"If you think you aren’t a big fan of Springsteen, let this be your gateway drug. It was for me. The record consists of 8-track demos for what was to be the record. They recorded the record with the full band and then decided that there was something special to the demos and put them out instead. Amazingly the full band recording has still never been released. The record as it stands though is a stark and darkly haunting collection of masterfully told stories of life and death and ill-fated love."

"This is fiction, but it impressed the hell out of me even though I very rarely have time to read fiction these days. It is the New York Times book review “Notable Book of The Year,” as well. It gives the account of Germans who fought Nazism and were killed or put in jail for life by Nazis for it. A German citizen is killed just for dropping cards all over the city writing his objection of Hitler’s policies. His wife was also sentenced to death, and was in jail indefinitely"