Cash: The Autobiography

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Summary: Barefoot farmboy turned music legend!
Review: "Cash" is not so much an autobiography as it is a collection of memories about home, family and friends. We learn about Johnny's addiction to prescription drugs, but we also see his sentimental side (who would've thought he loved wind and beaches so much?). He avoids simple blow-by-blow, documentary-style narrative in favor of random thoughts, and that suits me fine! I love "Cash" and I think you should, too! This book proves to be an insightful companion to the resonant music of the Man in Black.

Rating:
Summary: Very captivating, revealing the humanity of a great man.
Review: A wonderfully insightful look into the heart of the great Johnny Cash, a journey that brings us closer to understanding not only him, but anyone who has ever stepped into the boots of despair, criticism, and loneliness.A character building jaunt creating his past,& shaping your future.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for any Johnny Cash or music fan!
Review: As a big fan of Johnny Cash I could not resist reading his autobiography. In no way what so ever was I let down by this amazing book. It combines stories of his life, memories with friends, family, and music giants, and provides deep spiritual inspiration. His memories are truely enjoyable and entertaining, throughout the book he touches on experiences with such people as Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and many more. He also gives delves into his constant battles with drug addiction and how he was able to overcome the affliction. This book gives you a good idea what it was like to be Johnny Cash, and who better to tell the story than Johnny Cash himself.

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Summary: He gave everything he had and now he's gone...
Review: Cash was even larger than the life he led.I saw him live several times over his long career .The first time in Montreal with the Statler Brothers in 69;as well as numerous times on TV.The one thing I found was that he remained the same person throughout those years.As much as you thought you knew about him,there was always something new to learn.He was not one to think he was better than someone else.Despite his greatness,he possessed even greater humility ;particularly to his God,his family and to everything around him.This book really shows how much he loved everything;be it his faith,family,June,band members,homes,books,music,fishing,Rover,being on the road and with his fans or even his time alone ;these things meant so much to him,but in the end he always knew everything was temporary and none of all this swallowed him up.He believed ,that as much as he was given in this life,there was much more waiting for him in eternity.It's often said that it must be hard for the rich and famous to die and leave it all behind.Cash would not have subscribed to that thinking.This is why his fans always felt he gave them so much and why they loved him so much.
Cash was one of the icons of the music world,and one of my favorites.I just wish I had the opportunity to thank him in person;but I know what he would have said."You are very welcome,I'm glad you enjoyed it and the pleasure was all mine"
Sure we'll all miss him,we had him for a long time,but he gave us so much and thanks to all his recordings,we still can listen to his songs.The photo on the back of the book,showing him dressed in black,walking away with his guitar,tells it all.He came,he gave it his all,now he's gone.
Thanks,John,we're going to miss you.
I highly recommend this book,no matter how much you know about Cash.Reading it was like a short visit with him.

Rating:
Summary: Great stories from a great man
Review: For most of my life I knew Johnny Cash solely as the old country music that my dad used to play on the record player. When I saw the video for "Hurt" (by Nine Inch Nails, a band I've listened to since fourth grade), I immediately latched on to Cash and the sense of gravity that he could convey. Knowing nothing of his life made this book even more interesting that it would have been had I known a lot. Cash is a natural storyteller, and many of his tales involve people now considered to be legends. However, it is Johnny's spiritual journey up from amphetamine addiction that makes this book so powerful. Even though I myself have never experienced faith like Cash has, I have immense respect for a man with such conviction. The world lost an amazing man last year, and this book is a great way to remember him.

Rating:
Summary: Great stories from a great man
Review: For most of my life I knew Johnny Cash solely as the old country music that my dad used to play on the record player. When I saw the video for "Hurt" (by Nine Inch Nails, a band I've listened to since fourth grade), I immediately latched on to Cash and the sense of gravity that he could convey. Knowing nothing of his life made this book even more interesting that it would have been had I known a lot. Cash is a natural storyteller, and many of his tales involve people now considered to be legends. However, it is Johnny's spiritual journey up from amphetamine addiction that makes this book so powerful. Even though I myself have never experienced faith like Cash has, I have immense respect for a man with such conviction. The world lost an amazing man last year, and this book is a great way to remember him.

Rating:
Summary: Well, damn. The great tree fell at last
Review: He's gone now. I actually read this book a couple of years ago, but it seems appropriate to submit a review now, just a few days after Johnny Cash's death. I guess we all knew it was coming; the guy hasn't looked well for the last 5+ years. But somehow, staring at that craggy face, listening to that rumbling baritone, it seemed like maybe he'd live forever.
The Man in Black. Johnny Cash. Husband of June Carter. Friend of damn near everyone he ever met, and that includes millions of fans. Johnny Cash lived his life with the same candid openness and complexity with which he sang his songs - and he always laid it all out, right on the line. He hides nothing, not his struggles with substance abuse, not his self-proclaimed failures as a father, not his much-reviled opposition to the Vietnam War, not his attempts at sincere spirituality. Johnny Cash's humor and intelligent mind come through is this book, more a reflection on his 40-yr career than a straightforward "and then this happened, and then this, and then this" style of celebrity autobiography. "I Walk the Line," he sang, and now it's time for the great man to lay it down and take a rest.
Kudos. We'll miss him.

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Summary: Like A Friendly Visit With The Great Icon
Review: I always identified with his artistic expressions that didn't fit any category. I connect with him that way. He received monumental acclaim, yet crawled in a cave, wanting to die, as described in this book. He still remains a profound enigma after reems written by him and about him.

He isn't as frank as Waylon Jennings in telling the tales, but it's still captivating. I was hoping Johnny would mention something about a black-and-white movie he made way back, where he played a criminal character. I think it was called "Door To Door Maniac", and it was unsettling. Maybe that's why it apparantly vanished from existance. It's NEVER discussed in his history. Being his first movie, you'd think it bears comment.

Since this was his last autobiography, fans value it. I'm glad God showed us in Johnny Cash how strange and unconventional a Christian can be. What an inspiring relief!

Rating:
Summary: A "Must Have" for Cash fans!
Review: I bought the book mostly out of curiosity about the "Man in Black" as he was always known to me. I grew up listening to Johnny's music, but in my teens, went my own way into the realm of heavy metal and other types of rock music. I came back to country music in my 30's and realized that the artists there really aren't much different from those I idolized as a teen...that's to say they all have their demons. Johnny Cash was one of those country singers that made quite an impression on me as a kid...I don't really know what it was about him, but I always liked and remembered his music and songs. This book brought it all together for me in the sense that he is very upfront about his particular demons and the fact that even as a man in his late 60's(his age when he wrote this book)he still faced down his demons every waking day. Johnny Cash lived a hard life and he tells his life in this book. The Man in Black will be sorely missed in the anals of the music world, as well as in the hearts of those who loved & admired him!

Rating:
Summary: A "Must Have" for Cash fans!
Review: I bought the book mostly out of curiosity about the "Man in Black" as he was always known to me. I grew up listening to Johnny's music, but in my teens, went my own way into the realm of heavy metal and other types of rock music. I came back to country music in my 30's and realized that the artists there really aren't much different from those I idolized as a teen...that's to say they all have their demons. Johnny Cash was one of those country singers that made quite an impression on me as a kid...I don't really know what it was about him, but I always liked and remembered his music and songs. This book brought it all together for me in the sense that he is very upfront about his particular demons and the fact that even as a man in his late 60's(his age when he wrote this book)he still faced down his demons every waking day. Johnny Cash lived a hard life and he tells his life in this book. The Man in Black will be sorely missed in the anals of the music world, as well as in the hearts of those who loved & admired him!