Bono: In conversation with Michka Assayas

Anyone who has done any amount of current event research on world poverty has seen Bono's name and stubby mug at almost every turn. Aside from the fact that he is an incredible musician, I admire that he has done arguably more than anyone in our generation to alleviate poverty around the world. When a friend of ours spent a week with us last semester he was in the middle of reading this...not really autobiography, but book length interview. I flipped somewhere to the middle, started reading, and couldn't put it down. I recommend this book to anyone interested in: Bono's life, the Christi@n life contextualized, world poverty, grace, or the band U2. Though I feel like most of the time the atheist French interviewer is speaking a different language, the words of Bono on the page were refreshing, exciting, and interesting. I wouldn't call Bono humble (or prideful either really), the characteristic that comes through that I most admire is transparency and an overall positive attitude. Though he deals with many heads of states, most of whom wish he would just go away, he didn't have a bad thing to say about any of them, choosing instead to praise their better qualities. One of my favorite parts of the book is when he gives a clear presentation of the gospel (complete with expletives), here is part of it: "...if Karma was going to be my judge, I'd be in deep s#$%. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jes*s took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

If you are interested in the work Bono is doing around the world, this is a good place to start. I recently read an article about a speech he gave (I think at Rick Warren's fellowship). The journalist interviewed a pastor who said, "I came wondering if Bono was a Christi@n and left wondering if I was." That made me chuckle.

-L