And then, my head exploded. This book and I did not get off to a very good start. In the first paragraph, the author writes about Rosanne Cash's brain surgery, letting us know that her family, friends, and admirers were concerned because "on the heels of her father's death only four years earlier, the prospect of living without his most legitimate artistic heir ... seemed unbearable." Because I'm sure her husband and four children and other family members were so preoccupied about the musical legacy of Johnny Cash.

A few pages later, the author wags his eyebrows knowingly when he points out that while Rosanne wished to establish herself as an artist separate from her father, she kept her name when she got married. Come ON, it's her OWN NAME. It's her name! No has to justify or defend being called by one's OWN NAME. (Likewise, no one has to justify or defend having a new own name, either.)

So anyway, this book is about the making of the latest Rosanne Cash album, called The List, which is based on a list of significant country songs that her father wrote and gave to her in 1973. But, the twist is, she lost the actual piece of paper with the actual list on it, so this is a process of recreating the list based on her knowledge of country music and her father.

The selections, as well as discussions of songs that didn't make the cut, are interesting, and I was hoping there would be more discussion in the book about the history and influence of that music. On the plus side, it was a great way to get ideas for things to listen to.

There is also a lot of coverage on the actual creation of some of the recordings, which was less interesting to me because I'm not that musical of a person myself, and books about music often leave me a little cold. Do people write songs about reading?

One burning question I still have, though, is how is it possible that there aren't songs that she, or someone, remembers for sure as being on the list -- the way this book tells it, they are starting consideration for each song like it's a complete mystery. MAYBE it was on the list, MAYBE it was NOT on the list ... but she had the list for almost 30 years before she lost it, and if I'm understanding it correctly, used it to build set lists for her own tours. So really, there isn't ONE (or you know, two) songs that you remember being on there? I'd think at least one would stand out, maybe because she really liked it, or because she didn't care for it, or something.

Despite getting tired quickly of the author and his self-appointed therapist role, this was a fairly interesting (and quick) read for fans of Rosanne Cash. ( )