Bono may be a year late turning in the manuscript of his memoir—but he’s approaching the finishing line, according to a report in the Sunday Times of London.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Dublin native is “in the final stages” of writing the book according to the newspaper. Bono signed a roughly $8.4 million deal with Penguin Random House, as revealed by the Irish Sun last September. He is expected to be the first member of U2 to publish a memoir. Both former U2 manager Paul McGuinness and Bono’s former agent, the late Ed Victor, have been credited with landing the deal. (Victor died in 2017.) Bono has no collaborator on the book, his first.
There have been numerous books on U2, both authorized and unauthorized. Bono was extensively interviewed for both U2 by U2, by Neil McCormick, and Bono, by Michka Assayas, which appeared months apart in 2006.
Among the subjects the new memoir is expected to touch on are Bono’s secondary school friendships with his future bandmates, U2’s early years, and their involvement in charismatic Christianity and political activism. Fans are particularly keen to hear about a 2016 health scare—reportedly nearly fatal—which he has never publicly discussed.
No release date or title for the memoir has been announced.
Marion Winik is a regular Kirkus reviewer and author of The Big Book of the Dead.
