Johnny Cash: The Life

"Johnny Cash became a legend long before he died, and there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most iconic American musicians of all time. Figures as beloved as the “Man in Black” present a hazard for biographers — it’s easy for chronicles of their lives to turn into hagiographies. Journalist Robert Hilburn deftly avoids this trap in Johnny Cash, which is as fascinating as it is honest. Cash wouldn’t have been who he was if it weren’t for his capacity for both love and sin, and Hilburn’s portrait of a genius in constant battle with his demons is as absorbing as any biography published this year."