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carolinastrong1994's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
5.0
So good. So, so good! Cash takes us through the highs and lows of his early life and career. As a huge fan, reading this book meant so much.
ageorge1877's review
4.0
Great to read an autobiography with such focus. It turns out our boi JR is actually a very good writer, and he does a great job of refining and crafting the most important moments of his life into a neat and textured narrative. The book deals entirely with his addiction to amphetamines and how his faith in God helped him overcome it, but he also ties it all back quite beautifully to the tragic death of his older brother when he was a child. Within this theres all sorts of questions raised that give me some big thinks regarding specifically American Christianity and its relationship to blind patriotism. I also find myself asking how I should feel about Mr Cash winding up thinking he's been chosen by God to sing country songs about Israel?? What's the relationship between religious devotion and unprecedented financial wealth?? These questions dont dominate my mind too much while reading tho. For the most part I enjoyed how Cash wrote like a man aware of how much he'd grown and how much growing he had left to do. There's a lot of humility and honesty in these pages, and sometimes the stark reality of addiction is depicted so effectively that you gotta put the book down. But on the other side to this, the book pays amazing and refreshing tribute to just how darn kind people can be and how much we can all help each other to become better people.
thepossiblenoob's review against another edition
5.0
As a life long fan of Johnny Cash, I had searched for an autobiography for a while. This was exactly what I wanted. It had a heavy overtone of religion and a reminder that no matter what path your life takes, we are never far from our savior. Definitely going on my recommended reads for anyone that is a Christian and fan of country music.
babybel's review
3.0
entertaining and interesting, what more could you ask for. Cash tells his story with all the nuanced, southern charm that he is known for and hearing about his life really sheds light onto his songs.
mickeymole's review
4.0
I find it strange how I like this man's music so much. I'm not a country music fan, but I own on CD or vinyl just about every song Cash recorded. I grew up listening to his most popular songs, not by choice, but because my grandmother always had the radio tuned to a country station in the background. So, Cash and his contemporaries were an unconscious, integral part of my childhood that I wouldn't recognize or give credence to until I was closing in on middle-age. In the early '90s, Cash started putting out the American Recordings. My buddy, Woods, reintroduced me to Cash with a gift of one of these CDs. I was hooked. Then I started buying up all the older stuff, and I fell in love. That's about the time I read this book. Cash can tell a story, and he does a fantastic job telling of his remarkable life in this book. This autobiography came out in '76, so there were quite a few years he'd lived since. I was really hankering for more, and I got it in '97 when he published his up to date [b:Cash|35488|Cash|Johnny Cash|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422322302l/35488._SY75_.jpg|49239]. That one is a masterpiece of autobiography, thus the reason I give this one 4 stars, instead of 5. The newer bio covers a lot more, but if you're a fan, you should read both.
tarmstrong112's review
2.0
Johnny Cash likes Jesus. And he really want you to know it.
Wow this book was like being hit over the head with God. Not at all surprising when you look at when it was written and released. Cash was in an ultra pious phase of his career in the mid 70s and it really shows in this book.
I also didn't feel like the writing was all that good. If you're looking for Cash's life in Cash's words, read Cash: The Autobiography. Or even better yet, read Johnny Cash: The Life by Robert Hillburn.
Wow this book was like being hit over the head with God. Not at all surprising when you look at when it was written and released. Cash was in an ultra pious phase of his career in the mid 70s and it really shows in this book.
I also didn't feel like the writing was all that good. If you're looking for Cash's life in Cash's words, read Cash: The Autobiography. Or even better yet, read Johnny Cash: The Life by Robert Hillburn.
nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition
3.0
Johnny Cash, despite being a fantastic songwriter, cannot seem to make his life as interesting as the biopic, Walk the Line.
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