seminal Born in the USA tour, in photographs almost all not previously published.

David Gahr (1922–2008) was tapped by Columbia Records designer John Berg to shoot cover art for Bruce Springsteen’s second album, The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. Gahr’s earliest photographs of the musician showcase a youthful Springsteen, not even aged twenty-three, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on the eve of a career breakthrough. Gahr befriended the rising star, and over a span of approximately ten years he photographed Springsteen, both on- and offstage. Rare captures include Springsteen recording music, performing at the cramped venue Bottom Line weeks before the release of his seminal 1975 album Born to Run, and playing to legions of fans during his Born in the USA tour. Bruce Springsteen 1973–1986 is an unprecedented look back at Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on their path to becoming rock legends.