Nonfiction offers a ticket to hidden worlds

Eliminated from the ‘Race’
The “completely unauthorized” line on the cover of Adam-Troy Castro’s “My Ox is Broken!” (Benbella Books, $18), a book about the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race,” suggests its pages contain secrets someone does not want readers to know. Alas, the book rarely reveals anything that was not already broadcast on national television. (The title comes from an infamous quote spoken in season five, by jerky contestant Colin.)

Castro is good at categorizing, but not at summarizing; his accounts of each leg of every race are rapid-fire yet boring, evidence that it’s all too difficult to translate the show’s heart-stopping tension and drama from the screen to the page. Why read when you can watch? The cute team names, overeager attempts at humor, grammatical errors, and awkward editorial comments don’t help, making the exercise seem amateurish. (Sample sentence: “Umm, Monica ... sleazeballs they may be, that being a matter for opinion, but the Yield is not sleazy.”)

Most behind-the-scenes information comes from the interviews with cast members, which tend to focus on competitors’ behavior or choices during the race, and demonstrate that Castro knows the show. Beyond that, though, there’s little insight a fan of “The Amazing Race” doesn’t already have, and the unfortunate part is that “My Ox is Broken!” targets an audience of people who already love the series.

The book’s real value is in its comprehensiveness as a quick reference guide. Desperate to know what time Colin and Christie checked in to the sixth pit stop during season five? Need a list of every location the race has ever visited? You’ll find answers. But beyond that, rent the complete-season DVD sets.    —Andy Dehnart

Walking the line
While the recent film “Walk the Line” left viewers with the fantasy that Johnny Cash’s battle with addiction ended in the late 1960s, “Johnny Cash: The Biography” (Da Capo Press, $26) exposes the singer's lifelong struggle. Even in later years, as the Man in Black worked on his seminal “American Recordings” sessions, author Michael Streissguth notes that pain pills “wrapped around Cash’s mind like a viper.”

In this, Streissguth’s second book devoted to Cash, the fairytale veil is lifted from legend’s marriage to June Carter Cash. Yet the darker picture of the famed relationship, which included infidelity, still portrays the couple's love and devotion. In the book’s final chapters, remarkably unguarded interviews with Cash’s daughters allow a glimpse into his grief upon losing his wife, the effort of surviving without her, and his own decline.

In his previous work, “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison,” Streissguth focused solely on the events surrounding the 1968 album of the same name. Here he presents an objective and revealing account of Cash, from his early life as the son of a poor cotton farmer to his last days.

This chronicle appeals to more than just diehard fans. It isn’t bogged down by endless stats of Cash’s career (there’s not even a mention of his numerous Grammy awards). Instead it tears down the myth of the Man in Black and tells the story of the real, imperfect man behind it.     —Ree Hines

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