What does Chuck Klosterman really think of Bono?
Tonight, I asked him.
Chuck, for those who don’t know, is a pop-culture essayist famous for his books such as Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs and Fargo Rock City. He’s also written for ESPN, SPIN and GQ and just published his first novel.
This interview with Bono he did for SPIN in 2004 was my first exposure to him. I appreciated his honesty and felt a kinship to his sarcasm, though I questioned his U2 fan-ness.
When a friend at a former job let me borrow Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs a few years later, I nodded happily along at his commentary about The Real World and laughed out loud at his pondering of Billy Joel’s coolness. It was settled—I was in love.
So you can imagine my elation (or look at my giddy photo below) this evening when I met his greatness face-to-face. As usual, when the floor opened for questions, the journalist in me couldn’t keep her mouth shut and I promptly shot my hand to the sky. He called on me quickly and I asked “What do you really think of Bono?”
His brilliant answer, in true Klosterman form, was six or seven minutes long and something to the effect of (I’m transcribing a fuzzy tape here, so bear with me):
“I think Bono created a persona when they were starting out that was un-authentic to ‘be a certain type of rock star,’ but he acted like the persona All. The. Time. So it became authentic by default. I mean, when they were in the War years, they were a sincere band. The MOST sincere band in existence. I mean if you look back to Rattle and Hum, they were even calling themselves black for a minute or two [huge laughter from audience], but then they did Pop and said ‘Oh, we were just being ironic.’ And then they hopped into a lemon and counted their money [more laughter], but then Bono started using that persona that he’d built to ask for debt relief for third world countries—and he knows his stuff. Policy-makers began to listen to him. And they still listen to him. So I guess…I like him.”
It was a perfect answer from a naturally funny, self-deprecating anti-hero in a Kiss shirt.
I couldn’t have scripted it better…
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This is really awesome, Tassoula, and I think his answer is cool, too. I feel like in his Spin article some of the details of Bono’s authenticity that he was questioning were off base. But in a more general answer like this, his answer seems fair enough.
Also, when that Spin article first came out, I remember that it annoyed me so much because I wanted to read an article about U2, not about Chuck Klosterman.
Fantastic! Great job Tassoula. Extra Cocoa Puffs for you.
Oh man, I think I would have died of a broken heart had Chuck Klosterman come down on the side of hating Bono. However, Christmas is saved! Excellent work Tassoula! Chuck geta extra cocoa puffs for the shirt.