Books Reviews - Page 19

The wife, musical partner and soul mate of the late legendary Johnny Cash is given her due in this loving first-person memoir by her son, John Carter, who approaches his subject from a uniquely qualified perspective—as the only child from a union that gave the world country music’s most galvanizing, dramatic and uplifting love story.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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What do you want to do this summer? Whatever it is, this handy-dandy owner’s manual has probably got it covered. Step-by-step instructions on some 125 different, diverse warm-weather activities—including building sand castles, paddling canoes, kite flying, grilling the perfect hamburger, cranking homemade ice cream and catching fireflies—will make you an instant expert at some of the season’s simple, sublimely splendid pleasures.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Kunstler, one of the premier painters of the American past, creates vividly detailed, dramatically realistic depictions of battlefields, officers, campsites, townsfolk, other players and decisive moments in this second volume of a planned four-part series that will eventually cover the entire span of the War Between the States. His brushstrokes blend history and humanity into pieces of masterful artwork that almost fool your eyes into thinking they’re photographs.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Endorsed by Johnny Cash’s daughter, Rosanne, his brother, Tommy, and featuring a foreward by The Statler Brothers, who credit him with launching their career, this biography by longtime band member Marshall Grant takes its title from a gospel tune Cash recorded in 1957. As one of Cash’s original bandmates and thereafter a member of his inner circle until his death in 2003, Grant recounts the career of the legendary Man in Black—including the devastating spiral of drug abuse that Grant says ultimately destroyed him—with fly-on-the-wall, warts-and-all detail…and the unique, unvarnished perspective of one of the few people still living who really was there when it happened.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Packed with rare photos, this impressive tribute to the hip-shaking, roof-raising musical revolution of the late 1950s also includes a documentary DVD. Co-author Naylor, himself a former rockabilly star who took over the leadership of Buddy Holly’s Crickets band after Holly’s untimely death in 1959, salutes the stars, honors the sounds and cleanly connects the musical dots between Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and dozens of other performers who lit the fuse on the rock ’n’ roll firecracker that was just waiting to explode around the cultural corner.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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“Tough times don’t last, tough people do,” says Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, one of 300 current and former Major Leaguers who were asked about the lessons of sportsmanship, respect, teamwork, ambition, self-confidence, preparation, persistence and other admirable traits that can be gleaned from the playing field. Their observations for this snappy little second edition aren’t just for ball players—they’re good advice for anyone running the bases of life.

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Everyone remembers the late Davis as a singer and actor, but this striking, stylish collection displays his lesser-known passion and skill: photography. With contextual notes and recollections by Boyar, his longtime friend and associate, these hundreds of snapshots reveal the private sides of Davis’ circle of cool-cat friends (like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Jerry Lewis and Paul Newman) and cast an intimate, irresistible insider’s spotlight on the swinging, star-splashed ‘60s.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Rewind to some of the tube’s greatest, goofiest and gaudiest programs of the 1960s and ‘70s, an almost-anything-gos eras when Ed Sullivan, Rowan and Martin, Lawrence Welk, Johnny Cash, the Smothers Brothers, Carol Burnett, Flip Wilson, Sonny and Cher and dozens of others filled living rooms across America with a pop-cultural kaleidoscope of evolving styles and sounds.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Porter, who died in 1999, and Ketchum, now 60, represent two generations of acclaimed landscape photographers who didn’t just want to depict nature’s beauty—they also believed passionately that it was a precious treasure worth preserving. A stroll through these 88 stately color and duotone images of mountainsides, fields, trees and waterways will make you a believer, too.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Collier, an aerial photographer and pilot, spent years flying over some of America’s most dramatic landforms. This collection of his stunning, bird’s-eye-view images is both a testament to our country’s awe-inspiring geographic majesty and an eye-opening explanation of some fascinating geologic lessons we can learn from the many peaks, summits, ridges, valleys and other rugged, rocky imprints that give the surface of our continent such a varied, grandiose texture.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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