Reviews of “Walk Like a Man”
 Walk Like a Man"Walk Like a Man: Coming of Age with the Music of Bruce Springsteen succeeds on multiple levels both as music writing and as a reflective story of how to navigate manhood...Wiersema did not write Walk Like a Man for teens but by focusing so much of it on his years growing up in rural British Columbia, it is a title that speaks to all of us of the powerlessness of youth and the longing for more that also permeates much of Springsteen's music. The author could not be more removed from the singer's experience (BC is about as far as it gets from New Jersey without crossing an ocean) and yet Wiersema easily shows how Springsteen's music resonated with every aspect of his young adulthood. The trick to the writing is that he not only makes the comparisons between the two of them believable, he makes you realize just how much you might have in common with both men as well." Bookslut, Dec 1, 2011 Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"[Walk Like a Man is] a fun read, and a strong reminder of why Springsteen is as popular as he is. Wiersema is particularly good at charting the highs and lows (he is not so gobsmacked as to not be able to see that there are lows), and putting the various aspects of Springsteen's career into a wider context." Globe and Mail, Nov 23, 2011 Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"The book is the story of a man becoming a man (despite getting a little lost along the way), and of the music that accompanied him on his journey." Toronto Quarterly, Nov 14, 2011 Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"What Wiersema has really created is his own brilliant disguise. Springsteen's songs didn't teach him how to walk like a man; no more than they did me. Rather they were there, as a soundtrack to his life, as he learned." The National, Oct 21, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"If writing about music is, in fact, akin to dancing about architecture, Robert J. Wiersema might have a two-step in his future. With Walk Like A Man, the Victoria-based novelist...ventures into previously uncharted territory: non-fiction, with a music nerd twist, thanks to the ever-present role that rock’s working class hero, Bruce Springsteen, has played in Wiersema’s life. Using the venerable icon’s lengthy discography, Wiersema has crafted the ultimate memoir mixtape, with enought wit and honesty to convince even the haters to give the Boss a second chance." Vancouver WestEnder, Oct 19, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"Wiersema ought to be commended for grabbing one non-fan's attention and maintaining his interest. The Victoria-based bookseller and bestselling novelist's unique biography/memoir/love letter is a hardcore connoisseur's enthusiastic take on the life and music of Springsteen and, more generally, a warm ode to the singular "power of music." Vancouver Sun, Oct 1, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"In his darkest mid-life days, author Robert J. Wiersema rediscovered Bruce Springsteen, and found rapture." They Tyee, Sep 29, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"The highest accolade I can give [Walk Like a Man] is that it made me revisit Springsteen. It made me listen to albums I was only vaguely aware of and read the critics' dispatches of the day...it is the author's talent that he makes us look at a major international artist anew and through different eyes.",/p> Victoria Times Colonist, Sep 25, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"Wiersema...riffs with alacrity." Toronto Star, Sep 24, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |
Walk Like a Man"[Walk Like a Man] is a touching and intimate look into one man's life, it also brings up bigger questions of fandom, of the public façade of celebrity, of the difference between art and artist." Exclaim.ca, Sep 23, 2011 Read more >>Read more about Walk Like a Man >> |