A wonderfully original take on a Rock and Roll autobiography' Paul McCartney 'An inimitable
Rock 'n' Roll life told as boldly as it was lived' Bruce Springsteen What story begins in a
bedroom in suburban New Jersey in the early '60s unfolds on some of the country's largest
stages and then ranges across the globe demonstrating over and over again how Rock and Roll
has the power to change the world for the better? This story. The first true heartbeat of
UNREQUITED INFATUATIONS is the moment when Stevie Van Zandt trades in his devotion to the
Baptist religion for an obsession with Rock and Roll. Groups like the Beatles and the Rolling
Stones created new ideas of community creative risk and principled rebellion. They changed
him forever. While still a teenager he met Bruce Springsteen a like-minded outcast true
believer who became one of his most important friends and bandmates. As Miami Steve Van Zandt
anchored the E Street Band as they conquered the Rock and Roll world. And then in the early
'80s Van Zandt stepped away from E Street to embark on his own odyssey. He refashioned himself
as Little Steven a political songwriter and performer fell in love with Maureen Santoro who
greatly expanded his artistic palette and visited the world's hot spots as an artist
journalist to not just better understand them but to help change them. Most famously he
masterminded the recording of "Sun City " an anti-apartheid anthem that sped the demise of
South Africa's institutionalized racism and helped get Nelson Mandela out of prison. By the
'90s Van Zandt had lived at least two lives-one as a mainstream rocker one as a hardcore
activist. It was time for a third. David Chase invited Van Zandt to be a part of his new
television show the Sopranos-as Silvio Dante he was the unconditionally loyal consiglieri who
sat at the right hand of Tony Soprano (a relationship that oddly mirrored his real-life
relationship with Bruce Springsteen). Underlying all of Van Zandt's various incarnations was
a devotion to preserving the centrality of the arts especially the endangered species of Rock.
In the twenty-first century Van Zandt founded a groundbreaking radio show (Underground Garage)
a fiercely independent record label (Wicked Cool) and developed a curriculum to teach students
of all ages through the medium of music history. He also rejoined the E Street Band for what
has now been a twenty-year victory lap. UNREQUITED INFATUATIONS chronicles the twists and
turns of Stevie Van Zandt's always surprising life. It is more than just the testimony of a
globe-trotting nomad more than the story of a groundbreaking activist more than the odyssey
of a spiritual seeker and more than a master class in rock and roll (not to mention a dozen
other crafts). It's the best book of its kind because it's the only book of its kind.
