Mondadori Libri is proud to announce the publication – simultaneously around the world – of the autobiography by Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run, on 27 September 2016. It will be preceded by the album Chapter and Verse, released by Columbia Records/Sony Music, on 23 September.

Mondadori Store is celebrating this double bonanza with an unmissable competition, organised in collaboration with Sony Music Italy and Mondadori Libri, with as the prize Fender Telecaster American Standard guitar, tested and signed by Bruce Springsteen. For full details please go to eventi.mondadoristore.it.

Finally, to celebrate along with all Bruce Springsteen fans the arrival of the autobiography, Born to Run, and the album, Chapter and Verse, 5 events are planned in Milan, Rome, Bologna, Padua e Turin, with exceptional guest appearances, shows and lots of music. For full details please go to librimondadori.it.

The autobiography Born to Run

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl: the experience was so exciting that Bruce decided to put it down on paper. This was how the extraordinary autobiography started, a book that Bruce has spent the past seven years preparing and in which we rediscover the sincerity, the irony and originality that we have come to know through his songs.

He tells us about his childhood in Freehold, New Jersey, a place full of poetry but also of potential risks, destined to feed his imagination, until the moment that Bruce calls the “Big Bang”: Elvis Presley’s debut on the “Ed Sullivan Show”. He describes his unbridled desire to become a musician, his beginnings as the king of the bar bands in Asbury Park and the birth of the E Street Band. With disarming candour, for the first time Bruce Springsteen talks about the inner torments that inspired his greatest songs, beginning from Born to Run, a track that turns out to be even more complex than we imagined.

It is an enlightening read for anyone who loves Bruce Springsteen, but it is much more that the memoir of a legendary rock star: it is a book for practical spirits and incurable dreamers, for parents and children, couples in love and lonely hearts, for artists, hippies and anyone who wants to be baptized in the sacred river of rock. It is rare that an artist tells their story in such an intensely detailed way. As in many of his songs (Thunder Road, Badlands, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Born in the USA, The Rising and The Ghost of Tom Joad, to name just a few), the autobiography of Bruce Springsteen outlines the inspiration of a unique artist and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his own experience.

The album Chapter and Verse

Chapter and Verse, is the album that accompanies the autobiography, released on 23 September by Columbia Records/Sony Music four-days ahead of the publication of Born to Run. The collection, which spans the artist’s entire career, includes six songs that have never been heard before. It is available on CD, double LP, digital download and streaming. The CD and double LP contain the lyrics of the songs and some rare photos.

The songs on in Chapter and Verse, 18 in total, reflect the themes and sections of the book Born to Run. The collection begins with two tracks by the Castiles, with the teenaged Springsteen on vocals and guitar, and closes with the title track from 2012’s “Wrecking Ball”. The track list of the album traces Bruce’s musical history, from its beginnings and tell a story that runs in parallel with the narrative of the book.

The recordings by the Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band feature musicians who would later enter the ranks of the E Street Band. The solo demos “Henry Boy” and “Growin’ Up” were made in 1972, shortly before Springsteen began recording his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.


The Mondadori Store competition

Mondadori Store, Italy’s most extensive chain of bookstores, in collaboration with Mondadori Libri and Sony Music Italy, has organised a competition for which the prize is a Fender Telecaster American Standard tested and signed by Bruce Springsteen himself. Fans can take part in the competition by pre-ordering or buying the book along with the CD or LP) exclusively at participating Mondadori Stores or on the web site mondadoristore.it,

All you have to do then is to got to the web site eventi.mondadoristore.it before 20 October 2016 and follow the instructions to participate in the draw. The prize will be presented to the fortunate winner along with a certificate of authenticity.

The guitar, on display from today at the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo, will also travel to the Mondadori Stores in Bologna, Padua and Turin as part of three events dedicated to Bruce Springsteen, and finally it will remain on show at the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo in Milan until the end of the competition.

For full details please go to eventi.mondadoristore.it.

The events

A total of 5 events have been organised to celebrate the publication of the autobiography Born to Run and the release of the album Chapter and Verse, starting with Eataly and two exceptional events. The first, in Milan, on Thursday 29 September at Eataly Smeraldo from 8 pm and the second in Rome, on Sunday 2 October at Eataly Ostiense from 6 pm. Two unique occasions, with special guests. At the heart of th event will be a reading from the autobiography Born to Run by the great Giuseppe Battiston. Taking part in Milan will be the journalist Marina Petrillo and I Rome Gino Castaldo.

But that’s not all, because from 3 to 6 October the Fender Telecaster American Standard signed by Bruce Springsteen will tour the Mondadori Stores in Bologna, Padua and Turin, where it will be on display for a whole day. In each city a special event dedicated to the autobiography Born to Run and the album Chapter and Verse, has been organised and the protagonists of these three events will be the comic actor Antonio Ornano, authors, artists and special fans. For full details. please go to librimondadori.it.