How to Dismantle a Coffee Table Book

Only in New York does one stroll out for lunch and run into U2. (Well maybe in Dublin too, but you get the point.) The Irish lads touched down in the Big Apple to sign copies of their new book U2 by U2 at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. Before going in the back entrance, they graciously signed books and body parts to a small coterie of savvy fans waiting outside, including Rock Turtleneck's intrepid Steve Walsh.

In the 80s and 90s, rock artists staked their claim for posterity by issuing a lavishly appointed, multi-CD box set with previously unreleased demos, live cuts and alternate takes, plus a 72-page book with detailed track notes and analysis by Kurt Loder, Cameron Crowe or David Fricke. Now the self-congratulatory medium of choice seems to be the ten-pound, scrapbook-style oral history coffee table book. Not surprisingly The Beatles got the ball rolling with their Anthology, published in 2000. Just as they did in the 60s, the Stones lagged a year or two behind, and put out their own According to the Rolling Stones. As is his wont, Bob Dylan put an interesting spin on the medium with his Bob Dylan Scrapbook, featuring facsimilies of handwritten song lyrics, pop-ups, stickers, flyers and the like. “U2 by U2” is identical in size, format and tonnage to the Beatles & Stones tomes. It’s full of previously unseen candid photos, and extensive, fascinating interviews with all band members. As this trend works its way down the rock & roll food chain, we can surely look forward to Green Day’s “Green Years” and “On Jovi.”

Perhaps Bono’s strategy to erase third world debt starts with creating it in the “first” world. The handsome, deluxe book retails for $40. But for fans of the longest-running supergroup without a lineup change, it’s a bargain.