Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as "The Big Bang": seeing Elvis Presley's debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song "Born to Run" reveals more than we previously realized.

Book one: Growin' up. My street -- My house -- The Church -- The Italians -- The Irish -- My mother -- The Big Bang (have you heard the news ) -- Radio days -- The Second Coming -- The show man (Lord of the Dance) -- Workingman's blues -- Where the bands are -- The Castiles -- Once there was a little Steven -- Earth -- The Upstage Club -- Tinker (Surfin' safari) -- Steel mill -- Homecoming -- Endless summer -- Beatnik deluxe -- California dreamin' (take two) -- It's a bar, you idiots -- Onward and upward -- Losing my religion -- Road work -- "The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle" -- The Satellite Lounge -- Book two: Born to run. "Born to run" -- Jon Landau -- Thunder Road -- Jackpot -- The E Street Band -- Clarence Clemons -- New contracts -- Living with the law -- "Darkness on the Edge of Town" -- The Drop -- Downtime -- "The River" -- Hitsville -- Hello walls -- "Nebraska" -- Deliver me from nowhere -- California -- "Born in the USA" -- "Buona fortuna, fratello mio" -- The big Big Time -- Going home -- "Regresar a México" -- "Tunnel of love" -- Goin' Cali -- Book three: Living proof. Living proof -- Redheaded revolution -- Changes -- LA burning -- Going to the chapel -- Earthquake Sam -- "Streets of Philadelphia" -- "The Ghost of Tom Joad" -- Western man -- Eastern woman -- King of New Jersey (Hollywood days) -- Bringing it all back home -- Revival -- "The Rising" -- Wild East -- The Seeger sessions -- "Magic" -- Super Bowl Sunday -- Moving on -- "Wrecking Ball" -- Losing the rain -- The "Wrecking Ball" tour -- Zero to sixty in nothing flat -- Garage land -- "High hopes" -- Home front -- Long time comin'.