Novels about / featuring U2?

[Morgoth321]

Is anyone aware of a book where U2 songs or their history feature as part of a fictional narrative? At present I'm working on a thriller novel which is partially built around U2 songs and facts (in the style of Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons', although hopefully better written!). Obviously I make no great claims about the quality of my own writing, btw, or even if it'll ever be published.

However, I suppose my question is really if there would be a market for a U2 related novel (especially one with the same title as a particular U2 song)? I'm thinking ahead to the time when I'll be pitching my novel to agents, and so it needs to have commercial potential. Basically, without giving too much away, my novel will feature a kind of quest, where the clues to progress to the next stage will be related to U2. Would U2 fans be interested in anything like this? My intention was for the clues to be a test for the readers, as well as the fictional characters. (The band themselves won't feature of course in any capacity, although I hope to demonstrate a knowledge of their music and their history.)

 

[biff]

Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck with it!

There have been a couple of fictional works (that I know of) that had a bit of Bono/U2 infused into them, but not really made into a focal point. One was "Everyone's Got a Bono Story" by Anne-Marie O'Connor. It's a humourous story about how everone in Dublin seems to have "a Bono story", and focusses on the amusing trials and tribulations of one young woman. It was a fun read.
There was also "American Psycho" in which the protagonist, a serial killer, sees U2 in concert and suddenly comes to the realization that Bono is the devil, and must be killed. Not a fun read.
As well, one of the characters in "Idoru" by William GIbson (a friend of U2), was inspired by Bono (Rez, as I recall) but there are no explicit U2 references.
That's all that I can recall at the moment.

 

[JCOSTER]

Call me the Breeze By Philp McCabe has u2 references and is supposed to be very good.

 

[biff]

LOL, I guess I've lost a few brain cells or something! I've actually read that book, and loved it. Parts of it are just heartbreaking.
Bono wrote a foreward to it, and there are many U2 references throughout. It's a really wonderful book.

Now I'm wondering what else I've forgotten....

 

[Greenlight]

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tishjian (no not Larry Mullen junior ) is supposed to be a good book. I've seen it on a recommended reading list for teenagers but it's supposed to be good for adults as well- something about a guy who sets up an amazing website to save the world and he attracts Bonos's attention who agrees to perform a concert. Haven't read it though so don't know what it's like

 

[corianderstem]

Interesting ... I wonder what's the legal involvement for something like that, if there is any at all? Can you just throw Bono into a book as a real-life person? Would you have to get clearance through all the right people to do that?

Maybe Bono's not in the above-mentioned book long enough to require permission. I wonder how stuff like that works.

 

[BonosSaint]

Public figure, probably fair game in US. You should be able to find a ton of information on the internet regarding the protections of using public figures in fiction. (Doesn't mean Bono wouldn't be pissed, lol. Or flattered.)

On the other hand, nonpublic figures receive greater protection.

 

[corianderstem]

Hm, interesting. Thanks!

 

[Morgoth321]

Thanks guys, I didn't think there was anything obvious concerning U2 that had been written. Now all I need to do is finish the damn thing and hope that it's actually good! (30,000 words and counting so far, nowhere near completion.) Hopefully you'll all get to read it someday. If by some chance it gets published, I'll come back here and indulge in some gratuitous self-promotion!

 

[ylimeU2]

Good luck finishing it. I would be interested in it, if you do. The concept sounds pretty fascinating. Let us know here if you do.

 

[b. john allen]

i'm trying to write a short story which will geature an r.e.m. song at the end. I've got it all in my head but it has trouble coming out

 

[Liesje]

James Patterson has mentioned U2 or U2 songs in some of his books.

 

[Morgoth321]

I started this thread, and although I haven't finished writing the novel yet, I thought that some of you may like an update. So far, I've written 125,000 words of my U2-themed thriller, and hope to bring it to a conclusion within the next month or so. Then I'll see if I can get it published...!

Anyway, in anticipation of trying to sell the novel to agents in the near future, I've drafted up a blurb (the kind of short synopsis that's on the back covers or dust jackets of books), in suitably excitable prose. Obviously I'd want my story to gain the maximum possible readership, but my big selling point is that I want to aim it specifically at U2 fans (as well as those who enjoy mass market thrillers). My intended title is intended to attract U2 fans in particular - 'Hawkmoon 269':

"A suspicious car crash is closely followed by a series of scientifically unexplainable murders. Suspecting that the events are linked, Belfast journalist and U2 obsessive Noah Wilson investigates, his instincts attracted by mystifying references to an obscure song, Hawkmoon 269…

Struggling to cover up a critical breach of security, a top secret government organisation is confronted by the unexpected return of a rogue former operative, bent on revenge. Aware that the potential seeds of their destruction have unwittingly slipped into the public domain, a deadly race ensues between the organisation and their potential destroyer, Teseida. At stake is the biological future of an entire nation…

Only one man can prevent disaster, a reclusive scientific genius who has chosen exile, leaving behind a baffling trail of clues relating to U2. Barely escaping an encounter with the deadly Teseida, Noah finds himself drawn into a shadowy world of unimaginable secrets and lies, where his own knowledge can make a difference. Still a target, he teams up with enigmatic government agent Wendy Colgan, as they attempt to locate the scientist and stop Teseida from committing an unprecedented act of scientific terror…"

So my question would be: if you as a U2 fan were aware of, were browsing in a bookshop and noticed a novel called 'Hawkmoon 269', would you want to read it, based on my draft description? I'd appreciate constructive comments, please (ie if you want to say 'It sounds utter shit', then don't bother!).

 

[biff]

Yes, I'm sure I'd be pulled in by the title, and intrigued by the blurb, especially the part about the "scientifically unexplainable murders". (Cool!)
And I'd definitely buy it because of the U2 references.
But then, I buy just about everything U2-related.

 

[ylimeU2]

Even if it had nothing to do with U2, I would be attracted to it over the title. And if I read a blurb like that, I would certainly buy it.

I read Everyone's Got a Bono Story and it was okay, but your premise, as a U2 fan, would be much more interesting to me. Good luck!

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

All of this is intended to be constructive criticism, so please don't take offense.

The U2 angle of the premise seems based on a little too much coincidence for me to buy into it. A good plot is a logical chain of cause and effect; while I (as a reader) would be willing to buy into Noah's love of U2 (and might even like him more for it), the reclusive scientific genius leaving behind U2-related clues doesn't seem quite believable to me. My question is why? It just seems like it would be more logical for him to leave behind clues that would be very difficult to decipher, so maybe they'd be something very scientific, since the world probably has a lot fewer highly-trained scientists than U2 fans.

You run the risk of your use of U2 seeming too gimmicky--it may turn out that your references are either so subtle that only the most die-hard fans would get them, or so obvious that readers will feel beat over the head with them. If you can weave U2 and U2 references into the story organically, they can work, but you don't want to force them.

You'd have to get permission to use any U2 lyrics, and your publisher would have to pay for them, which I don't know that a publisher would be willing to do for a first-time author. I think you'd be okay to use U2 as public figures, but you could potentially run into some trouble if you dig any deeper. I was watching an episode of Law & Order: CI the other night, and one of the criminal characters, a banker, was talking about a conference he was just at included a keynote address by "that rock star who's trying to cancel Third World debt." It seemed they went out of their way to not mention Bono by name, which made me wonder.

I'm not trying to discourage you. In fact, your idea feels like it could be filled with a lot of suspense and could make for a good genre fiction read. I'm just not sure why U2 needs to be a part of it, and if that will make it even harder to publish (since publishing is very difficult to begin with).

Keep writing--these are things you don't really need to think about until you've got a draft and you're ready to start revising. Speaking of revising, before you try to send that blurb out as part of a pitch letter to potential literary agents, try to edit out as many passive/to be verbs as you can, especially the passive voice in the first sentence. Action novel--action verbs!

Good luck.

 

[Utoo]

Sounds interesting. My advice----use the word "scientific" less in your blurbs. "Scientific terror" sounds only frightening in a nerdy kind of way.

 

[Val]

You run the risk of your use of U2 seeming too gimmicky--it may turn out that your references are either so subtle that only the most die-hard fans would get them, or so obvious that readers will feel beat over the head with them. If you can weave U2 and U2 references into the story organically, they can work, but you don't want to force them.

I agree with the above statement. It's such a delicate balance, but I think being subtle and giving the U2 fans what they want, as well as having the U2 connection make sense to the average thriller readers, can be done. Not an easy thing, but with creativity (which clearly you have) you can make it gel! Good luck with it!