As my co-workers well know, I am a massive fan of U2, and after several years of hinting about a band autobiography, The Boys, as I like to call Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry, have delivered the goods. U2 by U2 arrives in stores September 26, but it arrived in the bookroom a week or so ago in all its coffee-table-sized glory (see my review in LJXPress, 9-26-06). Told in chronological order (1975–2006), the book alternates first-person accounts from each member and bursts with rare and previously unpublished photos. (My favorite so far: class pictures of the Boys as boys, at Dublin’s progressive Mount Temple school.) I’ve only just dipped into this trove of all things I love, but I’m proud to say their written voices match what they put forth in interviews and public appearances (check their intelligent and moving Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speeches from 2005). Although there was no doubt some degree of editing, Bono & Co. don’t need any doctoring to express their personalities and aims clearly. Just as in their music, they communicate both individuality and solidarity. This book is about four people, but moreover what happens when four people make beautiful music together.