Review: ‘Bono on Bono: Conversations with Michka Assayas’

by NDK Creative Artist

Bono.

Amazing how one word - even a name - can have so much impact and register so deeply in your consciousness, isn’t it? There is probably hardly anybody who comes to this review and reads it that doesn’t have an inkling that this word, this name - Bono - means something.

In simple terms fame is a circumstance whereby people know:

1. Your name
2. What you do
3. What you have done

And to the degree that it is one or more of those, then that’s a simple measure of fame. Do they know your name on the other side of the world in another country? That’s one degree, or point of fame accomplished. Do they know your name and what you do? That’s another point. Do they know your name, what you have accomplished? Then there’s one of the final degrees of fame.

There’s a fourth degree. As a human being are they glad, even proud, you did it? And the fifth is: Did it make a real difference to advance humanity, culture, and civilization?

It’s not a matter of degree: a small, or a large difference, that’s what’s important. Celebrity currency is spent wisely by Bono and Angelina Jolie, who I also frankly admire for the example they set where so many others fail to attain a useful perspective that serves humanity more than junk food for the mind.

I’ve written frankly of my admiration for Bono and U2 in A Creative Artist Enhances Society, but Bono on Bono: Conversations with Michka Assayas confirmed my admiration as well-placed, though every now and then I wonder just how much was achieved by some of Bono’s spending of what is called celebrity currency. This is how Bono feels about it:

“I genuinely see myself as a traveling salesman. I think that’s what I do. I sell songs door-to-door on tour. I sell ideas like debt relief, and like all salesmen, I’m a bit of an opportunist and I see Africa as great opportunity. And I don’t just mean this in terms of doing business with Africa for America or Europe, which I do. I mean it’s an opportunity for us in the West to show our values, because a lot people are not sure we have any — to show what we are made of, to see a continent in crisis and demonstrate what we can do. I see it as an opportunity for me to put this ridiculous thing called celebrity to some use. Celebrity is ridiculous and silly and it’s mad that people like me are listened to - you know, rap stars and movie stars. You know, rather than nurses and farmhands and others. But it is currency. Celebrity is currency, so I wanted to use mine effectively.”

I don’t think it’s mad at all. Bono epitomizes the concept of Creative Artist, but he is only one among many who inspired the re-definition. Bono not only creates original intellectual property, he celebrates his status in a manner befitting the elevation of status he enjoys.

When you read Bono on Bono you come away for once, with a sense that what is in the media, is who Bono is. I find that quite remarkable, and it says a lot of the power of Bono’s persona. But the book also says something about the author.

Michka’s voice is sincere, authentic, open and honest in a way a lot of biographical works are not. His admiration for U2 and Bono is sincere, so there is no pretense, or sense of insincere duplicity, you know exactly where he is coming from and why. Michka has obviously been deeply affected by the music, the band, and the man who fronts U2. It prompted him to write this book, and that’s a mammoth task.

A songwriting/performing/recording artist friend has explored this at an even greater degree and that’s a pun, cos he wrote a university essay on Bono, which I’ve recently read (it reminded me that I had to do this review of the book).

I think Michka Assayas was particularly clever in how he has written and presented this book, Bono on Bono.

The copy I have was given to me was a Xmas gift and I have done what I usually do with such a work that is full of wisdom, insight and practical experience; I festoon using these handy ‘tabs’ made by 3M, called Post-it Arrow Flags that are color-coded exactly the same way I organize my thoughts and my business (with colors), and make notes to help musicians and songwriters, and to demonstrate incontrovertibly that I have read these works, and know what’s in them, but also because they’re extremely useful to help me find information quickly in books I’ve read and intend to review.

Putting books to work is a good thing to do.

I don’t just read books, I learn from and use them as the valuable tools they are. They do not languish on shelves, but have practical use and are continually used to help others when appropriate. Biographies are a great source of input for story, and character insight and development, as are historical works.

For bands who are forming this is a good book. For those who are considering management this is a good book. For singers and those contemplating professional careers as a front man, this is a good book. For those who are in the public eye in the art & entertainment business…put this on your purchase list if you have not already got it.

Having humanity at heart

In marketing parlance, Bono is a brand, a very strong brand that is built on values that good people want to identify with and be like. He is the antithesis of celebrity because he has a perspective on it that puts it to use in an effective way; using celebrity to advance civilization, culture and connection to the important issues. This demonstrates what I have mentioned in other articles: that the art & entertainment business is truly about having humanity at heart and when this is not the case, then it is not authentic and has little or no value.

This is exemplified by such statements as found on page 2:

“[Bono]…overexcited and eager and insecure as I was…the importance of youth cults in London, how U2 refused to fit into them, how the utterance of the soul had been tragically neglected in modern music..”

Spot on observation and unfortunately so little has changed, but you don’t need me to tell you that, nor remind you of the authentic talents that continue to rise in the business who somehow manage to keep us tuned to a higher plane and hope.

Later in the book (page 199) Bono is quoted saying:

“Mercy is the outgrowth of love, but love demands that you try to see things from another person’s point of view.”

These are powerful ideas that demonstrate the level of creative intellectual thought and philosophy that are occurring in a man whose works are an inspiration. That is a powerful reason for any Creative Artist who wants to get a grip on the problems of fame, success and how to use them to read this.

Michka Assayas wrote to Bono and said before he wrote this book:

“You know there is this tradition of books made not about, but with painters, writers, or cinematographers: some interviewer stages a series of dialogues centered on one specific aspect of their life and work…and then it gets published as dialogue, a conversation. I find these sort of books very enjoyable, because they are quite the opposite of typical ‘rock books.’”

So do I, and this is what has been accomplished with this book. It is enjoyable and affords a rare insight into someone else’s life. That it is this man, Bono, that Michka’s own life intersected with is fortuitous for us all, and to my way of thinking that this intersection resulted in this work is invaluable and I am sure those who buy, read it and put it to use will agree.

Thank you Bono and Michka for this insightful book and lives that set an example to inspire creative life.

Keep us Free! Buy Bono on Bono: Conversations with Michka Assayas from links on our site. Thank you for supporting the Free Articulator and the Creative Artists who create it. Your purchase funds careers.

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