tarmstrong112's review against another edition
2.0
1 Star = It's Johnny Cash content
.5 Star = It was incredible easy to read (I'm feeling generous though so I'll give it the full star.)
There's nothing in this book that is overly original when it comes to Johnny Cash. It basically seems like a long sermon that the author shapes around a few Cash songs. Nothing original about it. Not even any primary source research. There've been 4 books written about Johnny Cash and religion since his passing, if that topic interests you, I suggest seeking out one of the other 3.
Update 2022/02/15: I am currently reading "The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash" by Dave Urbanski and I can tell that Urbanski's book greatly inspired this book. Entire concepts and phrases are lifted from Urbanski's work (not plagiarized, there are citations) but it just makes this work seem more and more unnecessary to me. Urbanski's book isn't that great and so I feel like Beck using it as a source of inspiration and literally as source material really hurts this book's purpose. In my original review, I suggested people seek out one of the other 3 books on Cash and religion of that topic interests them, but I cannot in good conscious recommend any of them. They are basic retelling's of the Cash narrative, often telling stories that have been whittled down or debunked in other, better works. Just read "Johnny Cash: The Life" by Robert Hilburn if you're interested in Cash. You will not regret it.
.5 Star = It was incredible easy to read (I'm feeling generous though so I'll give it the full star.)
There's nothing in this book that is overly original when it comes to Johnny Cash. It basically seems like a long sermon that the author shapes around a few Cash songs. Nothing original about it. Not even any primary source research. There've been 4 books written about Johnny Cash and religion since his passing, if that topic interests you, I suggest seeking out one of the other 3.
Update 2022/02/15: I am currently reading "The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash" by Dave Urbanski and I can tell that Urbanski's book greatly inspired this book. Entire concepts and phrases are lifted from Urbanski's work (not plagiarized, there are citations) but it just makes this work seem more and more unnecessary to me. Urbanski's book isn't that great and so I feel like Beck using it as a source of inspiration and literally as source material really hurts this book's purpose. In my original review, I suggested people seek out one of the other 3 books on Cash and religion of that topic interests them, but I cannot in good conscious recommend any of them. They are basic retelling's of the Cash narrative, often telling stories that have been whittled down or debunked in other, better works. Just read "Johnny Cash: The Life" by Robert Hilburn if you're interested in Cash. You will not regret it.
davehershey's review against another edition
4.0
Johnny Cash is one of my all time favorites. His music is brilliant, introspective and often haunting.
Richard Beck is probably one of my favorite writers. He is not very well-known even within the Christian publishing world (at least, I don’t think he is...maybe I’m wrong?). Yet he’s written a bunch of books and I’ve read a few and found all of them thoughtful, profound and helpful.
This one is a reflection on the life and work of Cash. Its not really a biography, and Beck heavily relies on Robert Hilburn’s biography (which I read a few years back and highly recommend). Instead, Beck reflects on Cash’s music, tying in his own experience interacting with prisoners in his ministry at a nearby prison. Overall, if you’re a fan of Cash and a Christian, this is a must read.
As a side note, Beck’s work pushed me to investigate some of Cash’s lesser known albums, arguing if you truly want to understand Cash you need to go past his most well-known songs. Other than the more recent American recordings, I had not listened to his other, older albums in depth so I took Beck’s suggestion and found some good stuff I’d not heard before.
Richard Beck is probably one of my favorite writers. He is not very well-known even within the Christian publishing world (at least, I don’t think he is...maybe I’m wrong?). Yet he’s written a bunch of books and I’ve read a few and found all of them thoughtful, profound and helpful.
This one is a reflection on the life and work of Cash. Its not really a biography, and Beck heavily relies on Robert Hilburn’s biography (which I read a few years back and highly recommend). Instead, Beck reflects on Cash’s music, tying in his own experience interacting with prisoners in his ministry at a nearby prison. Overall, if you’re a fan of Cash and a Christian, this is a must read.
As a side note, Beck’s work pushed me to investigate some of Cash’s lesser known albums, arguing if you truly want to understand Cash you need to go past his most well-known songs. Other than the more recent American recordings, I had not listened to his other, older albums in depth so I took Beck’s suggestion and found some good stuff I’d not heard before.
rlaferney's review against another edition
5.0
A very beautiful and profound meditation on the spiritual legacy of Johnny Cash - and how, at the heart of Cash's message was the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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