I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny
by Vivian Cash
Book Summary Information
Author: Vivian CashContributor: Ann Sharpsteen
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-21
ISBN: 1416532951
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Scribner
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781416532958
- Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
- Notes:
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny
Book Review: Worth a read if you're a Cash fan
Summary: 3 Stars
If, like me, you're a fan of Johnny Cash and you've seen Walk the Line and you've read his autobiography and so on, you will be interested to hear Vivian's account of what went on. Reading this book does make the film Walk the Line seem like almost a work of fiction (there are also things in Johnny's autobiography which don't entirely match with the film). The film makes it seem like it was all Johnny's idea to get involved with June, and that June was reluctantly drawn in. According to Vivian's book though, June had her sights firmly set on Johnny and she views him as the one who was drawn in. She also talks about June having a drug problem, which undermines the film's portrayal of June as someone who hated drugs and was shocked by Johnny's use of them. Now of course, it's really only one person's word against another here. According to Vivian, June has admitted in interviews that she pursued Johnny relentlessly, so that may well be true. However, it is hard to be sure whether some of the details Vivian gives are really accurate, or at least whether she is telling the whole story. Unlike Johnny's autobiography, which contains a lot of detail and subtlety, this book is basically telling a single narrative without deviating from it or considering alternative possibilities. Vivian seems utterly convinced that without their mutual drug use, Johnny and June would never have got together. She also suggests that June exercised control over Johnny, and that this was "devil-driven" and not from God. She seems awfully reluctant to consider that Johnny might have had genuine feelings for June and that he might really have wanted to be with her. She talks about how much she (Vivian) loves Johnny, but it seems like that love blinds her to the fact that Johnny could ever have genuine feelings for anyone else. Her way of talking about Johnny and June's relationship is often condescending. She views her marriage as entirely legitimised by God, and anything that challenges it as plainly wrong. Clearly she lived her formative years in a different time when marriages were always expected to be preserved and anyone who stood in the way of someone's marriage was an evildoer, but her interpretation of things does sound a little naive at this point in time. She reveals a lot of embarassing details of things that Johnny did, but very little about herself. She says that she would want to be remembered as a devoted wife and mother (which she may well have been), but beyond that, she reveals very little about herself as a person, except the fact that she has a strong faith in God. You don't get any sense that she saw herself as a human being with flaws who might also have been difficult to live with in certain ways (as we all are). It seems that she saw herself and her marriage to Johnny as perfect and divinely ordained, and could not possibly see anything that went against that as being good in any way. The tone of this book is definitely sanctimonious at times, and may get annoying to some people (as it did to me). I really sympathise with what Vivian went through, and it sounds like Johnny did make life incredibly difficult for her at times. However, she doesn't always help her own cause by making herself the only possible victim in the whole situation. Maybe she was the devoted wife and mother she says she was, and maybe she was perfectly easy to live with at all times, I don't know. I would just prefer to read a book from someone who is willing to acknowledge their own flaws, rather than someone who just wants to portray the flaws of another person (in this case, Johnny). Oh, of course, she describes her own flaws in the most sanctimonious religious terms, that she has held onto anger and been too slow to forgive and all that, but there isn't the kind of honest description of her own flaws as an individual (rather than as a sinner saved by God's grace) that I might hope for. Anyone whose marriage breaks up and who has nothing to say about how they might have contributed should perhaps be viewed with a little suspicion. Anyway, this book will definitely be of interest to Johnny Cash fans, as it contains details about his life which are no doubt accurate and which will help to paint a better picture of the kind of man he was, even if that picture is not always entirely pretty to look at. The bulk of the book is actually taken up with Johnny's love letters to Vivian during the three years he was away in Germany, rather than any material written by Vivian (or Ann). If you're looking at the book and seeing the thickness of it and expecting to get that much from Vivian herself, think again. Perhaps three-quarters of the book is taken up with letters written by Johnny to Vivian. I've read the first letter or two but haven't read the rest. That might seem like a handicap in terms of writing a review, but I'm not sure that it is. Clearly these letters will be of interest to fans as they will reveal a lot of details about Johnny's life. In fact, if this book had been marketed as "Johnny's love letters to Vivian", it might have attracted more attention, and that's what this book is mostly comprised of. As I said, I have no doubt that these letters will be of interest to many fans, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable to read them myself. I may do, but it seems awfully personal. These letters were not written for a general audience, but for one person, and their tone reflects that, and although I understand that Johnny was happy for these to be published, I'm not sure that I feel comfortable to read them. I'm reviewing this book according to its title and according to what it has been published and marketed as, which is Vivian's account of her life with Johnny and how she "walked the line". I'm not sure I would feel comfortable critically reviewing somebody's love letters and whether I found them to be interesting or entertaining anyway. You could view the fact that only about a quarter of this book is written by Vivian as a weakness (it certainly doesn't do quite what it says on the tin), or you could view it as a bonus that you get to read more from Johnny's mouth. That depends on what you're after.
Biographies & Memoirs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in My Johnny Cash Collection
Ring of Fire: A Tribute to Johnny Cashby Brian Mansfield
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2003-11-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops:
Cash: An American Manby Bill Miller
CMT; Published: 2005-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.63
Price in other shops:
Time Magazine September 22 2003 Johnny Cash 1932 - 2003by Time Magazine
Time Inc; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Johnny Cash: An American Legendby Michael McCall
AMI Books; Published: 2003-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
The New Johnny Cashby Charles Paul Conn
Spire Books; Published: 1975; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Ring Of Fire: The Johnny Cash Readerby Michael Streissguth
Da Capo Press; Published: 2003-03-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
The Man Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legendby Steve Turner
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2005-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
Up Close: Johnny Cashby Anne E. Neimark
Puffin; Published: 2008-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
Cashby Rolling Stone Magazine
Crown; Published: 2004-05-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops:
Man in Whiteby Johnny Cash
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2006-08-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Wordsby Johnny Cash
Zondervan; Published: 1975-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $190.20
Man in Whiteby Johny Cash
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2008-12-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Up Close: Johnny Cashby Anne E. Neimark
Puffin; Published: 2008-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
From the Heartby June Carter Cash
Prentice Hall; Published: 1987-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.37
My 33 Years Inside the House of Cash: A Special Tribute to My Closest Friends : Johnny, June, and Mother Maybelleby Peggy Knight
Premium Press America; Published: 2004-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops:
The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cashby Dave Urbanski
Relevant Books; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Johnny Cash: The Biographyby Michael Streissguth
Da Capo Press; Published: 2007-09-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
I Was There When It Happened: My Life with Johnny Cashby Marshall Grant; Chris Zar
Cumberland House Publishing; Published: 2006-08-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.75
Price in other shops:
Cash: The Autobiographyby Johnny Cash
HarperOne; Published: 2003-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.07
Price in other shops:
Anchored In Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cashby John Carter Cash
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2007-06-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.18
Price in other shops: