Read By Wolves (The #U2eiTour Edition)

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2018-05-29)

Originally published: May 4, 2018 | Last Updated: June 26, 2018

Throughout the 2015 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour, there was a piece in the show where Bono would throw books into the audience, often tearing them up and throwing them to the crowd in pieces. This occurred between “Raised by Wolves” and “Until The End of the World” each evening. In the video during “Song for Someone”, young Bono is seen reading books (portrayed by Bono’s son Eli) and this footage is still played in the new tour. Then we see the older Bono later tearing apart books. Often Bono would kneel, and “read” from a book, before throwing it. And in 2015 we tracked the books that we were able to track, in the first part of this story.


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

The books are often laid out in advance on the stage making it possible for fans to see the book titles before the show. Throughout the 2015 tour we identified books by Dylan Thomas, C.S. Lewis, Dante, Oscar Wilde, and Alan Ginsberg. Again in 2018, the books have returned to the stage. They can be seen around the e-stage as well as on the sides of the catwalk between the two stages.

Below you can find the books we’ve been able to identify for the current tour. If you have any additional information, please let us know via contact(at)u2wanderer.org.

Tulsa, OK, May 2, 2018

  • “Howl and Other Poems” (Pocket Poets Series) – Allen Ginsburg
  • “The Inferno” (Signet Classics) – Dante Alighieri
  • “The Vision, or Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise of Dante Alighieri” – Dante Alighieri
  • “Lord of the Flies” – William Golding
  • “The Screwtape Letters” – C.S. Lewis
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “Left Behind” – Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

St. Louis, MO, May 4, 2018

  • “Left Behind” – Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “The Island of Adventure” – Enid Blyton

San Jose, CA, May 7, 2018

  • “The Screwtape Letters” – C.S. Lewis
  • “Left Behind” – Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “Howl and Other Poems” – Allen Ginsburg
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken

San Jose, CA, May 8, 2018

  • “Howl and Other Poems” – Allen Ginsburg
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov

Las Vegas, NV, May 11, 2018

  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Howl and Other Poems” – Allen Ginsburg
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken

Las Vegas, NV, May 12, 2018

  • “Left Behind” – Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “The Winding Stair and Other Poems” – W.B. Yeats

Los Angeles, May 15, 2018

  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess

Omaha, May 19, 2018

  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri

Chicago, May 22, 2018

  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce

Chicago, May 23, 2018

Nashville, May 26, 2018

  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll

Atlanta, May 28, 2018

  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce

Montreal, June 5, 2018

  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “The Winding Stair and Other Poems” – W.B. Yeats
  • “Howl and Other Poems” – Allen Ginsburg

Montreal, June 6, 2018

  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce

Uniondale, June 9, 2018
Philadelphia, June 13, 2018

Philadelphia, June 14, 2018

  • “Left Behind” – Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

Washington DC, June 17, 2018
Washington DC, June 18, 2018
Boston, June 21, 2018

  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce
  • “A Coney Island of the Mind” – Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Boston, June 22, 2018

  • “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” – Joan Aiken
  • “A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess
  • “The Master and Margarita” – Mikhail Bulgakov
  • “The Tower” – W.B. Yeats
  • “The Inferno” – Dante Alighieri
  • “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” – Lewis Carroll
  • “Ulysses” – James Joyce

New York City, June 25, 2018

How do they get the books? Well, they order them in advance:


Did you see books at the show? Did you catch one or see them on the stage? Let us know by email (contact @ u2wanderer.org ), or on Twitter.

Special thanks to Amber, Peggy, Shawn, Oliver, Eduardo, Erin, Kelly, Jean Paul, Ria, V, Chris, Jim T., and Mrs. Mullen.

And here’s a short video of Bono kicking some of these books from the stage as he travels down the connecting catwalk:


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