(03-11-2005) New U2 Book Published in Italy -- Extra! Music Magazine*

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dsmith2904

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New U2 Book Published in Italy

Editor's Note: Interference.com member Lady Luck tipped us off to a new U2 book published recently in Italy. Below are her translations of a review of the book and interview with its author.

Title: “U2: 1979-2004: 25 anni di inquietudini Rock” (25 years of rock disquiets)
Author: Loris Cantarelli
Publisher: Editori Riuniti
Year: 2005
Price: 18,00 Euro
Italian only

Here I go again talking about my favourite band!

I want to start with a question: how one can spend his/her time while waiting the date of the concert (132 days till U2 will perform in Milan…)

Answer: of course you put the radio on and you listen to all the CD, while you read this new book! The moment I bought this 350-page book, I started having a look at it, with the curiosity of one who wants to see what it’s inside the book.

Reaction: do you have in your mind the idea of a well where you can dive to find the strangest things, the precise dates, and the details? This book is exactly like that. It’s very accurate and you will find a lot of data on U2.

Let’s have a look to the various sections: a short intro, signed by the author on November 8, 2004. The date “Vertigo” came out (and the day of my birthday… is this just a coincidence?). The intro contains a splendid phrase saying that U2 reached a sort of balance as a band because they are like a game of mirrors.

Then the book covers the whole discography, from the energy of Boy (1980) till the so intimate “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." I think there’s a splendid little thing in this book: the section with the chronology is called “Travel Diary” and, knowing how much this band wandered in the last 25 years -- not only physically -- I think the author couldn’t find a better title.

Of course the book also deal with “Discography” and “Videography," that contain both the whole U2 performances during their career and the personal collaboration the four artists did during these years.

Another nice note is that there is a short list of some of the most complete and beautiful web sites about the band.

It’s a good reading, especially for fans, because between the lines you find the details we love to find out and to know and, as Cantarelli remarks, nowadays we are bombed with information of all kind and it’s great to have a little book - no pretentious (but precious) that you can read quietly and where you can find the most important news about the story of the band.

In the end: this book is a sort of enjoyable vademecum. It would be great if in the future we could have a follow up to this, a new volume that could tell the story from when this book ended.


(VERY) SHORT INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
I reached the author of the book “U2 - 1979-2004: 25 anni di inquietudini rock," Loris Cantarelli, to ask him a couple of things. This is what came out:

Q: You’re the author of another book about U2, which belonged to the collection called “Legends." Why this new book comes out after such a short time?
A: That book came out on November 2003. It was a sort of short sum and I couldn’t write more than 128 pages. This new one is in more or less 352 pages and it tries to make the point on the first 25 years of the band, considering the various activities of Bono, the list of all the public shows with their curious things, the bibliography, Videography and discography that were never shown in Italy.

Q: Since the first page, I had the impression of a very personal touch. Am I wrong?
A: This is partially true, even if this is due to the fact the structure of this book in very different from the one of the old one. In both book, I tried not to give anything for granted and I listed every fact in its context. I had a lot of space available (three times the space I had for the first book), so I could make a deeper analysis, which shows the so many activities carried on by the band. Also polemics and bad interpretations of facts are included.

Q: when I come in touch with other fans, I often tell the story of how I started following U2. How was for you?
A: The first time I saw "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" on an TV. Since then, I’ve always followed U2, with interest and curiosity. I am struck by the fact they can keep their freshness and being so authentic, even if they’ve been in show business for 20 years

Q: in July I will attend my first concert. What do you remember about the fist U2 concert you saw?
A: The energy and the will to so the group had. Also, the complicity between them and their audience.

Q: you’ve been a fan for 20 years, so you have a complete vision of this group. I mean, you followed the evolution, the progresses, the activities they did.
A: It’s true, and I am always surprised when I think about the passing of time. I must admit that, as for all things of life, in every period of the band I find with displeasure that they’ve lost something. But it couldn’t be different. Of course, sometimes I am happy they have lost some things… this is an objective thing, though. The thing I’ve always loved is their will to go on and changing, even if this aspect is not so strong now, I think this is due to the desire to avoid a cliché.

Q: According to you, how did the relationship between the band and the fan changed?
A: I think this is the aspect that didn’t changed. The interaction between the fans and the band has always been very strong, from the time when fans were asked to choose the song for the fist single with a radio vote back in 1979, to the priority given to the subscriber of their official website for the purchase of tickets.

Q: Do you have any other project, also not U2-related
A: I deal (with pleasure) with cinema, music and comics. I’ve always a lot of ideas… I just have to find the time to organize them! For now, I go on with the newsletter, which counts 300 subscribers and the collaboration with the magazine "Fumo di China" (www.fumodichina.com). For the future, we’ll see!

Q: I know it’s too soon to talk about it, but have you thought about up-dating this book?
A: Of course new edition are on plans. But one can never tell about it…

--Extra! Music Magazine
 
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