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The Maestro

The Maestro

The Fly
Joined
Jun 7, 2002
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Anyone recommend some good U2 books?

Only u2-related book i have read is Bonos biography.

Would be grateful if yous gave me the titles of a few good ones :)

Cheers:wink:
 
Hello,

The book U2 At The End Of The World by Bill Flanagan is almost required reading :D. It's sometimes even referred to as Flanagan's Bible. :) It's very insightfull and well written with many great stories in it. Although Flanagan wrote the book when he was following U2 around during their Achtung Baby/Zoo TV/Zooropa period (so basically between the end of 1990 to 1994) he paints a very good picture of the backgrounds of the different persons (Bono, Edge, Larry, Adam, but also Paul McGuinness and the U2 organisation itself).
U2 Live: A Concert Documentary is an invaluable source if you're interested in U2 live performances. Basically, it lists and describes the performances U2 have given since their start in 1976 (although there is naturally not that much information available of their early years). This goes further than just listing the date and the setlist, but the author also describes how the concert was and what went on during the concert. As I said, it is an invaluable source. The last (updated) edition only went on until the first 5 concerts of the Popmart Tour, but I've heard that next year a new edition will come out (presumably including the whole Popmart and Elevation tours).
With these two books you cannot go wrong.

C ya!

Marty
 
Well, Popmartijn covered the main ones, but I think B.P. Fallon's "Faraway, So Close" is another cool book to take a look at. It has some interesting stories told the way only B.P. could tell them. But I think amazing photos alone are worth the price of the book.
 
Hallelujah Here She Comes said:
Well, Popmartijn covered the main ones, but I think B.P. Fallon's "Faraway, So Close" is another cool book to take a look at. It has some interesting stories told the way only B.P. could tell them. But I think amazing photos alone are worth the price of the book.
Click to expand...

In "U2 ATEOTW" Flanagan makes out B.P. to be hated by most of the crew (including Larry, who says "either Beep [BP] goes or I go") :yes:
 
books

I have to agree with everything you said regarding "U2 at the end of the world" as I am reading it right now. Another that I picked up which I highly recommend in "the Spiritual Journey of U2" a book that came out last year, written by Steve Stockman. It chronicles the band from the early years up to Elevation and tells of thier spiritual roots and where they stand on many issues. Also lots of great quotes from the ever quotable bono........:yes:
 
books

Ya, I definately agree with Elvis Presley. I read Walk On. It's a great book. I'd also reccomend "U2: Burning Desire" if you can find it. It's hard to get. But I agree with all the post here. U2: At the End of the World is awesome too.
 
U2 at the End of the World is the real deal. No speculation (I enjoyed Walk On, but it was speculation as the guy had never met the band) and lots of real stories and conversations with the band members. It's full of deep stuff from world politics to U2 internal politics to spiritual stuff...talks about the stuff that happened in that time era (Sarejavo, Michael Jackson accusations, etc.) It's also over 500 large pages of purely enjoyable reading.
 
Can't remember who it's by right now--I have it at home but haven't read it in a long time--but Race of Angels: The Genesis of U2 might be the most interesting U2 book I've read. That is, I love the Concert Documentary, it's just amazing, but you know what you're getting with a book like that, more or less. Race of Angels is different. A lot of it is about Irish culture and history, and how U2 fits into and comes out of that. It is a really, really interesting book and I think soon I will put Electrical Storm on repeat and read it again. :)
 
Popmartijn said:
U2 Live: A Concert Documentary is an invaluable source if you're interested in U2 live performances. As I said, it is an invaluable source.
Click to expand...

Yay, I just bought one from eBay. Can't wait to get it!!! :)
 
The Road to Pop by Carter Alan (an updated Outside is America) is good also. It tells the story from an American's point of view and is great with Bill Grahams book. You can get most of these from Amazon, either new or second hand through their used book sellers.
 
fyi..

Rolling Stone also printed a very good book of all U2 articles and mentions, but it's rather out of date -- I think it was published in 1995 or so. It's hard to find, but a good book. :)
 
Into the Heart

Has anyone read Nial Stokes book "Into the Heart: The Complete Story Behind Every U2 Song"? I just got it yesterday and it seems that Stokes explains more about the meaning of the songs himself than he does from what Bono or U2 intended them to mean. :no:
 
Re: Into the Heart

cnelson said:
Has anyone read Nial Stokes book "Into the Heart: The Complete Story Behind Every U2 Song"? I just got it yesterday and it seems that Stokes explains more about the meaning of the songs himself than he does from what Bono or U2 intended them to mean. :no:
Click to expand...

I recently read that book, thought it was good - I think he does throw in some of his own interpretations, but from what I've heard the boys actually did contribute and participate quite a bit with what was included. Larry has said that they sort of regret doing it because they would rather leave the songs open to interpretation, let people feel about them how they want to feel (something to that effect).
 
Niall Stokes' book

I've been reading more of Stokes interpretation of U2 songs. Some are right on, while others he just stretches way too far. I think Bono sometimes doesn't know what his songs are about. I think sometimes it's like a road for him. You follow it and then in the end you find out where it leads you too. Like Electrical Storm. It started out as something different and in the end Bono came to the conclusion that it was about two lovers trying to clear the air. Nial Stokes I noticed gets alot into how the song was produced and how it musically came to be, but he never finished with what the song is about. Like "Wild Honey." I wanted to know what that song was about last night and so I went reading it in Stokes book and he spent the whole time writing about the producing of it. I'd say the book isn't bad to look at and read some of the songs, but on the whole it doesn't hold water. :sick:
 
U2 Books?

What good ones can i put on my christmas list?:wink:

Only one i have read related to U2 is Bonos Biography and i'd really like a few good U2 books, any suggestions?:evil:

Cheers :)
 
FYI.. I heard that there is going to be an update of Pimm Jal de la Parra's book in February, to include the rest of Popmart and the Elevation tour, so you might want to wait until it comes out. :)
 
A long-ago book?

I asked this in another thread/forum, but does anyone remember, or have a book that came out in The Joshua Tree days, just photos of the boys in the desert, that sort of thing; there's one with Bono with a fat stogie in his mouth, grinning ridiculously? I used to have it, and went and stupidly, cut out tons of pictures (for my high school locker of all things) and then my aunt threw it out, so if I could find it somehow, I'd like to!

What's the complete title of Bono's biography???
 
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