Greetings from Bury Park

Andrew Ervin

In testifying to rock and roll's power to spark personal and perhaps even social change, Greetings from Bury Park provides a fascinating look at one family's Westernization and at the pressure to assimilate that so many immigrants face. It also reminds us of the joyous liberation we felt when we discovered our own tastes and delighted, for the first time, in music our parents couldn't stand.
—The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

In this uneven memoir, British TV and radio journalist Manzoor describes growing up in Britain in the '70s and '80s by way of his love affair with the music of Bruce Springsteen. Only two years old when he emigrated from Pakistan, Manzoor was torn between the demands of his traditional family and the seductions of mainstream culture. His discovery of Springsteen at age 16 gave Manzoor a personal muse who allowed him to bridge the gulf separating the two worlds. For Manzoor, Springsteen's lyrics about alienation, isolation and generational misunderstandings addressed perfectly his inchoate feelings of rebellion and guilt. In Springsteen Nation, Manzoor found a culture that transcended his own divided loyalties and accepted him as just another fan. It's an intriguing hook, but one Manzoor handles awkwardly. Springsteen barely appears in the first 90 pages or so, which cover the family leaving Pakistan, Manzoor's father's death and his siblings' marriages. The early material seems rushed and is standard immigrant memoir fare-tales of suffering in the old country and shame in the new; antipathy toward the stern, workaholic father and the too-late realization of all they had in common. Some of the later episodes such as Manzoor's first trip to America-where he sells encyclopedias door-to-door-show real energy, but they're a long time coming. The division of the book into semi-discrete essays also tends to rob the narrative of unity and impact, and the 9/11 coda feels tacked on. (Apr.)

Copyright 2007Reed Business Information

School Library Journal

Part fan's notes to "The Boss" but mostly coming-of-age stories, broadcast journalist Manzoor's memoir chronicles the ways that Bruce Springsteen changed his life. Born in Pakistan, Manzoor emigrates with his family to Britain at the age of two. While his father and mother struggle to make ends meet in their new home, Manzoor struggles to fit in and to grasp his Pakistani and Muslim heritage. Manzoor strives to make sense of his father's demands regarding money, time, schooling, and a future profession. When a friend introduces him to Springsteen's music at 16, Manzoor begins to read the events of his life through the lenses of Springsteen's lyrics and music. To escape the confines of British society, he follows Springsteen on tour in Europe and America, identifying with him as a man born to a working-class immigrant family and hearing the promise of self-improvement in Springsteen's music. Although quotations from Springsteen's songs begin each chapter, the singer becomes a shadowy figure in this memoir. Although rambunctious and at times humorous, this is also a rambling and repetitive read. For Springsteen fans primarily.
—Henry L. Carrigan Jr.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Reviews

A British journalist comes to terms with his immigrant upbringing and love of Bruce Springsteen, each crippling in its own way. Manzoor grew up in working-class Luton and, as related in his sketchy memoir, fit neither the molds set out by the society around him nor those of his Muslim parents. Early on, it became clear that he wasn't going to be a drone like his father, a tough-as-nails factory worker with a jones for self-improvement, or marry a good Pakistani girl like his long-suffering, guilt-dispensing mother. In a series of eight slightly overlapping essays, Manzoor tells the story of growing up as a young Pakistani boy destined for backbreaking labor and adult responsibilities, only to have his life forever changed by hearing Springsteen's music in college. Later on, he became a journalist for the BBC and the Guardian, but what really mattered was The Boss. Each chapter opens with a quote from the appropriate Springsteen lyric, and there's no passage in Manzoor's life so pressing or important that he can't find a way to relate The Boss to it. Springsteen even appears when Manzoor discusses his troubled relationship with religion: "I wanted to be a Muslim like Philip Roth was a Jew or Bruce Springsteen was a Catholic." Although Manzoor maintains a healthy sense of self-mocking humility and does an excellent job portraying his fantastically complicated striver of a father, his listless prose eventually makes this short book less rewarding than it should be. Wins points for breaking the cultural mold, but a little too plain and unadorned. Agents:Kate Jones and Lisa Bankoff/ICM