Johnny Cash: The Biography

The book was in perfect condition. It was on my doorstep a day before the expected delivery date. I was very pleased! :-)

In classical literature, it was the Greeks who first expounded the tale of the hero with a tragic flaw. Aristotle wrote, that "[a] man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." In Michael Streissguth's "Johnny Cash: The Biography," we examine the life of a man, not a myth, who exemplified the Aristotelian morality play. Michael Streissguth is obviously a fan of Johnny Cash, the author of "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece" and, like Marshall Grants, I Was There When It Happened: My Life with Johnny Cash" he seeks to praise while still giving an unvarnished account of the folk legend's struggles with addiction and the vagaries of a music career. In fact, Marshall Grant's book is quoted extensively. Where Grant is abrupt, even harsh, in his description of Johnny Cash's addictions, Streissguth is gentle. Where Grant describes Johnny Cash as a stumbling addict, chemically prevented from seeing the impact of his weaknesses on his family and friends, Streissguth portrays a man all too aware of "the root of his own downfall." Still, Streissguth does his best to soften the harsh realities of Cash's lifestyle and dependencies. It's not until page 217 that we learn of affairs Cash had in the 70's and 80's. And, even then, only in the most oblique of references. Streissguth is even forced to admit that the saintly June Carter-Cash is not above struggling with demons of her own; on page 218 he talks about "June's demands for the spotlight and her sensational spending that had become legendary..." Streissguth refuses to go the whole way and describe June's own struggles with addiction. Streissguth gingerly describes an entire Cash clan that fought addiction in one form or another. Despite all of these negatives, Streissguth gives the best illustrations of the true artist that Johnny Cash was. His descriptions of Cash's relationship with Rick Rubin are the finest I've ever read. They show how Johnny Cash's music rang true with an audience outside of the Nashville circuit. When you get to this phase of Cash's career, you would do well to read it while listening to "The Legend of Johnny Cash" - especially "Rusty Cage" and "I've Been Everywhere." Johnny Cash was simply an honest man among ordinary men. Who among us doesn't have a tragic flaw? For the vast majority of us simply struggling to get by day-to-day, Cash provides the anthem for our lives.

Streissguth's journalistic approach is a refreshing contrast to the psychological blather of many biographical writers. There is a healthy balance of respect for Johnny Cash and a straightforward look at his extramarital relationships, substance abuse, and devotion to Christianity. Both the complex and simple sides of Cash are revealed through detail-rich interviews with those who knew him well. Indeed, the extensive interviews with band members, friends and family are what make this book so compelling and fresh. For instance, the interview with Rosanne Cash, his eldest daughter, helps us understand Cash's drug addition, his role as a father and the insecurities he experienced as a performer. The Man in Black has never been revealed in such color and light. While Streissguth doesn't attempt to retell every story or dispel every fable about Cash, the book is well researched and rich with detail, including investigations that delve into the roots of well-known myths. Even life-long fans of Johnny Cash will come away with a new understanding of what pushed, pulled and propelled the singer through his life and career. If there was room on a bookshelf for only one book on Johnny Cash, this would be my pick.

JOHNNY CASH The Biography... is so much more than just another `Johnny Cash' book. As I began reading it, I quickly found myself wishing that this remarkable resource had been available before I met John. I believe that it would have better equipped me to... `Understand'. The writing is a segmented marvel of arduous research and analysis that somewhat removes the `shroud' from a life so unusual... and filled with mystery, that it has typically defied nearly all previous attempts to account. Streissguth masterfully depicts a detailed life journey of a man who, I'm convinced, was called and anointed of God to fill a deep divine purpose (of which we may never fully understand)... and unrelentingly dogged by Hell's hounds for eternal damnation. Thank God... in the end, He and John won! Friend and Minister, Rev. Jack Shaw

I found the book to be a great read. More than just the same rehash of his life that I have read before. Streissguth has broken new ground in his telling of the Johnny Cash story. He brings important players--such as brother Roy Cash and former manager Saul Holiff--out of the shadows, traces the roots of various Cashian myths and offers new insights throughout. Fits the bill for Cash fans and newcomers alike. Great photos, too. The following passage is an example of the new perspective that the book delivers: "Drug use became Cash's convenient sin, the one that made for a great redemption story but that had no visible victims other than himself. As long as the drug-obsessed media focused on his addiction, the story functioned as a smoke screen. Cash rarely had to deal publicly in any substantive way with questions about extramarital affairs he engaged in during the 1970s and 1980s or with the pain that he'd brought upon his wives, daughters, friends, and band members."