A book about Bruce is not just a book about Bruce. There are several types of Bruce books: everything from the traditional biography to picture books and guitar tab books. One sub-genre is not very well-known. You won’t find it in many bookstores, except possibly in college bookstores or other very specialized places, and it’s not the kind of book you want to give to the casual fan who wants to know a little bit more about Bruce Springsteen.

What I’m talking about is university-level theses or dissertations turned into books. Springsteen fans will do anything to incorporate their hero in their civilian lives, and universtiy students are no exception. Countless school papers and reports focus on Bruce. A few of the high-level achievements are furnished with a cover, an ISBN and a price tag, and made available to the public.

One of those books is called Finding Grace in the Concert Hall by Linda K. Randall. It’s based on an anthropology thesis that investigates fan culture as it manifests itself among Bruce Springsteen fans. The word thesis inadvertently brings to mind hundreds of pages of theoretical outpourings that no one outside a small circle of PhD’s could ever understand.

Not so with Randall’s book. Sure, it has its share of sociological and anthropological theories explained, as it absolutely should in order to put things in a context, but the vast majority of the book focuses on real-life Springsteen fans. What they do, how they think, why they behave the way they do. As such, most serious Springsteen fans will get a kick from reading about themselves, and perhaps get some affirmation that they are not alone, and that they are more normal and healthy than their friends and relatives may want them to believe. Thus, those same friends and relatives would likewise benefit from a little dose of Finding Grace in the Concert Hall and have some of their worries and prejudices demystified.

Randall makes no secret of the fact that she’s part of her own subject and therefore not completely unbiased. She’s a long-time Springsteen fan who has seen numerous shows and traveled halfway around the world to see her hero. In fact, she’s an active member of this very website. That’s why it was only natural for her to conduct part of the research among Greasy Lake members (including yours truly), and if you’ve been hanging around here for the last few years, you will come across several familiar screen names as you turn the pages.

Altogether, the role of online communities plays an important part in the book, and while Randall is probably not the first anthropology student to look at internet communities, this is the first time I have read a study that centers around Bruce communities.

Another common theme in the book is religiosity and spirituality. The comparisons between religion and Springsteen fandom are running throughout the book. Probably many readers will have trouble digesting that, but Randall succeeds in convincing the reader that the comparison is very relevant if not beyond question.

Whether or not you agree with Randall in all her conclusions, Finding Grace in the Concert Hall is a book that most Springsteen fans will enjoy, if for nothing else than its loyal and affectionate description of “us”, the Springsteen fan community. At about 110 pages, it’s easiliy and quickly read. And if you’re feeling a little burned out on Bruce and message boards, etc., it’s the kind of book you can pull off the shelf to help remind yourself what it all means and how Bruce’s music is so much more than just music. I very much recommend it.