Book Reviews

June 3, 2011 Tony Tost has no interest in debunking the myth of the Man in Black. In fact, his new book depends on it. Instead of relying on a hackneyed fact-versus-fiction structure, Johnny Cash’s American Recordings (33 1/3) gives itself over completely to Johnny Cash’s outlaw/prophet mystique. The book’s specific goal is to get to the truths that lie past the treeline of the merely factual. Beyond the cavernous voice, poetic songwriting, and towering stage presence, Tost argues, Johnny Cash’s single greatest artistic accomplishment was the creation of “the mythic version of himself.” In fact, for Tost, the “mythic self” is the single greatest creation America has given the world, for him, Cash, the country, and American Recordings are forever entwined.

May 26, 2011 In Chinaberry Sidewalks, a memoir of his impoverished, violent childhood, acclaimed Nashville songwriter Rodney Crowell shows how love can flourish in the most unlikely circumstances. Crowell will discuss the book at a taping of “A Guitar and a Pen Old Time Radio hour with Robert Hicks” on May 26 at 6 p.m. The taping takes place at Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant in Franklin.

May 23, 2011 It may appear that Ashley Judd has led a charmed life. The daughter/sister of famed country duo Naomi and Wynonna Judd, she seemed to appear out of nowhere during the mid-90s, her pixie-like presence lighting up films such as Smoke, Kiss The Girls, and 2004’s De-Lovely. But there’s a dark side to her fame—and to the seemingly wholesome Judd empire itself. In All That Is Bitter & Sweet, Judd documents her lifelong battle with depression and dysfunction, and the discovery of her true calling: social activism. By recognizing herself in the lost children of Africa and Asia, Judd has emerged as one of the most recognizable faces in the international fight for both HIV prevention and gender equality.

May 19, 2011 Because atheists deny the notion of a supreme spiritual authority, they are often derided as amoral, libertine, or, in perhaps the biggest slight of all, moral relativists. In Reasonable Atheism, Vanderbilt philosophy professors Scott F. Aikin and Robert B. Talisse argue just the opposite. Though they clearly believe religion is wrong-headed, even dangerous, the authors’ goal is not to decry religious faith but to show that godlessness deserves the same respect afforded mainstream belief systems.