Bono: Saint and Sinner

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biff

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Has anyone seen this book yet? I ordered it ages ago, and just received notice that it's been shipped. I'll have it in a few days.
I'm not too hopeful about its quality, as it's by a guy named Mick Wall who's done many books about rock acts, including Guns N' Roses, Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi and many more, all of them not very highly rated.

But it was cheap, and of course, I would have to have it anyway!:wink:
 
Oh, neat. Now I'm curious and will have to get it. :D


Found this on Amazon:
"Editorial Reviews

Book Description
From his childhood in Dublin, to his superstardom, to his emergence as one of the world's great philanthropists: here is the story of Bono. Not only is Bono a crucial element in the most dazzlingly inventive band since the Beatles, he is also the most overtly politicized rock superstar since John Lennon, and the biggest espouser of interracial harmony and spiritual "one love" since Bob Marley. He is also one of the very few major rock artists to open up about his deepest spiritual beliefs, his religion, both in interview and in song, and not be despised for it, or thought less of.
As a result, though it was for U2's music, pure and simple, that the name Bono first became famous, the vast international reach he now enjoys has to do with more than mere rock stardom. It's to do with the huge social responsibility he has decided comes with it. With a long history of campaigning behind him—from the movingly rousing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to the moment he phoned Bill Clinton live on-stage as images of war-ravaged Sarajevo flashed across giant screens behind him—politics and rock 'n' roll have always been linked in Bono's mind."
 
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BonosSaint said:
So where's the sinner part?:hyper:

The sinner seems to have left the building, LOL.
I received the book this morning, and though it has the same cover as shown on the Amazon website, the title is now "Bono: In the Name of Love". I've skimmed through it quickly, and there ain't no sinnin' goin' on. False advertising!:mad:

I'll report back once I've read it properly.
 
biff said:


The sinner seems to have left the building, LOL.
I received the book this morning, and though it has the same cover as shown on the Amazon website, the title is now "Bono: In the Name of Love". I've skimmed through it quickly, and there ain't no sinnin' goin' on. False advertising!:mad:

I'll report back once I've read it properly.

are you kidding? they really changed the title?
that is some serious false advertising indeed.
the sinning is the whole allure. oh well.
can't wait to hear your review, biff!
 
OK, so I'm still in the first chapter and there are so many errors it's not funny. For example, did you know that Bono is the oldest member of the band? Or that it was Peter Rowan (not Derek) who became Guggi? Or that Bono's father would every Sunday drop off his wife and sons at St. Canice's Roman Catholic (!) Church, and then go off on his own to a different (Catholic) church? (Yeah, that really makes sense!)

Also, it's really badly written. And we've seen all of the pictures before.

I shall soldier on and report back later.:wave:
 
Still in the first chapter. Did you know that Neil McCormick was one of the boys who showed up at Larry's in response to his ad? (Ivan will never get his claim to fame!) And did you know that Adam Clayton is one of two children, the other being a sister named Sarah Jane? (I guess Sebastien Clayton is a figment of the imagination.)

It's clear up to this point that the only "research" the "writer" did for this book was to read the flawed and inaccurate (but still way more entertaining) Eamon Dunphy book.

Ah well, back at it....:|
 
biff said:
Still in the first chapter. Did you know that Neil McCormick was one of the boys who showed up at Larry's in response to his ad? (Ivan will never get his claim to fame!) And did you know that Adam Clayton is one of two children, the other being a sister named Sarah Jane? (I guess Sebastien Clayton is a figment of the imagination.)

It's clear up to this point that the only "research" the "writer" did for this book was to read the flawed and inaccurate (but still way more entertaining) Eamon Dunphy book.

Ah well, back at it....:|

wow.
how do these writers get these jobs?
oh well.
just reading that list of inaccuracies in itself is pretty entertaining :)
 
This one made me laugh out loud:

He says the the song "October" became the band's first top-twenty single in the UK, reaching #11. (It was the album, actually, that went to 11 on the UK charts.) Just the thought of that song in particular being a radio "hit" is hilarious. Honestly, has the guy even heard that song?:eyebrow: :lol:
 
OK, so I've done with this dire piece of crap. Unless you see it in a remainder bin for $3.00 (which is where it will be soon), don't buy it.

Some more howlers:

-The video for "With or Without You" was filmed on the roof of a store in downtown Los Angeles. (It sure was awfully dark up there.)
-Sinead O'Connor not only sang a song for "In the Name of the Father", but she also starred in the film opposite Daniel Day Lewis.
-At the funeral for Paula Yates, Bono sang "Bullet the Blue Sky":lmao: Can you imagine anyone who has actually listened to that song believing that was appropriate to a funeral? (It was "Blue Skies", actually.) I literally laughed out loud picturing it. Try it yourself....See what I mean? :lol:
-"Achtung Baby" was the "title track" for the album of the same name, but a "sinisterly Germanic parody" of that song was "mysteriously included" on Zooropa. (So mysterious no one else knows about it!)
-The songs "Stay" and "The First Time" are described as "straightforward high-energy rock". (Yeah, I really love dancing to those two hard-hitting numbers.)

I could go on and on (really, I could), but you get the idea.
Aside from the above-mentioned insights, this book tells you nothing you didn't already know. I'm not actually sure how this writer can get away with this, actually, as he's used a huge number of quotes from many sources which we are familiar with, but he credits NONE of them, and lists no acknowledgements, not one. With all of these direct quotes from Bono and others, he gives the wilfully misleading impression that he actually had access to all of these people. Appalling.:tsk: :down:
 
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Woah! Hope you put a reader review on the Amazon website--to warn others off!!!!
 
Wow...All of that is really unbeliveable. Can you post reviews on Amazon or email the author directly? I dont use Amazon so Im not sure but people should be warned and this author should be called out.

Thanks for being the soldier for all of us..
 
I was going to make a post asking about the book Bono: in the name of love.

Good thing I read through this thread to find out it's the same book;
i saw it in a record shop recently and was wondering if it was worth buying.

So thanks for the warning biff, i'll gladly leave it were it is and wait for the u2 by u2 book instead:wink:
 
qweh?
Ahem. I think the only thing he /may/ have gotten right was the age thing. Maybe. It's been reoprted a lot that Bono's the oldest, Larry's the youngest. But then, how old /are/ Edge and Adam? Nobody ever seems to say.
 
Devlin said:
qweh?
Ahem. I think the only thing he /may/ have gotten right was the age thing. Maybe. It's been reoprted a lot that Bono's the oldest, Larry's the youngest. But then, how old /are/ Edge and Adam? Nobody ever seems to say.

bono is not the oldest, adam is.

that was biff's point - the authour can't even get their ages right...little chance i'd believe anything else in the book if even the most basic facts are wrong.
 
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