I’m a medium fan of Elvis’s music, but, like so many, I find him endlessly fascinating as a cultural figure. So I thought it was worth my time to read nearly 500 pages on just the first half of his short life.

I agree with those who describe this as the definitive account. Guralnick talked with everyone who would talk to him, scanned through every bit of documentation he could find. Elvis’s first girlfriend, Dixie Locke, supplies especially cogent observations.

A picture of the early Elvis develops from the compilation of details. Guralnick tells the stories but doesn’t pass judgment.

Like any biography, the story is rich where the author was interested and had plentiful source material, skimpy in other areas. This means that there’s more than you might want to know about specific recording sessions, and less than you might expect about Gladys Presley’s passing. Why didn’t Guralnick cite the cause of death listed on the death certificate?

This account shifted my point of view about Elvis in some ways. I always summarized the Presley-Parker relationship as “kind-hearted, emotional artist, uninterested in business, is exploited by crafty manager.” And yet: Elvis wanted to make money and the Colonel made him money. Parker gets credit for exploiting every angle he could and ensuring that the tours and shows went smoothly. And also: Elvis watches impassively as the Colonel first puts the members of his original backup band (Bill and Scotty) on salary then pushes them out altogether. Kind-hearted? Loyal? Not!

This is the book you want to read if you want a fair and unbiased look at the life Elvis Presley. The most comprehensive details of his rise to fame and fortune and the people who rode that train with him. The author treats the King with fairness and respect while also presenting a balanced portrayal of the many sides of Elvis.

I highly recommend this book and the one that follows it, Careless Love, for a real thorough and interesting look at the life and death of Elvis Presley.

4/4.5 really enjoyed it, a bit too detailed at times

The focus of this book is on humanizing Elvis -- stripping away the idolatry and mythos and constructively analyzing how this kid (at the time) reached such prominence. It heavily relies on quotes and anecdotal stories as a result, the reliability of which are debatable. As a narrative, though, it succeeds in its goal. The frenzy of Elvis's life during these years (the book covers everything up through the summer of 1958) is captured aptly.

fantastic

I like Elvis - who doesn't? But I'm not some kind of super-fan. Despite that, I really enjoyed this extremely detailed biography enough that I have plans to read the second one about the second half of his life. Sometimes it felt a little overly detailed, but the parts that started to lose my interest were the details of contract negotiations and the like. Meanwhile, I loved the details about things like his social interactions and the foods he ate. Seems like a can't-please-them-all kind of situation. Given that, I appreciate that the author left so much in the book so people of all types can hang on to the details they care about.

I took me a while to finish this book because i am not use to reading biography. But this one is amazing. It’s so detailed and loaded with informatie about Elvis and the people around him. The book ends when Elvis goes to Germany to be a GI although i was hoping his whole story was in 1 book. I kind of looking up to starting the second part of this biography because i know it will get worse with Elvis….

Pretty informative look at Elvis's rise to fame. Feels like it gives you a good idea at what kind of a person he was. The third party biographies never quite live up to the autobiographies, but this is the best we can do with Elvis. I'll probably check out the second edition at some point, but I need a break after this.