Customer Reviews

Bono

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A pleasant surprise. I was afraid this book-length interview would turn into a self-congratulatory rambling session with a sycophantic journalist. However, Assayas keeps after Bono with tough and interesting questions and Bono is - by and large - candid and frequently quite insightful. He holds back on some things, which is his perogative, and can get on tangents about his greatest passion of the moment (Africa) but ultimately I found him an honest, fascinating, intelligent, and admirable fellow. I couldn't put it down.

Especially refreshing (and amusing) is the chapter devoted to Bono's theology ("Add Eternity to That"). He has a penchant for dropping swear words into the discussion and that may be off-putting to some Christians. He clearly points to Christ's sacrifice on the cross and God's grace as his only hope of salvation but avoids the cliches evangelicals often fall back on. You don't hear that from too many rock stars.

Though I enjoy their music, I'm still not a huge fan of U2. However, I have become quite interested in the band's front man, Bono. Bono has used his celebrity and fame in a way that many others would benefit from by example. I find the man fascinating and I was looking forward to learning more about him.

BONO is an extended interview that Michka Assayas had with Bono over a period of several years. The project originally didn't start out as book, but as Assayas discusses, a book-length interview seemed to best way to present everything that he and Bono had discussed. I was a bit leery about the book before reading it because I had never read a book-length interview before and I was concerned the book might start repeating itself. Thankfully, BONO doesn't. Assayas doesn't do much sugar-coating and asks Bono tough questions. Bono seems to like this though, as it forces him to do some serious reflection and self-evaluation. What follows, then is a written conversation that is candid, often insightful, and sometimes humorous.

The only repetition in the piece is brought up by Bono himself in regards to his work with Africa. Had another celebrity mentioned the cause, it might seem like fluff. But Bono is serious and since the book takes place over a series of years, one can see how serious Bono is about the problem and what he has done over time to find a solution.

Bono is a Christian and I especially enjoyed reading about his faith. There aren't very many Christians who are also world famous rock stars, so he isn't a typical Christian and I found it interesting to read how Bono balances between his faith and his fame. Bono does uses some foul language every once and awhile and some people might be taken back by that. Personally, I found it refreshing to read an authentic account of faith instead of tired and overused clichés that many evangelicals often use in discussing their lives.

A great book for anyone who is a fan of U2 or Bono or for someone looking to read about a famous Christian who tries to use their celebrity for Biblical purposes.

..An extensive interview taken over a number of different phone calls/ meetings- is an idea I like; gives ideas and issues discussed a chance to be refreshed. However, the author, Michka Assayas first met Bono a number of years ago (almost 30 years), and has been in contact ever since. They have, over this lengthy period of time built something of a friendship/relationship, and it shows in the book. This is fine but, I think it affects the questions asked, and how Bono addresses the questions; there were a few times when it seemed only they knew what the other thought or meant because of some prior conversation years ago, and didn't bother verbally finishing/explaining the idea then for the readers.
As a result, we as readers, because of their established friendship, can only see Bono through the eyes of the author, which is like veiwing something through already tinted glass. These things can easily get looked over by someone who already has a relationship with the interviewee, but nontheless it gets in the way of a truly non-biased and interesting interview.

I was conflicted about writing a review for this book for a little while now because I came away from this material with a worse impression of Bono than I had going in and quite frankly, maybe that's my fault. But after reading several hundred pages about him, I expected to feel a bit different when I was done. When do you read a biography of someone, who participates in said biography, but doesn't necessarily come off very well? Not often.

I've been a U2 fan since the early nineties when everyone hated them, talked bad about them, said they were arrogant and preachy - but owned and listened to their albums anyway. I always found that incredibly intriguing to say the least. I had heard Joshua Tree and loved it and enthralled by Achtung Baby. I've been listening to U2 for as long as I can remember and I have no problem with any album they've ever put out, even the ones that weren't as good as people had hoped. I've written several reviews for different things regarding Bono and U2 and most of them have been overwhelmingly positive. This is probably the second unfavourable review I done now.

The first few sections cover Bono's early life, some random stories about recording, a few moments during the success as it lifted up off the horizon of their, thus far, long and well-established career. I think part of the problem with this book is there is no supporting cast to this, even though it's called Bono. Michka Assayas doesn't include a `much needed' chapter to this book interviewing Edge, Adam or Larry about Bono. Giving some perspective to this man and this material would've been a good thing and not a detractor by any means. "But it's Bono on Bono" someone groans from the cheap seats. Actually, no it's not. Bono barely covers Bono and neither does Michka. Bono covers Africa and his Elevation Investment group ad naseum. Sure, these issues need to be discussed and people need to be made aware, but then title the book `Bono on Africa' or `Elevation: Bono's Investment Strategy for you.'

Bono describes himself several times in this book as a `Salesman' of sorts, unfortunately for the reader he comes off as a really bad furniture salesman whose heart just isn't in it. Hence, in my title he's the manager. Labour is always killing themselves to eat as opposed to Management who are just along for the ride, which Bono very clearly seems to be for this experiment of a book. Several times Michka starts getting candid with Bono and asking tougher and tougher questions and everytime Bono deflects and avoids the question or fails to make a point that is salient to the information even when he's trying to be controlled. No, Bono just keeps returning to his Africa information likes it's a sales pitch or something incredibly rehearsed almost every step of the way, and I found it a bit off-putting more than once, especially where it had no business being.

A lot of people who read this might think that's choc full of interesting stuff about Bono's personal life and the band, but it just isn't. It's very clipped and incredibly staccato in many places. Bono actually talks more candidly about Adam's failures in the 90's than his own. I didn't know how to take that, either. In some aspects I can understand it, because Bono will probably want to write and sell his own biography at some point and tell some of the more interesting stories that one would expect to read about as isn't presented here in the 373 pages we're given. And even more off-putting is toward the end of the book Bono tells Michka that "he [Bono] would've written a better book that would've been much more interesting and more personal." [pg. 334]

Reading the text I've copied out alone, doesn't seem that big of a deal, but when you read the entirety of the chapter that it's in, Bono comes off as defensive and dismissive towards Michka and even a bit cold. I will state for the record, that in the chapter `Tidying My Room', Michka goes after Bono full force to get him to open up about himself, but as I already explained, Bono just `digresses again' as Michka points out for the hundredth time. The conversation tops out with Bono's avoidance of Sycophants, which if one reads between the lines, examines the tone, it comes across like a jab of sorts. I think this was really the point where I felt the worst about reading this `conversational biography.'

On the back cover there's an incredibly appropriate quote from GQ Magazine that states: ... and he smartly gets the hell out of the way of his subject." Tongue-in-cheek, but true. I don't really see this book as a failure by any means, or even a failure to get a personal dialogue from Bono about himself, but more of a failure on Bono's part to make a decision about making more of a commitment to Michka to cover the details of his life which never really happens.

Some people live great lives. Clearly, Bono is one of those people. He could probably write, if he sits down and does it, a multi-volume set about what happened. Possibly, a huge collection of books about his life with U2 and everything in between. People would read it and Bono would most likely enjoy that people would have an interest as he points out to Michka many times that he doesn't mind the attention, because he sees himself as just another bloke on the block, so to speak. It would be sad if he chooses a ghostwriter to do this, or goes down this path again with speaking through a conduit of sorts. Hopefully, this is a lesson learned, making this book just a published conversation between two friends.


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I every much enjoyed reading my new used book, I recieved it very fast and was safely packaged. I am looking forward to more purchase more books like this.

This read is a glimpse into the person we know as Bono. He expands on his beliefs, his work as an ambassador for the poorest of the poor, and gives some intresting insight into relationships between the band members.

If you don't like u2, there is a good chance you will still enjoy the book. If you don't like Bono, you're probably not reading this review.

This book was excellent. If you're a Bono fan, this is a great read. It helps to clear up some of the things he does, and it shows him as a good person. He seems like the kind of guy it would be fun to hang out with.
The questions were great and well written. Overall I think the author did a great job with this book.