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4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In attempting to blend the social and musical history of New Jersey's faded seaside resort Asbury Park—where Bruce Springsteen first made his name in the 1970s—Wolff has an overabundance of engrossing material that never quite coheres to animate his thesis that the history of Asbury Park is the history of America. Founded in 1871 by James A. Bradley as a Methodist retreat, Asbury Park was designed to attract religious, moneyed vacationers who wanted a resort uncorrupted by alcohol and gambling. But the history of the resort is not so pretty, according to Wolff. The many African-Americans who served the rich there were restricted to the dingiest part of the beach. The Ku Klux Klan moved in, as well as organized crime. Continuing racism led to rioting in the 1970s, when the ghetto erupted in looting and the destruction of local businesses. Wolff (You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke) weaves into his narrative the musical heritage of Sousa, Sinatra and Bill Haley to underscore the social changes affecting the town over time. Asbury Park's current renewal efforts are mired in troubles—but the song Wolff hears there is still one of hope.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Anyone familiar with Bruce Springsteen's music knows about the role place plays in his work, and no place more than Asbury Park, New Jersey, a seaside resort town that has seen many ups and downs and for Springsteen exists in imagination as well as reality. In this luminous history of Springsteen's Asbury Park, journalist, biographer, and poet Wolff tells the story of a promised land. This Asbury Park somehow inspired hope in people like Springsteen, who were able to see beyond its often shabby exterior to what once was and could be again. Asbury Park was also the hometown of Springsteen's fellow outsider, author Stephen Crane (1871-1900), who saw it as symbolic of both a still-young nation's ideals and the hypocrisy of late-nineteenth-century America. Contradictions are a part of Asbury Park's history. Established to honor Francis Asbury, the pioneer of American Methodism, the city was envisioned by founder James Bradley as a resort town. Despite its small size, it has embraced many paradoxical visions--model religious community, beach town, haven for music from ragtime to rock--and represented freedom, fun, and democracy, though also Northern racism, violence, and corruption. Writing about the idea of a place, Wolff creates popular history at its best. Springsteen fans will love it, and so will anyone interested in American social history. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A revelation on every page,
By A Fan (Two Steps From The Blues, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land (Hardcover)
I am a Jersey kid by birth. I graduated high school the same year as Bruce Springsteen, but about 50 miles away. It might as well have been 5 million miles.
As a kid, there were family trips to the boardwalk at Asbury Park. When I was in high school, there were concerts at Convention Hall. I even dated a girl who's family spent part of the summer in Ocean Grove, but that's a story for another time. To me, Asbury Park was the length and breadth of the beach and boardwalk. It was obvious, even to an infrequent visitor like me, that the city was in terrible decline, but it took this book to explain how and why that happened, and, at the same time, place that experience within a much larger context. The stresses caused by the fundamental dichotomies that Asbury Park was built on are the same ones that challenge much of the U.S. Religion and commerce, racial conflict, the strengths and weaknesses of machine politics, even the tug-of-war of fantasy and reality, they are all in Asbury Park's history, and they are all around us, wherever we are. Those conflicts all took a terrible toll on Asbury Park, just as they all take a toll everywhere. In this book, Daniel Wolff tells us the history of a small place, and in the telling, illuminates larger truths. It is no coincidence that Springsteen's fame grew as he found ways to express his universal themes without tying them to a specific place and time. In his own way, Daniel Wolfe lets us see how and why that happened. As serious as the subject matter is, the book is written in a deftly lighthanded style that makes reading it a completely enjoyable event. Don't miss it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Down the Shore,
This review is from: 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land (Hardcover)
This book is a great resource. As a person who grew up "down the shore" adjacent to Asbury Park, I've learned a tremendous amount about the area's history. Interesting read with a great level of detail and chapter notes. I had borrowed it from the library but wanted my own copy to add to my shore book collection.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who knew?,
By
This review is from: 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land (Hardcover)
Who knew that the history of a town that I had never heard of in New Jersey would yield such an interesting read? The town is set up in such a way that it resembles some of the seedy racist behaviors that all of us would like to believe don't exist anymore but need to come to terms with.
There is plenty of talk about Springsteen, but there is also plenty of well-researched information on the rest of the love-to-hate-'em characters in the town.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Glory Days... Then and Now
I have used this book as research for novels that I am working on. Never before have I read a book for research, and been so enthralled.
Published 6 months ago by Heath P. Boice
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous
I couldn't put this book down. Wolff goes into great detail about this town, yet it's never boring. I also loved the way he tied in the thoughts of Stephen Crane and Bruce...
Published on August 22, 2008 by L. Farrell
1.0 out of 5 stars
OFFENSIVE ,POLITICALLY CORRECT TRASH
I am offended by this book. It is politically correct,which in itself is a turn-off,but the author,Daniel Wolff,seems neither to understand the history of Asbury Park,nor...
Published on May 6, 2007 by Charles H. Levenson
5.0 out of 5 stars
How not to run a city
Not a Bruce Springsteen bio or critique and not advertised as one, 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land by Daniel Wolff fits its eponymus title exactly...
Published on April 13, 2007 by Jersey Kid
3.0 out of 5 stars
Riding on "the Boss'" coattails
This choppy, although factually researched history of Asbury Park is interesting. However, it ties itself to Springsteen (three references in the book title), as a way to...
Published on August 18, 2005 by N J Carol
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Summer read
Great Summer read. Uncover the dark secrets behind the rise & fall of Asbury Park, NJ, and get a slap in the face about the rest of America during the same time.
Published on July 22, 2005 by Bobby V
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Gem from Daniel Wolff
At its very best biography is social history. That's what Daniel Wolff did so brilliantly with his biography of Sam Cooke, and has done again, this time with the story of a town...
Published on July 20, 2005 by Patsi Bale Cox
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honky Tonkin' at the Shore
It's tempting to call this surprising gem of a book "quirky" but for the fact that it addresses themes -- music, religion, race, commerce -- central both to the American dream and...
Published on July 20, 2005 by Francis Wilkinson
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Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
THIS IS THE history of a place that never existed. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
brush manufacturer, baby parade Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ocean Grove, Convention Hall, James Bradley, Springwood Avenue, Long Branch, New York City, New York Times, Stephen Crane, Cookman Avenue, Independence Day, Atlantic City, Ocean Avenue, Van Zandt, Arthur Pryor, Civic-Church League, Clarence Hetrick, Red Bank, United States, Joe Mattice, Wesley Lake, Asbury Evening Press, Daily Journal, Shore Press New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THIS IS THE history of a place that never existed. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
brush manufacturer, baby parade Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ocean Grove, Convention Hall, James Bradley, Springwood Avenue, Long Branch, New York City, New York Times, Stephen Crane, Cookman Avenue, Independence Day, Atlantic City, Ocean Avenue, Van Zandt, Arthur Pryor, Civic-Church League, Clarence Hetrick, Red Bank, United States, Joe Mattice, Wesley Lake, Asbury Evening Press, Daily Journal, Shore Press New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 57
books:
See all 57 books this book cites
- Asbury Park (NJ) (Images of America) by Helen C. Pike on 5 pages
- Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts, the Story by Dave Marsh on 5 pages
- Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets by Stephen Crane on page 56, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Marching Along by John Philip Sousa in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Maggie: A Girl of the Streets: and Other Tales of New York (Penguin Classics) by Stephen Crane on page 56, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 57 books this book cites
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71% buy the item featured on this page: 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land |
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