U2 at the End of the World

From Publishers Weekly
Music journalist Flanagan (Written in My Soul) followed rock superstars U2 on the road, into the studio and into their private lives for three years to collect material for this authorized biography. It provides an interesting, if almost too comprehensive, account of day-to-day life for members of one of the most popular bands. Beginning with his subjects' arrival in Berlin to record an album as the Wall was coming down, Flanagan presents U2 as residing at the heart of politics and social change, describing their friendships with Bill Clinton and Salman Rushdie, their extralegal activities on behalf of Greenpeace and their efforts to provoke their massive audience into greater awareness through such projects as nightly updates on the war in Bosnia. Flanagan also encourages band members to spout off their philosophies on everything from music to religion and politics. An unabashed fan, Flanagan tends to lionize his subjects, but his minutely detailed accounts of them also render them compellingly human. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Somewhere in a dilapidated bar or on a rotting porch, raw talent is busting its chops for nothing. That is, unless Jim Cantone hears the racket. The golden-eared, platinum-hearted talent scout has just left an independent record label to oversee A&R (Artists & Repertoire) at industry colossus WorldWide Records. While Cantone mentors Jerusalem--rock's next great white hope--and ponders "selling out" at 30, bitterness and jealousy motivate WW's vice president, J.B. Booth, to shame and ultimately force out WW's charismatic president and founder, "Wild" Bill DeGaul, a cross between real-life record moguls Clive Davis and Chris Blackwell. As senior vice president of the video channel VH-1, Flanagan (U2 at the End of the World) knows the music biz's convoluted, polluted intestinal tract well. Money (six figures and up), booze (bubbly), blood (a dead, chic singer), and other bodily fluids flow in exotic locations, but to little effect. Unfortunately, Cantone, the reader's moral navigator through WW upper-management's underbelly, is too conscientiously self-conscious to make this good-natured expos? believable. Not recommended.---Heather McCormack, "Library Journal" Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
For being about a rock 'n' roll group, this is amazingly good. But then, U2 is an amazing band: four Dublin kids who didn't know how to write songs, let alone play their instruments, but who had a dream. Flanagan treats the band as if they set out on a quest as trying as any traditional hero's journey. He paces their story as fast as their globe-trotting lives and makes it as inspiring as their fans find their music. He provides a remarkable glimpse into the hearts and minds of a group that has dazzled ears and eyes throughout the world, and in so doing, renders great service to U2. Raul Nino


Review
"Rarely has a rock biography been as  insightful or as much fun. It reads like a James  Joyce-meets-Hunter Thompson novel. It's the literary  equivalent of the Zoo TV tour--a brash,  ambitious marathon with a momentum all its  own."--Boston Globe


Review
"Rarely has a rock biography been as  insightful or as much fun. It reads like a James  Joyce-meets-Hunter Thompson novel. It's the literary  equivalent of the Zoo TV tour--a brash,  ambitious marathon with a momentum all its  own."--Boston Globe


From the Publisher
The most intimate and appreciative biography of the mega rock band U2 to date--by the author to whom the band gave complete access. When U2 took the stage for their three-year Zoo TV world tour in 1991, Bill Flanagan was there--in the bus, on the plane, in the recording studio and well after hours with the biggest rock band in the world. A tour that began to support the hugely successful Achtung Baby record and ended with a second, even more successful record, Zooropa, took U2 to the far reaches of the world, playing to over a hundred sold-out arenas in over forty cities.U2 At The End Of The World takes you on the world tour and drops you off at the cultural intersection where rock stars meet politicians; where writers, directors, and models all wind up backstage with U2. You're there when the band meets Bill Clinton in a Chicago hotel room; when Salman Rushdie comes out of hiding to join the band onstage at Wembley Arena in London; when Frank Sinatra and Bono record their famous duet, "I've Got You Under My Skin." And finally, when the band performs their last Zoo TV concert in Tokyo in 1993 and nearly collapses from physical and mental exhaustion, you are there with them waiting for the end of the world. Augmented with sleek photos by renowned photographer Anton Corbijn, U2 At The End Of The World is the most definitive book on the band to date."Rarely has a rock biography been as insightful or as much fun. It reads like a James Joyce-meets-Hunter Thompson novel. It's the literary equivalent of the Zoo TV tour--a brash, ambitious marathon with a momentum all its own."--Boston Globe


From the Inside Flap
The most intimate and appreciative biography of  the mega rock band U2 to date--by the author to  whom the band gave complete access.  

When U2 took the stage for their three-year Zoo TV  world tour in 1991, Bill Flanagan was there--in  the bus, on the plane, in the recording studio and  well after hours with the biggest rock band in the  world. A tour that began to support the hugely  successful Achtung Baby record and ended with a  second, even more successful record, Zooropa, took U2  to the far reaches of the world, playing to over a  hundred sold-out arenas in over forty  cities.

U2 At The End Of The World  takes you on the world tour and drops you off at  the cultural intersection where rock stars meet  politicians; where writers, directors, and models all  wind up backstage with U2. You're there when the  band meets Bill Clinton in a Chicago hotel room;  when Salman Rushdie comes out of hiding to join the  band onstage at Wembley Arena in London; when  Frank Sinatra and Bono record their famous duet,  "I've Got You Under My Skin." And finally,  when the band performs their last Zoo TV concert in  Tokyo in 1993 and nearly collapses from physical  and mental exhaustion, you are there with them  waiting for the end of the world. Augmented with  sleek photos by renowned photographer Anton Corbijn,  U2 At The End Of The World is the  most definitive book on the band to  date.


From the Back Cover
"Rarely has a rock biography been as insightful or as much fun. It reads like a James Joyce-meets-Hunter Thompson novel. It's the literary equivalent of the Zoo TV tour--a brash, ambitious marathon with a momentum all its own."--Boston Globe


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Musician magazine editor Flanagan (Written in My Soul, Contemporary Bks, 1987. o.p.) first interviewed the Irish rock band U2 in the 1980s. For this biography he was invited to spend nearly four years with the band. The book follows U2 through several recording projects in the early 1990s, including their albums "Achtung Baby," and "Zooropa. The book opens in the autumn of 1990 and U2 is in Berlin as the Wall is coming down. In 1992 they take part in a Greenpeace action against a British nuclear facility believed to be polluting the Irish Sea. In 1994 the lavish "Zoo TV" tour concerts included live interviews from Sarajevo, then under siege. While the band's mix of politics with art attracted many fans, it often drew criticism from the media. Interspersed with these events we see U2 at work and at play, recording, performing, juggling families and romances, and hanging out in pubs. Although Flanagan finds it difficult to keep his opinions out of the book, usually he keeps them at least out of the way, and often enough he lets the members of U2 speak for themselves. A step above the usual pop-group biography this is recommended for larger public and university libraries and music collections.-Tim LaBorie, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia


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