Sunday, June 26, 2011
more on Exploring U2: the book
Here’s some more information about Exploring U2. Is this rock and roll? book (in which I have a chapter – (“Bullet The Blue Sky” As An Evolving Performance).
Edited by Scott Calhoun and with a foreword by music journalist Anthony DeCurtis, Exploring U2 is a collection of essays examining U2 from perspectives ranging from the personal to the academic and is accessible to curious music fans, students, teachers and scholars alike.
Four sections organize sixteen essays from leading academics, music critics, clergy and fans. From the disciplines of literature, music, philosophy, psychology and theology, essays study U2’s role in developing their listeners’ concepts of personhood and identity; U2′s evolving use of source material in live performances; the layering of vocal effects in some of U2′s signature songs; the crafting of a spiritual community at concerts; U2’s success as a business brand; Bono’s rhetorical presentation of Africa to the Western consumer; and readings of U2’s work for intertexts, spiritual statements, irony, conservatism and hope in space and time.
Official band biographer Neil McCormick presents U2 as a “Dublin-shaped” band, and for the first time in print, Danielle Rhéaume writes on how discovering and returning Bono’s lost briefcase of lyrics for the October album propelled her along her own artistic journey.
This thoughtful and timely collection recognizes U2’s music both as its own art and as commenting on personal journeys and cultural dialogues surrounding contemporary issues. It offers insights and critical assessments that will appeal to scholars and students of popular music and culture studies, those in the fields of theology, philosophy, the performing arts and literature, and all intellectually curious fans of U2.
The book is due for publication with Scarecrow Press (academic reference and professional books publisher owned by University Press of America) in a variety of formats in October/November of this year.
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