Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Travel Memoir
Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words
Availability
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on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
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Author:
“Caryn Rose
is a Brooklyn-based writer and novelist who documents rock and roll, baseball
and urban life. She has been writing about Bruce Springsteen for over 30 years,
and has been a regular contributor to Backstreets Magazine since 2003”
Rose also
has two novels available, B-sides and
Broken Hearts and A Whole New
Ballgame. For more, visit her website.
Description:
“18 days,
five countries, and seven concerts: this was how long-time Springsteen
chronicler and veteran Backstreets contributor Caryn Rose spent her summer
vacation, running from Paris to Prague to Vienna to London to Dublin, following
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on tour. Were European Springsteen fans
that different from their Stateside counterparts? Were the shows overseas truly
better than the ones in the States? Part travelogue and part rock and roll love
letter, Rose takes you with her every step of the way: queuing in the rain,
sleeping on the sidewalk, and watching Paul McCartney from the front row in
London.”
Appraisal:
Part of me
wonders whether a non-Springsteen fan would enjoy Raise Your Hand. When the author mentions a specific song from The
Boss’ oeuvre, being familiar with a fair share of his songs from the breadth of
his career rather than just the hits is going to influence how well you “get”
what is going on. When Rose says, “I never sing Born In The USA back home because I don’t want anyone to think I am
one of those people who doesn’t understand what it’s really about, but it feels
different doing it in Europe,” if Born In
The USA is all you know and you’re “one of those people,” you won’t
understand.
But my
contrarian side argues that Raise Your
Hand has the same qualities as all good travel memoirs. The author’s
impressions of experiences in a place the reader might have never been. That
the foreign experience is not only a different place, but also the world of
music and that of a diehard Springsteen fan could as easily add to the reader’s
experience.
And then
you’ve got all the other qualities that make or break a travel memoir for me.
Things like what the author learned about the world and themselves through the
experience. Sharing vicariously in the
experience, both magical moments and logistical difficulties. For me, Raise Your Hand is also an inspiration
to keep working toward actually doing a few music-themed travel adventures I’ve
considered for myself.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: **** Four Stars
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