A constrained and slightly pedantic novel, Man in White's only real point of note is that it was written by the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash. The writer of 'Ring of Fire' and 'I Walk the Line' was a compelling man, as his autobiography, Cash, shows. That book also showed he was quite capable of manipulating prose for effect. Unfortunately, Cash's only novel is about as essential as his straight-up gospel albums. That is, not at all.

Man in White tells the Biblical story of Saul (later Paul), a persecutor of the early Christians, who on the road to Damascus witnesses a divine revelation of the martyred Jesus (the titular 'man in white') and becomes a repentant convert. It is an interesting story, but alas Cash is not the man to tell it. His attempts at storytelling are more than a tad clunky, his prose is dry and his dialogue leaden. (However, his research of the time period, and of theology, is good.) Oftentimes, the characters speak solely in the unnatural language of the evangelical, and it felt at times like I had been tricked into reading an extended sermon.

I must admit to being surprised that the book was not as wearisome as I had feared. I was distrustful of the sermonising and the fetishization of the Word, but Cash's brand of Christianity is honest and seeking, rather than the self-satisfied, complacent gospel that seems to permeate through the Christian diaspora in the West. Once I accepted Cash's fidelity, it was much easier to self-edit the denser parts of his book.

Unfortunately, novel-writing is just not Cash's medium. His feel for it isn't as natural as his songwriting. For all its earnestness and energy, his depiction of the conversion on the road to Damascus will not convince anyone who is not already convinced. An ordinary, non-evangelical reader needs an anchor, a hook on which to suspend their disbelief, and in Man in White the character arc just isn't there. ( )

I was always impressed with Johnny Cash. His baritone voice added depth and pathos to some of the songs he became famous for. He almost destroyed his career and probably his life with addiction to drugs. Finally in mid career, when he was about 36, he had a conversion experience and was able to come off drugs. From then on for the remaining 35 years of his life, he remained a devout Christian and many times bore witness to Christ even on the stage before large audiences.

He always felt uncomfortable with sectarian divisions within the Christian community and, when interviewed, refused to identify himself with any group suggested by his interviewer: Baptist? Catholic? “No,” he would say, “I’m a Christian.” Not many know that, after his conversion, Cash wrote a biography about the Life of St. Paul.

St. Paul was an important person in the early church, so I was curious how Cash understood St. Paul’s life. It turns out that Cash’s Man in White is a remarkably good biography. Cash had some training in Biblical Study and benefitted from friends, including Billy Graham, who critiqued his drafts as the work was in progress. But the most remarkable feature is that Cash has a real talent for spinning a story. His rendition of the life of St. Paul brought Paul’s life out of the mystical, where so many put him, and showed Paul as an ordinary man of his time. I enjoyed reading Man in White very much.

The novel starts out with Peter in The Temple when he cured the crippled man. Saul is in another Temple chamber discussing the Nazarenes with the high priest, and Gamaliel, and two other men. Gamaliel advised them to leave these men alone. Saul wasn’t convinced. He felt these unbelievers should be stopped.

From this start, Cash goes on to craft a remarkably well-written novel about Saul. Cash provides a lot of detail about what life was like in Jerusalem at that time and details that round out the character of Saul. After Stephen is martyred, Saul obtains a commission from The Temple to eradicate the Nazarenes. He endures a seven-day fast in preparation and then has himself dedicated to this mission in a Temple ceremony where all his hair is shaved off and burned along with an animal sacrifice. Then Saul is ready to embark on his mission.

I got a lot out of this novel. It is not like other stories about Saints. It reads more like an adventure story, but, in this case, the story is true. Cash keeps his novel in line with what is already known about St. Paul, but he makes Paul come alive in Cash’s skillful handling of small details about Paul’s appearance, his family background, how he supported himself, and his friends and relatives. The title is based on how Jesus appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus. Jesus was clothed in brilliant white: Jesus is the Man in White.

I enjoyed this novel. It gave me a deeper understanding of Paul as a man as well as a Saint, and I got a glimpse into Johnny Cash’s inner soul as well. ( )

First novel by singer, song writer, Johnney Cash. This is the story of the Apostle Paul in ficitonal form.