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Citizen Cash: The Political Life and Times of Johnny Cash

Citizen Cash: The Political Life and Times of Johnny Cash

by Michael Stewart Foley

Basic Books ·2021 ·384 pages ·Music
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
30/99
Maybe Someday

30/99

Critics

Maybe Someday

30/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

8/99

Rating

52/99

Volume

46/99

Rating

13/99

Volume

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About This Book

A leading historian argues that Johnny Cash was the most important political artist of his time Johnny Cash was an American icon, known for his level, bass-baritone voice and somber demeanor, and for huge hits like "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line." But he was also the most prominent political artist in the United States, even if he wasn't recognized for it in his own lifetime, or since his death in 2003. Then and now, people have misread Cash's politics, usually accepting the idea of him as a "walking contradiction." Cash didn't fit into easy political categories—liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, hawk or dove. Like most people, Cash's politics were remarkably consistent in that they were based not on ideology or scripts but on empathy—emotion, instinct, and identification. Drawing on untapped archives and new research on social movements and grassroots activism, Citizen Cash offers a major reassessment of a legendary figure.


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Reviews

"A powerful biography that will leave fans with a newfound respect for the Man in Black."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Citizen Cash usefully combines biographical detail and cultural analysis with music history to provide an in-depth portrait of the ways Cash acquired his political and social ideas and wove them into the fabric of his music."

Henry L. Carrigan Jr.· BookPage Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Instead, to keep his outsize claim for the record's topical impact looking viable, Foley continues to pile disclaimer upon disclaimer ..."

Chris Lehmann· The New Republic Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Foley is a well-regarded historian and does an excellent job of placing Cash's life and career within the contexts of his time ..."

Jack Hamilton· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"I often found myself wondering if he wasn't a two-faced equivocator."

Stephen Metcalf· The Atlantic Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

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