10 Questions for The Edge

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U2 is putting out a coffee-table book next week of old photos and first-person tales about your lives. I presume you did this because the band has been so overlooked by the media all these years?

We really did need the publicity. [Laughs.] I don't know, the book idea ... it just felt right somehow. Then we got into it and realized it was actually a big commitment, going through scrapbooks and memories. But it turned out well.

One of the most revealing things in the book is that as a child you had a freakishly huge head. Was this a concern for your parents?

I wouldn't say a concern, but looking back I was like, Wow! That was a weird phase! As Bono says, the stage is like a giant platform shoe, and we all have reasons we end up in bands. For me, my awkward phase corresponded to an interest in rock 'n' roll. From experience, I'm guessing an insecure childhood is probably quite a common thing among people who start a rock band.