cover image U2: The Definitive Biography

U2: The Definitive Biography

John Jobling. Dunne, $26.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-2500-2789-4

Lofty moral aspirations aside, the story of the four-decade career of the Irish rock band U2 has been laden with contradiction and internal strife. U2—which claims all its original members, and has yet to announce a single official hiatus since its formation in 1976—is the perfect example of how a long-surviving band can resemble a long-surviving marriage. Jobling, a British music and film journalist, reminds us that even the best marriages are rocky affairs, replete with broken promises, failures of nerve, betrayals, and downright nasty behavior. All that, from a massively popular rock band? While the U2 mystique owes much to the political, social, and spiritual concerns openly espoused by the band (and, in particular, the group’s focal point, Bono), it’s clear that—as in life, so in rock and roll—serious compromises have been made by all, little of which has been a secret. Yet it’s these missteps, rather than the band’s adventurous music and remarkable longevity, that concern Jobling, who charts as much internal dissension, business wheeling and dealing, mishandled political maneuvering, and individual misbehavior as can be substantiated. Why these four wildly wealthy lads stay together to make music remains the big, unanswered question. Jobling presents a researched, knowing and briskly paced saga, to be sure, but this falls short of a definitive biography.[em] (Oct.) [/em]