Johnny Cash was a man both extraordinary and ordinary. Every man could relate to him, no man could be him, and only one man could get inside his head: Robert Hilburn

Robert Hilburn displays a deeply felt affinity with his subject, illuminating Johnny Cash as the moral compass of country music

A great story requires great storytelling, and that’s exactly what it receives here. Ultimately, Robert Hilburn’s biography uncannily resembles its subject: massive and stolid, but with a dangerous glint in its eye

Johnny Cash and Robert Hilburn are two of the true blessings of my life. Both the best at what they do and each a gifted artist. It’s a killer combination

[T]he most authoritative and revealing portrait to date of the most chronicled figure in country-music history … [a] finely wrought biography

Hilburn’s biography has the sort of immense scope and tremendous insight that comes from years of interviewing such a truthful, troubling subject

A warts-and-all biography follows Johnny Cash, a rebel and outsider, from one drama to the next. It’s a must-read

Rock biographies can feel like they are ten-a-penny so it is a refreshing change to read a meaty no-holds barred, non-sycophantic record of legendary Man in Black Johnny Cash … The wealth of detail on every page, in ever incident of Cash’s life (1932-2002) is both impressive and a joy to read. Unlike so many biographies that are reported incidents jigsawed together, this is almost an eyewitness account with not always favourable opinions, perfecting its colour and gravitas

How do you write an interesting biography of such a beloved figure? First, hire Robert Hilburn. He is a prodigious researcher, but keeps a steady hand on the tiller, and never allows his research to swamp his narrative. He knows his music and music history, but unlike far too many music critics, he avoids the temptation to show off

Hilburn has pulled off the rare feat of making the dispassionate truth more extraordinary than the myth

With straightforward prose, and through years of meticulous research, Robert Hilburn unravels the sometimes dark and magical life of one of music’s greatest legends. Oftentimes this is a chronicle of pain, whether Hilburn is detailing Cash’s early loss of his beloved brother, or the anguish he talked to Rick Rubin about feeling upon the death of wife June, but Hilburn gives much insight into what drove Cash’s work. This is a harrowing story of addiction, musical genius, and enduring faith that goes far deeper than any film biopic ever will. In the end, Hilburn has achieved what is most certainly the definitive Johnny Cash biography

Robert Hilburn has written a magnificent biography

Hilburn displays a quite remarkable empathy with his subject and his writing style is highly readable and totally gripping. The book has just been published in the UK and is surely a must for any serious country music buff

A moving, respectful and sympathetic biography

There is madness aplenty in this excellent life of the turbulent Johnny Cash

Superb