Elvis by the Presleys
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Book Summary Information
Editor: David RitzEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-03
ISBN: 0307237419
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Book Reviews of Elvis by the Presleys
Book Review: "Memories... Pressed Between These Pages......"
Summary: 5 Stars
The land of "Elvis Presley Enterprises" (EPE) is usually quite protective of its King. The unspoken rule,( rumor has it ) is "'75 and holding". This catch- phrase refers not only to the "cut-off" year for the PICTURES of Elvis on display at Graceland Mansion; it also refers to the number of pounds, "over 100", that Elvis' image is allowed to be, in any EPE authorized product. So, you won't see any shots, candid or otherwise, of him, during the the last two years of Elvis' life ('76 -- '77)in this Lisa Marie & Priscilla Presley co-- authored/authorized book, either. However, when it comes to being candid,and forthright in the TEXT, composed entirely of interviews, to my delight, the girls the King loved the best-- well, they let it ALL hang out!
For the first time, Lisa Marie Presley shares her memories of Elvis, as "father", in vivid, joyous detail. The way her Daddy descended the staircase in the late afternoons, after he arose and was dressed by his valets, bedecked in Royal Blue velvet shirts, Jet Black shades and Frankly Scarlet Red Love beads, ready to hold Court in either the Living or Jungle room:"You knew he was coming... you'd HEAR him before you saw him!" Lisa Marie recounts the "shooting out" of the T.V. screen ( it offended E.P. because it dared to showcase Robert Goulet crooning "If Ever I Would Leave You..." ); which she found, and STILL finds, "REALLY, Hysterically FUNNY!". She tells tales ranging from the day "Daddy" let her ride her horse INTO the Mansion, (much to Grandma "Dodger's" dismay, since she had to clean up after it) to, sadly, their last day together, August 15, and the last thing he ever SAID to her, in the wee hours of the morning of August 16 (It was, BTW, "Go to bed", because he caught her still awake at almost 3:00am). Elvis' precious "Yeesa" answers every question and subject put to her, no surpise here, even breaking down in tears at one point, while ordering the camera- man to "Stop"-- in her own brutally honest fashion.
The big surprise here is PRISCILLA --- does SHE shed tears? Alas, no; to this day, NO interviewer has ever been able to record Prscilla Presley losing her composure. BUT, Priscilla opens up WAY more than she ever has, and I've seen alot of her interviews. She's always been known as "reserved" or "guarded" in the journalistic circuit- but not here! Maybe because her sister, daughter, and parents were there with her, and giving true, sometimes emotional takes on their memories of Elvis Presley, she decided to let it flow, too-- I don't know; she even includes photo-copies of personal notes (from Graceland's archives)that she wrote to Elvis from Germany, once he was discharged from the Army, and back home in our Country (Elvis had saved them, all those years- awww)- and if you want to know what REALLY happened when Elvis asked her for a "trial separation", you'll find it here. I always thought that, in her auto-biography of life with the King of Rock, she took his request to, basically, "get lost" a little too calmly, in light of the fact that she was seven months pregnant with Lisa; She reveals here, first time ever, the tantrum she threw ("I went storming out of the room.......!"). I was surprised (and quite touched), at her parting comment: "I'll DIE", she reacts firmly, to the question of why she has always so strongly counter-attacked the cruel jokes, and the slanderous rag sheet stories besmirching Elvis' character, "defending my husband."
As to the pictures: they are are brilliant, and in the sharpest focus I've ever seen- I was tempted to cut some out, and frame them- but, logic prevailed. Some included are Elvis' real GOLD PLATED telephone, his personal wallet (along with its contents), and hand-written notes, in Elvis Presley's handwriting. The notes include things like "Memphis Mafia" football plays and diagrams, and photo copies of whole pages of his "spiritual" books, with his personal notes in the margins, and underscoring of his favorite passages.
The ending is sad, pretty much like the real story is. Elvis' last known hand-written note was not to any Memphis Mafia , flesh and blood "man"; they had almost all scattered by this time, anyway, having either been driven off, fired, written negative tell- all books,or just plain back-stabbed him in countless other ways. The letter was addressed to the only man who was with Elvis for the entire ride, the "Man upstairs": "Everybody is gone now..." he wrote, from his penthouse suite at the Hilton- in a note pilfered from his washroom trashcan by a maid and subsequently sold at auction. "I will try to sleep... I don't know WHO I can turn to anymore.. Be still, and know that I AM GOD.. Help me, oh Lord, to know the right thing..."
It was comforting (at least for me) to know that, fundamentally, Elvis never really changed. He started out as a twenty-one year old humble, lonely, God-fearing man who was trying his best to "do right"- and, he went out, twenty-one years later, the same way. This book is so intimate, it TRULY makes you feel close to Elvis- so close,in fact, you want to reach him, touch him, HELP him -- but, oh, Elvis.... we didn't know. We COULDN'T know, because as much as he loved us, his TRUE fans, he never let us see how badly he was hurting. He tried to be flesh- colored steel, for us.
Turning the last page, which is a close-up picture of a lone, age-- dried, red rose, taken from the bouquet that adorned the lid of Elvis Presley's coffin, I found myself saying, "Your fans loved you, Elvis- WHY didn't you turn to us? We would have been there; we would have understood... because you always did the "right thing" by us; that's why we're STILL here...
"Dear Elvis, Thank YOU very much. For the "Good Times".
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