Ring of Fire - by Michael Streissguth (Paperback)

About the Book

A collection of classic writings on the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, by a stellar list of music writers, including Ralph Gleason, Robert Johnson, Nick Tosches, Alanna Nash, Jon Pareles, and Ben Ratliff

Book Synopsis

Johnny Cash is a living icon, one of the defining country musicians of the century and patriarch of a clan that rules as country royalty. He has also been a hard-living firebrand whose air of danger and rebellion made him godfather of the bad boys of today's rock and rap. He has garnered him an immense audience across generations, selling more than fifty million albums and winning ten Grammy awards. Ring of Fire is the first book to explore Cash's life and work through essays by some of the best music journalists -- Ralph Gleason, George Vecsey, Richard Goldstein, Alanna Nash, Nick Tosches, Jon Pareles, and Ben Ratliff. Whether dispatched in the heat of Cash's meteoric rise to fame in the '60s or looking back from the vantage point of his recent musical resurgence and phenomenal new albums, these writings reveal the complex soul of an American legend.

Review Quotes

"[Cash's] humility and restless nature dominate every tale, proving that after forty-seven years in the spotlight, the Man in Black remains one of music's most fascinating and elusive figures."

About the Author

Michael Streissguth is one of the world's foremost authorities on Johnny Cash. He is a professor at Le Moyne College and lives in Syracuse, New York.