KILLING BONO

The author of this exuberant rock memoir went to school with the members of super-group U2 and stayed friends with Bono (ne Paul Hewson) as he rose from garage-band front-man to rock colossus to world dignitary thanks to his stumping for debt relief for the world's poorest countries. But the book is less about the distant figure of Bono than about McCormick's feverish quest to emulate his success in a series of bands; he spent 10 thrilling, agonizing years on the brink of making it. The result is a funny, jaundiced celebration of rock 'n' roll fantasy and reality, chronicling the music, the debauchery, the search for band mates who can play an instrument, the philistinism of major label A&R reps, the wasted talents of the wannabes they crush, the seething resentment toward those who make it and the intoxicating rush of live performance that transfigures even those who don't. McCormick, now the rock critic for Britain's Daily Telegraph , includes some overwritten analysis of Bono's lyrics and musings on God and the meaning of life, but his book is also full of trenchant observations of the 1970s Dublin punk scene and the shifting styles of 1980s New Wave and pop. McCormick's is an authentic, gripping rock 'n' roll voice, veering between self-importance and self-loathing on an unsteady journey toward self-knowledge. Agent, Sarah Lazin. (Oct.)