Helpful Score: 5
Wasn't expecting a lot out of this book, but actually found it fascinating. It isn't page by page list of everything he's done in his life. It's more reflective and I think gave a very good picture of what his life has become. He tells about his family and relationships, how he now spends his time, how his values developed directly from his roots. It is thoughtful, well-written, and most interesting.
Helpful Score: 4
This is an excellent look into the life of a singer who was a national treasure. It is honest, heartbreaking, and uplifting. Any Johnny Cash fan MUST read this book!
Helpful Score: 4
I love Johnny Cash!! Of course, I am not from his generation, but was brought up in the country and have come to love him and his beliefs through his more recents projects including his posthumous movie. This book is an easy read and told from his POV about his life on the road and the characters he encountered along the way. A great read!
Helpful Score: 2
Perviously I have reviewed Cash's first book, "Man in Black" (in hardcover). I was very much looking forward to the 2nd book, to see how his voice changed in the 20+ years between books.
In this book, Cash has more of a tendency to ramble, but it's a fun ramble. It's the ramble that I remember from talking with my Grandfather, tying in stories left and right, and never knowing what you are going to learn. He does repeat some of what was discussed in "Man in Black" - but not to the point where I was bored. (there was less than a month's time between reading the two books). Details remained the same, but he has realized more lessons since that book.
There isn't as much religion in this book like the last (and the last wasn't pushy or preachy either). He is still Christian, still very strong in his faith. But now he realizes he is much more human. Since the last book, he has relapsed - a couple of times. Believing in Jesus doesn't make the temptation go away. And he's learned that now.
Overall, I enjoyed this book as much as I did his first one. My only wish is that there was more information about the last part of his career - but that seems to have happened either while this book was in progress or right afterwards. I would love to know why he did a cover of a NIN song.
In this book, Cash has more of a tendency to ramble, but it's a fun ramble. It's the ramble that I remember from talking with my Grandfather, tying in stories left and right, and never knowing what you are going to learn. He does repeat some of what was discussed in "Man in Black" - but not to the point where I was bored. (there was less than a month's time between reading the two books). Details remained the same, but he has realized more lessons since that book.
There isn't as much religion in this book like the last (and the last wasn't pushy or preachy either). He is still Christian, still very strong in his faith. But now he realizes he is much more human. Since the last book, he has relapsed - a couple of times. Believing in Jesus doesn't make the temptation go away. And he's learned that now.
Overall, I enjoyed this book as much as I did his first one. My only wish is that there was more information about the last part of his career - but that seems to have happened either while this book was in progress or right afterwards. I would love to know why he did a cover of a NIN song.
Helpful Score: 2
This was a very well written account of Johnny Cash's life. You could hear him speaking the book to you as I read it. I really enjoyed it, it was not preachy or egotistical, it was plainly written just as it should be expected.
Helpful Score: 1
When death starts beating the door down, you need to be reaching for your shotgun," writes the Man in Black, the American country icon who still performs tough-talking story-songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "A Boy Named Sue" on his tours. Unsurprisingly, the famously Christian Cash (he has often performed at Billy Graham crusades and has written a novel--The Man in White--based on the life of Saint Paul) reveals himself to be a man possessed of a heartfelt yet idiosyncratic spirituality, one that can accommodate both a belief in ghosts and a literal interpretation of the Bible. Cash is less interested here in recounting the details of his personal and public lives than he is with taking the reader to a handful of his favorite places, moving softly through the memories of a singer's regret-laden years on booze and pills, getting himself in the mood to reflect by describing the surroundings in which he writes. The result is a gentle, moving memoir that may frustrate some fans of Cash and of the Sun Records-era Memphis that saw his rise to fame, as the book only touches on Cash's relationships with those whose stardom eclipsed his own--Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and (later on) Bob Dylan. The reader senses Cash's formidable presence in every terse phrase, however, as a melancholy calm pervades the narrative. 200,000 first printing; Literary Guild selection; author tour.
Helpful Score: 1
Really I was very disappointed. The book was mainly about other people he knew (like Roy Orbison). It hardly told his own story. At the same time he would share history and stories of each house he owned and little stories that you'd hear a grandfather talk about on holidays of sorts, so that was kinda nice. I learned much more about him from reading all his old letters and such in "I Walked The Line" by Vivian Cash (his first wife).
Helpful Score: 1
My Mom watched Johnny Cash's television show when I was growing up so I knew of J C from an early age. This autobiography does not disappoint.
I disagree with the reviewer who said that Johnny wrote more about others than himself. He shares a lot about himself and his influences. He has great insights and spoke honestly about his addictions.
I found this to be a great and enjoyable read!
I disagree with the reviewer who said that Johnny wrote more about others than himself. He shares a lot about himself and his influences. He has great insights and spoke honestly about his addictions.
I found this to be a great and enjoyable read!
Excellent biography.
A forthwright and honest review of his life. He pulled no punches about his addiction problems. An encouraging story about how love and support and faith in God can bring you out of the darkest places.
A must read for any Johnny Cash fan. I found it to be a good account of his up and downs in life. Sometimes sad and sometimes sad. I did enjoy it.
The man lead an interesting life, the book isn't that well written.
A very interesting man. After I saw the movie Walk the Line, I had to read the book.
HE IS THE MAN IN BLACK. COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND. AN ICON OF RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM WHO'S BEEN TO HELL AND BACK, AND TELLS THE TALE AS NEVER BEFORE. IN THIS UNFORGETTABLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, JOHNNY CASH TALKS STRAIGHT ABOUT THE HIGHS AND LOWS, THE STRUGGLES AND HARD WON TRIUMPHS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SHAPPED HIM.
Absolutely engrossing memoir from one of the finest musicians of the 20th century.
Excellent storytelling of Johnny Cash's life by none other than the Man in Black himself. I learned a lot about one of my favorite artists and it was a fast and pleasurable read. I would like to know more about what happened, especially in the recording studio, between 1996 and 2003, but obviously that isn't possible as an autobiography. The storytelling skipped around a bit, but other than that, it was great. Highly recommended.
Very good book for fans of Johnny Cash
This book is well written and an interesting view into Johnny Cash's life. Many facts and tales of his music history as well as his family life. I loved it!
I wasn't very impressed. It wasn't at all like the movie, which I guess makes the movie...different. Cash fans will probably love it, however, as it's just like you are talking to Mr. Cash himself.
Not the complete autobiography I thought it would be, but still a good read.
Who doesn't love Johnny Cash?
I read 3/4ths of the book and stopped. The entire time I thought it'd get to a more climactic part but is stayed the same pace through the book. It was a lot like his songs.
Cash: Autobiography" is excellent! An well-impressively told story of Cash's life!
Very enjoyable, sometimes serious, and at times quite funny, autobiographical account of one of the few members of the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Halls of Fame. Less structured than most autobios/biographies, the author tells you where he is and what he's doing, on the back porch of his house listening to the birds, for example, and then he tells more of his story. You can imagine that you've dropped in for a cup of coffee and just got to talking with Johnny Cash about this and that. Quite a life; quite a story.
i wore black becaused i liked it, i still do,and wearinf it still means something to me. it's still my symbol of rebellion, against a stagnant status quo,against our hypocritical house of god, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas,
"I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It's still my symbol of rebellion-against a stagnant sttus quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas."
