More than six decades of music. That is just one component of the legacy of Johnny Cash. His life and work is chronicled in books, documentaries and feature films. What’s left to say?

C. Eric Banister has quite a bit left to say with this addition to the FAQ series. Cash fans caught up in more of the minute details rather than the folklore surrounding the man will find much to enjoy in Banister’s work. Of most interest is the time given to Cash’s commercial decline in the 1980s leading into his resurgence with the stark yet well-received American Recordings series in the 1990s and early 2000s.

To read a balanced account of his career, when it is so often looked upon with the rose-colored ting of romance and legend, is refreshing and a testament to the man, his songs, and his relationships forged in music. The FAQ series is hit and miss. Banister’s work on the Johnny Cash edition is a hit.