[ book tip by Hannah Geismar ] As a teenager in Dublin in the late 70s, Neil McCormick was convinced that he was destined to become a rock star. He had the talent, the songs and the plan for how he was going to make it all happen. Only problem: he never made it! But while everything went wrong for Neil, everything went right for that other guy from school: Paul Hewson, later to be known as Bono, lead singer of U2: 'As Bono and his band U2 ascended to global superstardom, his school friend Neil scorched a burning path in quite the opposite direction. Bad drugs, weird sex, bizarre haircuts: Neil experienced it all in his elusive quest for fame'.

It sounds like an entertaining story of a hopeless wanna-be, but it's not that simple. Not only did Neil have talent, several people in the music business believed in him and he got very close to that all-important record deal, not just once, but several times. Which basically means that the reader is confronted with a subtext that goes way beyond the obvious thought: 'Why didn't this guy make it?'

Without being particularly deep nor philosophical, Killing Bono hits you were it hurts when you find yourself trying to answer two very nasty questions: 'How do you know when it's time to stop believing in your innermost dream? And when exactly do you go from being a hero, for your refusal to compromise, to being a loser for the exact same reason?'

[ book info ] McCormick, Neil: Killing Bono. I was Bono's Doppelganger.. VH1 Books / Pocket Books, New York 2004 .