Resumo de Is That It?

This is a brash, candid biography written by the man who

dreamt up Live Aid.
It tells the story of rock
singer

Bob Geldof who had worldwide success with his band the

Boomtown Rats but became more famous over time as an

extraordinary campaigner against famine in Africa.

It is obvious from the outset in his tell-it-as-
it-

is writing style that he wanted to project an honest
and

open view of himself to the world. The narrative swings

from moments of poignancy - particularly on the early
death

of his mother while he was still a young boy - to bouts
of

downright hilarity in his rebellious school years in
Dublin

and in his chaotic adventures that led eventually to
the

formation of the Boomtown Rats and fame, and his

relationship with his wife, Paula Yates.

Some
of

his exploits along the way might appal some but his

uncompromising attitude wins out in the end as he moves

from aimless rebel to inspiring rock star with a huge
wake

up message for the world. After a visit to Ethiopia and

Sudan in 1984, where he saw the devastation caused by

famine, he suddenly discovered that he had the
capability

and leadership to mobilise people towards doing
something

about the injustice of what was happening in that part
of

the world.

He details how he quickly got
together

some of the biggest names in music to form Band Aid to

produce the record ?Do They Know It?s Christmas??,
all

proceeds of which went to famine relief. It became the

biggest selling single of all time. Then comes how,
with

clarity of purpose and seemingly superhuman energy he

brought far more people to together for the main event:

Live Aid. Staged on July 13th 1985 simultaneously in
London

and Philadelphia, this was the biggest concert event
ever

witnessed and raised huge sums for millions of famine

victims. In the prologue to the book he states that
when he

was on stage at Live Aid: ?I knew that nothing in my
life

had been worth anything until now ... It was enough;
this

clear moment of absolute certainty?.

The

autobiography ends with Live Aid but it feels like just
a

first volume of a life fully-lived with the promise of
more

colourful chapters in the decades to come. A boy at the
end

of the concert asks "Is that it?". ?No? would seem to
be

the answer: Twenty years on in 2005 Geldof pushed the

boundaries further with the Live8 concerts and the
drive to

?Make Poverty History?.

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