Out today, Johnny Cash: The Life, was written by famed L.A. Times’s music critic Robert Hilburn, whose non-writing credentials include having been an audience member at Cash’s famous Folsom Prison concert. Hilburn’s biography stands out from the already existing plethora of Cash coverage for other reasons, too: six months of interviews; decades of steady communication with the Man in Black; and his motivation through it all: “I wanted to sit down and write a book like I was writing about a president or a statesman, someone who was important in society and culture.” The final 700-page count (double what Little, Brown originally envisioned) is sure to be rich as it is mighty. [via Spin]

The first volume of a three-part Beatles biography hits stores today. Weighing at 944 pages, Mark Lewisohn’s The Beatles: All These Years, Volume 1: Tune In is an obsessively researched, anecdote-rich history of the world’s most influential pop band. A life-long Beatles fan and chronicler, Lewisohn now offers us a tome filled with corrections to age-old myths and details missing from other biographical treatments, for a rendering so thorough and enthralling it could be considered the very first Beatles textbook. [via The Wall Street Journal]

Versatile, commanding, and talented, actress Angelica Houston would have had no problem filling her upcoming memoir with exciting details about her own life. That she also gets to include stories about growing up the daughter of John Houston — one of the world’s most famous filmmakers — and prima ballerina Enrica Soma is an extra-special treat for us. A Story Told Lately debuts next month, just in time for a Thanksgiving read — and Vanity Fair offers an adaptation in the meantime. [via Vanity Fair]

A John Belushi biopic — once slated for Warners Bros. production and in development limbo for years — may now be moving forward as an independent feature. Screenwriter Steve Conrad ("The Pursuit of Happyness") is reportedly eying Emile Hirsch, Adam Devine, and Joaquin Phoenix as potential fits for the starring role. On board as well are Belushi’s SNL partner Dan Aykroyd as executive producer, and Todd Phillips ("The Hangover") as director. Shooting is scheduled to begin next spring. [via Huffington Post]