Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska

The fascinating story behind the making of Bruce Springsteens most surprising album,Nebraska,revealing its pivotal role in Springsteens careernow with a new afterword.

WithoutNebraska,Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteens hugely successful albumThe Rivershould have been the hit-packedBorn 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,Nebraskais arguably Springsteens most important recordthe lasting clue to understanding not just his career as an artist and the vision behind it, but also the man himself.

Nebraskais 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.Nebraskaexpressed a turmoil that was reflective of the mood of the country, but it was also a symptom of trouble in the artists life, the beginnings of a mental breakdown that Springsteen would only talk about openly decades after the albums release.

Warren Zanes spoke to many people involved with makingNebraska,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 MalicksBadlandsand the short stories of Flannery OConner, that influenced Springsteen as he was writing the albums 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.