That's a great point: you don't feel the same way listening to his recorded music as you did when you were young." Yet his live shows must be as wonderful as ever.

I'd like to turn your comment into a question for anyone who's reading this and might like to answer: "Do you feel the same way listening to Springsteen's recorded music that you did when you were younger?" That might be a litmus test of Cullen's premise.

Re the Jersey Shore: My family had a house at the end of a dirt road in the Pine Barrens (near Double Trouble, where some of the old cranberry bogs have been converted into a state park) with no indoor plumbing or running water. We pumped our own water from a well.

It was a great experience because my siblings and I had to learn how to entertain ourselves when we were so isolated. That may help to explain why I became a writer: I entertained myself, in part, by writing a lot of stories. Thanks for asking!