Who is the Bruce, for real?

To walk back from this impasse, we need to see Springsteen’s persona for what it really is: Jon Landau’s middle-class fantasy of white, working-class authenticity. Does it derogate Springsteen to claim that he is, in essence, a white minstrel act? Not at all. Only by peeling back all the layers of awful heartland authenticity and rediscovering the old Jersey bullshitter underneath can we begin to grasp the actual charms of the man and his music. A glimpse of this old bullshitter was recently on display when Springsteen inducted U2 into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame on March 14. Springsteen had recently caught the new iPod commercial featuring the Irish rockers.