Read By Wolves

Original story (u2wanderer.org) by Christopher Jenkins / Aaron J. Sams (2015-07-18)


Bono Throws Alice in Wonderland (New York 6, July 27, 2015)

[Article Updated: August 9, 2015]

“I am a wolf that follows the sun / And I will catch him ere day be done.”

“What call have I to dream of anything? / I am a wolf. Back to the world again, / And speech of fellow-brutes that once were men / Our throats can bark for slaughter: cannot sing.”

Satan in Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis

Ah the book mobile, or at least in motion if not one of those roving trucks of library books. For those who aren’t hunched over their keyboards every few nights tuning in or who aren’t at the shows, since the second show in Phoenix, after “young Bono” is seen reading during “Song for Someone,” [ i] Bono shifts to tearing up and throwing books into the audience during Raised by Wolves and Until the End of the World.


Young Bono Reading


Young Bono Reading

Sometimes he kneels down book open in hand, perhaps miming the depth of his need to find something in a book, perhaps miming a position of prayer.[ii]


Bono Kneeling

Sometimes he carries a book down the walkway to the main stage[iii], seemingly reading, but perhaps, given the shifting light, he is doing the Bongolese thing. Other times he shreds them and hauls off and flings them into the audience. Apparently he even winged a member of security in Boston [iv]. Since then he seems to have switched to kicking them (the books, not security).


e Stage: Paradise Lost, Clockwork Orange, Wolves of Willoughby


e Stage: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Ulysses

Positioning seems a little variable. Typically there’s a few small piles at the tip of the e-stage,[v] and a couple piles in the middle of the walkway, though the latter seems to have switched to several lining the sides of the walkway individually now. [vi]


The Essential Ginsberg (Boston 3)


Howl (Boston 3)


Nicolae (Boston 3)


Tribulation Force (Boston 1)

Fans have been helping identify them by trying to get pictures of the books prior to the house lights dropping, as there is more limited success once they hit the audience, sometimes in pieces. Remember we are talking something like five to twenty books a night flying into the crowd that sometimes lets them get lost on a beer-soaked floor. Consider how few books there are versus the confetti pieces, and the numbers we have already given you for the confetti people have come forward with. Tim C (WTSHNN on Twitter) deserves special mention, solidly reporting the books he literally chased down as the tour progressed, as does Nate Roberts (@NateU2) for what may have been the first sighting of the books in Phoenix pre-show. [vii]

The books themselves seemed to be mostly secondhand copies initially, maybe because the books are out of print, and they were among the most interesting ones. Some books are repeated, sometimes in different editions, but, if you check amazon.com, some are also the most common and cheapest available, e.g., the edition of Alice in Wonderland. That brings up another point – both Alice in Wonderland, and The Divine Comedy by Dante have been torn to bits by the in-character Bono, but not a Book of Psalms. We wouldn’t expect him to tear up the Psalms, but just note those are the three types of confetti that fall later at the end of Until the End of the World [viii]. Bono also made a point of sparing Shakespeare at one show.

Our list is notably low on information and this is the toughest info to get reliably, especially for shows that have already happened, so if you can help, please do. As with the confetti articles we’ll point out a few things, but leave most of the interpreting to you, and others. One point of confusion at the moment is the Heidi and Cinderella from Los Angeles may have been confetti rather than pages torn from books, the Cinderella in particular, but we don’t think so.

With so many gaps in the information, recognizing trends and spotting what you might expect that has been missed, or is out of place, is difficult. For example The Master and Margarita seems a bit out of place for me – too 90s for Bono’s childhood, though it got a mention from Bono in Moscow and has associations with Mick Jagger, Salman Rushdie, and the sense of Russian Literature dancing there with the Beat Poets on Pop, but The Book of Judas by Brendan Kennelly is a bit pricey these days and a bit 90s and hard to find. And, this is a production by a team – Es Devlin and Willie Williams have already told us that they worked together previously on a play version of The Master and Margarita[ix], and it may have felt right to them to have it up there. Then, seeing the fuller list of books, you can see it fits a trend we’ll talk about in a moment. It’s not clear at this exact moment who controls the details like these, and the confetti and books have yet to come up in an interview with the band [x].

Also in the expectations category, Madeline L’Engle’s work hasn’t been seen, but perhaps an Angel would be out of place, again, as you’ll see in a minute. Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 fits the destruction of books theme, and is rumored to have been on stage, but that hasn’t been confirmed. The Winter of Our Discontent is noticeably absent. There was, however, the nicely, but briefly, met expectation of the appearance of Oscar Wilde after the historic “Yes” vote in Ireland for the thirty-fourth amendment to their Constitution in favor of same sex marriage. Certainly there are books, as you might expect, that have influenced the songs, but we’ll just note Lord of the Flies by William Golding and its influence on Boy, and leave the rest to you to discuss and others to interpret.

The trends that do seem to be apparent include the children’s books or books about children, fitting the innocence theme, such as Alice in Wonderland, The World We Live In, Heidi, Cinderella, Lord of the Flies, The Wolves of Willoughby (part of an eleven or twelve book series), and individual books from C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series and Space Trilogy [xi].

C.S. Lewis’s presence is a trend itself. The Screwtape Letters has been present repeatedly, and is a key piece in the trend of “devils” (Apollyon, Nicolae, The Divine Comedy’s Inferno, Master and the Margarita, Paradise Lost), whether you consider this an “in the wilderness” moment of meeting Satan, or Dante and Virgil sneaking through Hell is up to you, but the devils abound. C.S. Lewis does seem to be on the side of light though, and could use Madeleine L’Engle’s help. His “The Last Battle” appearing is also striking given Christy Dignam of Aslan’s battle with cancer and that had U2 recently play Aslan’s [xii] “This Is” at a benefit for him [xiii], as well as the echo of “the battle” in Sunday Bloody Sunday just prior in the set. Early on Bono read from C.S. Lewis’s Essay Collection: Faith Christianity and the Church [xiv], which was published in the UK, and That Hideous Strength [xv] and The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe have also been seen.

One of the more interesting trends has been books that might reflect a writer learning about other writers, technique, interpretation, and criticism. These take the form of Norton Critical editions, e.g., for Paradise Lost [xvi], and books of “Twentieth Century Interpretation,” e.g., of Dylan Thomas. All though he’s a Welsh poet, you might group Thomas in with the Irish writers having their work roughly handled – Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis, William Butler Yeats, and James Joyce. Or, you could group him with the poets – William Carlos Williams, William Butler Yeats, Allen Ginsberg, Rainer Maria Rilke, and maybe include those represented who wrote poetry, but whose poetic works haven’t taken the stage, e.g., James Joyce. Allen Ginsberg also has a fascinating Songs of Innocence / This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now tie-in here that Pop fans may remember – besides reading Miami, or the Joshua Tree Deluxe edition’s Bullet-mode “Drunk Chicken / America,” he read on stage with Bob Dylan, and yes, with The Clash on stage besides appearing on Combat Rock.

Beyond the poetry trend the two or three Act play set up of the show itself is reflected in the presence of plays in one of the editions of Yeats work chosen, The Master and Margarita as previously noted has been a theatre piece, Shakespeare is both poet and playwright, and then there is A Clockwork Orange, which U2 did a stage score for that we only have “Alex Descends Into Hell for a Bottle of Milk” from. Hmm…, maybe that belongs in the devil trend too – they do use my favourite edition with the flaming head cover. Religion – well, there’s a touch of it in nearly, if not all, of these books, but philosophy only gets a direct nod with Nietschze, and Bono has also quoted Nietschze onstage this tour.

On to the list though: grouped by date with the initial identifier we came across, and some additional information if we know it’s potentially relevant. If you believe we missed you or you have a good picture you feel is useful, let us know.

Phoenix 2 (2015-05-23)

  • Bono quotes from MacBeth but spares Shakespeare
  • The World We Live In[xvii] (Tim C)
  • The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (Tim C)
  • The Divine Comedy by Dante with William Blake cover illustration (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature) (babetteross)

LA 1 (2015-05-26)

  • Dylan Thomas – A Collection of Critical Essays edited by C.B. Cox (Davidvanderveen)
  • The Will to Power by Friedrich Nietschze edited by Walter Kaufmann (brotherhoodof90)
  • Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Grapes of Wrath (razzlejoy)

LA2 (2015-05-27)

  • Cinderella (by Henry Hewit ?) (popbonobuzzbaby)
  • Heidi (popbonobuzzbaby)
  • C.S. Lewis Essay Collection: Faith Christianity and the Church (bethandbono)
  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Mira Ginsburg (u2hibby)

LA3 (2015-05-30)

  • Ulysses by James Joyce (J Lopez)
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Julia & U2)

LA4 (2015-05-31)

  • The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Daisyboo)
  • Heidi by Johanna Spyri (Daisyboo)
  • Divine Comedy by Dante, Rev. Cary translation (Dave Sloan)

LA5 (2015-06-03)

  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov (mpserafin)

Denver 1 (2015-06-06)

  • Alice in Wonderland (foosball)
  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov (thecravecase)
  • The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (babetteross)

Denver 2 (2015-06-07)

  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Tim C)
  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (Tim C)
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton (Tim C)

Montreal 1 (2015-06-12)

  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (@Annathaemah)
  • Lord of the Flies (housecrimystery)

Montreal 2 (2015-06-13)

  • Paradise Lost (MeagieFaz)

Montreal 3 (2015-06-16) (Bloomsday) [xviii]

  • Dante[xix] (Aaron Sams)
  • Horce (?)[xx] (Aaron Sams)
  • Tribulation Force by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind Series) (@brittanyelle2)

Montreal 4 (2015-06-17)

  • Paradise Lost by John Milton Norton Critical Edition edited by Gordon Teskey (Aaron Sams)

Chicago 1 (2015-06-24)

  • William Carlos Williams — A collection of critical essays edited by J. Hillis Miller (MiamiVice95)
  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (@U2flgl)
  • Apollyon by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind series) (Tim C)

Chicago 2 (2015-06-25)

  • Paradise Lost by John Milton (ClaytonsKitten)

Chicago 3 (2015-06-28)

  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (anandadaydream)
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (babetteross)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (babetteross)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (babetteross)
  • Ulysses by James Joyce (babetteross)
  • The Inferno by Dante (babetteross)

Chicago 4 (2015-06-29)

  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (@Judith86)
  • Nicolae by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind Series) (mdmomof7)
  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (ozmodiar)
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding (dealme)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (u2fanlife)
  • Poems by William Butler Yeats (u2fanlife)

Chicago 5 (2015-07-02)

  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Tim C)
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding (?) (Tim C)
  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (?) (Tim C)
  • Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind Series) (@StanfordSteph)

Toronto 1 (2015-07-06)

  • Selected Poems and Four Plays by William Butler Yeats (righteousbabe01)
  • Unidentified book by Rainer Maria Rilke (bethandbono)
  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (David Alter)
  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov (texassizedu2fan)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (bethandbono)

Toronto 2 (2015-07-07)

  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Tim C)
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Tim C)
  • Apollyon by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind series) (Tim C)
  • Uncollected Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke (Tim C)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (thecravecase)
  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Hugh Alpin (u2ginger)

Boston 1 (2015-07-10)

  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (@Jewlsdeluxe)
  • Tribulation Force by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind Series) (Chris)
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (Chris)
  • Poems by William Butler Yeats (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton (Barnes and Noble version) (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Ulysses by James Joyce (Chris)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (Sherry Lawrence)

Boston 2 (2015-07-11)

  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Tim C)
  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Hugh Alpin (Tassoula)

Boston 3 (2015-07-14)

  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Annathaemah)
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton (Barnes & Noble version) (Annathaemah)
  • Ulysses by James Joyce (Annathaemah)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (Annathaemah)
  • Poems by William Butler Yeats (probable based on picture & other nights) (Annathaemah)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (Annathaemah)
  • The Essential Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher (Chris)
  • Howl by Allen Ginsberg (Harper Perrenial) (Annathaemah)
  • Nicolae by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins Left Behind series (Chris)
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Chris)
  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Chris)
  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Hugh Alpin (Chris)

Boston 4 (2015-07-15)

  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Hugh Alpin (Olivier Hill)
  • Poems by William Butler Yeats (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton (Barnes and Noble version) (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Ulysses by James Joyce (Sherry Lawrence)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (Sherry Lawrence)
  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Tim C)
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (carriechic)

New York 1 (2015-07-18)

  • Lord of the Flies (U2enEspana)

New York 2 (2015-07-19)

  • TBD

New York 3 (2015-07-22)

  • Lord of the Flies (Jeff Reinhart periscope)
  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Dan Levine)
  • Poems by William Butler Yeats (Emily Beck)
  • Apollyon by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind series) (Dperry905)

New York 4 (2015-07-23)

  • Lord of the Flies (Vmulveyfitness)

New York 5 (2015-07-26)

  • Lord of the Flies (u2gigs (Chris))
  • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (u2gigs (Chris))

New York 6 (2015-07-27)

  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Hugh Alpin (AyazAsif)
  • Inferno by Dante Penguin Classics with William Blake cover (Damoratis)
  • Soul Harvest by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind series) (Deena Dietrich)
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Kevin Putnam)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (Shawn Rocco)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (Shawn Rocco, Lisa Larsen)

New York 7 (2015-07-30)

  • The Master and the Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov translated by Hugh Alpin (2 copies on e-stage, perhaps one carried there as it isn’t in pre-show pictures) (Shawn Rocco and Sherry Lawrence pre-show)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (Shawn Rocco)
  • Ulysses (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Bantam Classics by Lewis Carroll intro by Morton N. Cohen (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton (Barnes & Noble version) (Sherry Lawrence)
  • Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (City Lights) (Sherry Lawrence)

New York 8 (2015-07-31)

  • Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (City Lights)(Joe Ahorro)
  • The Wolves of Willoughby by Joan Aiken (scatterolight)
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (scatterolight)
  • The Divine Comedy by Dante translated by Clive James (scatterolight)

© Christopher Jenkins and Aaron Sams, 2015.


Bono Reads from Howl (New York 7, July 30, 2015)

[ i] Screencaps from youtube videos by terrorstitch and u2montreal2015 https://youtu.be/h1qztT6NLhs and https://youtu.be/OJZJklXCcqg

[ii] Picture Christopher Jenkins, copyright Christopher Jenkins 2015.

[iii] See the sjgomez video mentioned in the previous article on Alice in Wonderland confetti: https://youtu.be/YMaDvXliAnw

[iv] https://twitter.com/scatterolight/status/620039615156781056

[v] Pictures Annathaemah, copyright Annathaemah 2015.

[vi] Pictures 6 and 7 Annathaemah, pictures 8 and 9 Chris, pictures copyright Annathaemah and Christopher Jenkins, respectively, 2015.

[vii] https://twitter.com/NateU2/status/602305518644801537

[viii] That can make things confusing, for example when someone says they just caught a piece of Alice in Wonderland, is it a torn up book or confetti?

[ix] http://livedesignonline.com/u2-innocence-experience-tour-2015/es-devlin-u2-s-innocence-experience-part-1

[x] Willie Williams has mentioned the confetti though: http://livedesignonline.com/u2-innocence-experience-tour-2015/willie-williams-u2-s-innocence-experience-part-4

[xi] Book series also seem to have a role with these two by Lewis, the Wolves of Willoughby series, and the Left Behind Series by Time LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (no relation) – Nicolae, Apollyon, Tribulation Force, and Left Behind having been seen.

[xii] Aslan is the Lion representing Christ in the Narnia series

[xiii] https://youtu.be/iXlsbEM9-CM

[xiv] Based on bethandbono’s picture, comparing the length and cover

[xv] Apparently thrown prior to the Toronto shows, according to mdmomof7, but not listed by date here until the exact date can be confirmed.

[xvi] This is also a reason to have pictures – with varying editions of a work being present, a critical edition may only pop up once for a book used repeatedly if it is out of print. Notice Sherry Lawrence identified the Barnes & Noble version of Paradise Lost in Boston. The edition of Ulysses in Boston was one I don’t recognize, and intriguing as it appears too short, unless it has a tiny typeface. The Screwtape Letters may lack “Screwtape Proposes a Toast.” Consider also that at least two of the six or more different English translations (some from censored original text, some not) for The Master and Margarita have been seen: the Mira Ginsburg translation (picture copyright u2hibby 2015)
and the Hugh Alpin translation (see https://twitter.com/tassoula/status/620009202921132032 ). This brings up the additional trend of censored books, in addition to The Master and Margarita, Alice in Wonderland, Ulysses, and The Grapes of Wrath fit that category. So is Bono going through the same exercise of intolerance of ideas as book burners or banners? Or is this blind rage at an absence of answers – still not having found what he’s looking for when his need is greatest.

[xvii] Tim C later said it was an older book, so potentially the book put out by Life magazine, though if it was The World I Live In, it would be by Helen Keller.

[xviii] Bloomsday for James Joyce fans among other things.

[xix] Uncertain which book

[xx] maybe Horace? – the Epodes would be fitting

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