I’ll never get used to seeing my book in different languages.

The translation is being published by Menart, which I understand to be a music/record label that has just started translating and publishing books, too. And “U2 Dnevnik” is the first book they chose to translate! What’s really amazing to me is how incredibly enthusiastic Menart is about publishing and promoting this book. Get this:

• Just yesterday, they hosted a U2 Warm-up Party which included a DJ, a U2 tribute band, and “U2 Dnevnik” — all of this on an airplane, it seems! not an airplane, as Marin says in the comments below. Thx for clarifying that, Marin.
• On July 9, Menart is hosting a media event announcing the book. They invited me to attend, but it’s way too expensive to fly to Zagreb (about $3,000 USD) so they’ve asked me to send a 10-minute video answering some questions that the press might want answered. They say the video will air on Croatian TV (I’m not making that up) and during the press event.
• They’ve signed on Vecernji.hr as the media partner for the book launch, and they’re doing a contest where U2 fans will send in questions, they’ll pick the 10 best for me to answer, and when the answers are published, the winning fans get a copy of the book and a CD. (Presumably No Line….)

Is that amazing, or what? And to think that I couldn’t even convince my hometown newspaper to do a writeup on the book….

The timeline McGee sets up and the way he strings together quotes from U2 insiders makes for an easy, compelling read, and the book is full of superb black-and-white images — some of them rarely seen before — that only serve to enhance McGee’s exhaustive history of a band that still matters.

How cool is that?!? And the review also includes the short Q&A that we did via email. I wish I’d seen this when it was first published, but I’m glad to have found it at all.

It’s the Japanese translation of U2 – A Diary! The book is smaller than the original, but also came out at exactly 336 pages. Oh, and unlike the original, this one is a hardcover. I like it!

Seeing your name on any book is cool beyond words, but to then get to see your name on a book that’s been translated into another language? Are you kidding? Totally cool and surreal.

I hope the U2 fans in Japan, and any Japanese speakers/readers around the world who might order this version, enjoy the book. I’m told that the publisher who bought the rights and did the translation has a very good reputation for quality work. Sure looks like it from what I can tell … then again, I can’t understand a word of what’s inside.

Here’s the link.

I could be wrong, but it looks like the translated version is already available and ready to be shipped. The folks at Omnibus said in an email that the licensing agreement was only signed recently, and that it’s probably not ready for shipping yet. No matter, I just think it’s super-cool to see the book being translated into Japanese.

I’m also aware of one other translation in the works, and will post on that as soon as possible.

Wondering if the book will be translated into your native language? Please read this blog post from last summer where I try to explain how all that works.

Two things stand out to me:

1. How cool to see the book featured like that underneath and surrounded by nothing but official releases?! Awesome.

2. Unrelated: I haven’t seen a U2 display like that at any retail store in forever. Are there any U.S. retailers that have that many U2 CDS and DVDs in stock and on shelves?

Download here. (365k MP3)

You can imagine my surprise when I saw this a couple nights ago at the local Barnes & Noble: my book on display on an endcap! That’s some nice publicity. And for all the criticism that the final book cover took, I actually think it stands out much better in this environment than the other covers. The wide black space really makes the book title quite eye-catching.

Or maybe it’s just that my eyes are used to seeing this cover and so I noticed it more quickly? Possible. Still, it’s just cool to see the book getting promoted like this.

It’s a 3-star review, but I don’t know if that’s 3-out-of-4 or 3-out-of-5. Hmmmm. The text seems favorable:

Whether this is of interest to you – even as a U2 fan – depends largely on what kind of books you like reading – and that’s not as trite a point as it sounds. Truly, lists and quotes appeal to a certain section of the music buying public more than the conjecture and received wisdom of flowing prose. We know which we prefer.

I suppose you could say tha RC doesn’t make it obvious how they feel about the book. But, given that it’s a magazine that focuses on facts and figures, values, release dates, and other collecting details, I’m taking this as a “we prefer this style of book ahead of flowing prose.”

A fear came over me right around Christmas … a fear that no one in my hometown had bought a copy of the book! I was thinking to myself, What if I go into B&N after Christmas and all five copies are still there?

The horror! The shame! The embarrassment!

Well, talk about relief: I walked into the store yesterday and, holding my breath the whole time, ventured into the music books section. Great news: There were only three copies left!

Whew! You have no idea what a relief that was.

And, if you’d like to leave your thoughts where more people will see them, why not leave a review on Amazon.com, Amazon UK, the Barnes & Noble web site, or another online book seller? (Amazon links are to the right….)