Composed, the newly published memoir from acclaimed singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash, will debut on The New York Times Book Review hardcover, nonfiction bestseller list at No. 20 on August 29th. In the book Cash shares her recollections growing up as Johnny Cash’s eldest daughter and coming into her own as a performer, daughter, and mother.
Called “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read” by the Chicago Tribune and “wise, honest, and utterly engaging” by the Washington Post, Composed (published by Viking; $26.95) has earned rave reviews from media outlets across the country, including Entertainment Weekly, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily Beast, the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, as well as starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. It also received early praise from Cash’s fellow authors Bill Flanagan (Evening’s Empire), Daniel J. Levitin (This Is Your Brain on Music), and Adriana Trigiani (best-selling author of the Big Stone Gap series and Brava, Valentine), who calls it “a lush and glorious memoir that is wise and knowing, humorous and full of hope.”
The week Composed was released, Cash was interviewed on PBS’ NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and NPR’s “The Diane Rehm Show.” She also sat down with ABC’s Good Morning America and performed a song from her first-ever covers album, The List, which was released in October 2009. The appearance attracted renewed attention for the critically heralded album, sending The List to No. 1 on Amazon’s Top Country Albums chart. The album also jumped from No. 68 to No. 28 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, entered the Amazon Best Sellers chart at No. 9, and rose to No. 13 on the iTunes Top Country Albums chart.
Over the course of her career, Cash has recorded fourteen albums, including 1981’s gold Seven Year Ache and 1987’s gold King’s Record Shop, and charted 21 Top 40 country singles, 11 of which climbed to No. 1. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations — winning in 1985 — and was nominated last December for “Sea of Heartbreak,” a duet with Bruce Springsteen on The List, which is eligible for Grammy consideration this year. The album, which Vanity Fair called “superb,” debuted in the Top 5 on the Country Chart, and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 22. The List has been nominated for “Album of the Year” by The Americana Music Association, which will announce the 2010 winners in a ceremony held September 9th at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Cash will attend and perform at the event.
Cash is also the author of Bodies of Water and the children’s book Penelope Jane: A Fairy’s Tale. Her essays and fiction have been published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and New York magazine.
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