After the triumphant reception of Barack Obama's memoirs, both by international and Greek audiences, the popular former President of the USA returns with his new book co-authored with rock music legend Bruce Springsteen.
But what could a former American president and a rock star have in common? How can the traumatic memories of their childhood bring them closer? How similar were their youthful nightmares and how did they manage to overcome them? Is it possible to emerge better from a painful emotional state, to exorcise one's personal demons, and to excel? And ultimately, how important is it to share with others what has hurt and indelibly marked your life?

Answers to these questions, and indeed extremely interesting ones, are provided by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen through a series of their personal conversations which were initially recorded as a podcast and are now captured on paper, and which they share along with dozens of rare photographs, original speech texts, unpublished lyrics, collectible posters, and more.

“Renegades: Born in the USA by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen” is much more than just a common book. It is a stunning confession of two significant but different personalities and a deep psychoanalytic verbal communication between two friends who, each in their own way, have left their mark on the recent history of their country. Above and beyond all, however, they are two men, two American citizens who carry the psychological burdens of their not-so-easy past and worry about the uncertain future of their homeland.

“The best conversations have a timeless quality, taking you back to the realm of memory, leading you towards your hopes and dreams. Sharing stories reminds you that you are not alone - and maybe helps you understand yourself a little better,” says Barack Obama, expressing his satisfaction that many people identified with them through their discussions: “Many told us that listening to us talk made them think of their own childhoods. Their own fathers. 

The towns they grew up in.” And indeed, their stories are so human and true, and the way they share them with each other so sincere, that surely everyone will discover a piece of themselves at some point in them. They might even get some useful answers regarding essential life issues.

Because, as Bruce Springsteen aptly emphasizes, “it is from this kind of conversations that you speak from your heart and from which you leave with a full understanding of how your friend thinks and feels. You get a picture of how he sees himself and the world.” He admits that the two of them realized they have a lot in common: “At the end of the day, we discovered the similarities in the moral framework of our lives. It was the presence of a promise, a code through which we strive to survive.”