𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠: 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔

★★★★.5

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩.”

This is one of the most introspective, deep, honest, in depth, and awe inspiring biographies I have ever read. There’s a reason it is so talked about and has won many awards, and said to be one of the only Elvis Presley books to read, along with its sequel. It was like I was simply experiencing it with Elvis and everyone else as he went through his career for the first time.

“𝙒𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙟𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙉𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙀𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙨."

After watching the Elvis movie 6 times, and falling into a sporadic Elvis Presley frenzy, I had been researching some books to continue my journey of his story and life, and found this one, along with a couple others. Now, this book is dense. A lot of information, small font, and a thick book to dive right into, but it is so worth it. For the first half of Elvis’s journey, you get to experience the new and somewhat alarming energy of this young boy, how his singing and moving shook people, and how the world was forever changed.

“𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜.. 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩, 𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮.”

This book really described the pure animalistic acts and outbursts of the fans at the beginning of his career. There was nothing like him before, and it was entirely new territory. The screaming, the tearing of clothes, and anguish and want and need from these girls was so unbelievably known and unheard of that it was so crazy to read. These people were no longer human, the way they acted because of this boy, just because he was singing and moving like no one had seen.

“𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙗𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 - 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.”

As I was reading, I found myself comparing these events to the movie, and so much is left out, because there was just too much material. The movie was amazing, but this story gives you such a deep and open look into what his life was like, that it was so fresh, like I was experiencing it for the first time. So much happened to this 19-21 year old in such a small amount of time, and it never went to his head. It was so amazing seeing how his hospitality and humbleness never wavered. He would do anything to make people happy because he loved it.

“𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 - 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙩.”

Elvis and music are one and the same. He has combined himself, fused his soul and music together so deeply, that without one, there is no other. He just feels it so differently from other people, where others are detached and can turn it off like a switch, but Elvis is so different. It’s in his bones, the notes, chords and lyrics, it is as much of a part of him as his heart.

“𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣. 𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣.”

I found myself wanting to protect him, this boy constantly. When you know how the story ends, you still find yourself constantly dreading it, and hoping something, even slightly, will change, just so everything runs smoothly and happily. Elvis has such a tragic story and ending, and all you want to do is protect this innocent, dreaming boy from Tupelo.

“𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖.”

He just wanted to please people, and to love and have company and be surrounded by others. Growing up, he didn’t have many friends, and so he just wanted to fill that void in his life. Even going as big as paying others to be on his team, just to hang out with him. He was lonely and had so much love in his heart to give out, but not many to give it to.

“𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙪𝙣, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙀𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 - 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙤𝙢, 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

The mass hysteria for this boy, this new phenomenon, that no one had ever heard or seen before, swiftly growing into one of the most amazing singers of all time.

“𝙃𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚: "𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙨. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.”

The stage presence that Elvis had, how he knew how to work a crowd, to move and change up if they liked something or didn’t. He could read it so easily, and tune his performance for them. Because it was for them. Anything he did, he loved doing it for them.

"𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙙, 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩."

I learned so much from this novel, how he was solely a singer, he never wrote his own songs, but he still sung them with care and wanted to get each one the best he could, and it was simply how he felt it. It could be one take or thirty, when he knew it was good, that was that, nothing was done until Elvis said so.

“𝙀𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡 - 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙀𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙮?”

Elvis truly was a wonder to the world. His pure compassion and down to earth soul was so fresh and new. No matter who he met, he was always polite and endearing and so so kind to anyone. He would take his own time to make others happy, that’s who he was. Whether it was signing autographs for hours in front of his house, or listening to someone talk or try out new music, he always had this presence, this persona that was so deeply respectful.

”..𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡'𝙨 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣..”

The Colonel is someone I despise with my whole being. He took advantage of this sweet, amazing boy, and used him for money, and greed and conning and full on selfishness. Never letting anyone get close and connect with Elvis because he had found himself a puppet, an unknowing, naive puppet to trick and do his bidding. It ended up leading Elvis to his death. Many other factors played into this, but I’m always wondering “what if” Elvis had got out at some point, would anything have changed, would he be alive?

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬, 𝙄'𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚."

This book embodies Elvis as a person, an entertainer, a friend, a lover, a singer, and so much more. There was never anything like Elvis and there might never be anything like him again. His career was so short, but he did so much in such little time.

“𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧."

Elvis really loved his mother. Their connection was like no other, and no one could’ve broken it. He was fully indebted to her, they were truly joined in anything they did. He loved and did so much for his parents, no matter what was going on. His grief stayed with him for his whole life, because this was his woman, his mother, his world.

"..𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 - 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚. 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙩.”

my ONLY wish is that i had a better head for remembering all of the names the author throws at you as people involved even on the periphery of elvis' life.  otherwise, flawless.  exceptionally well-researched, balanced, compassionate, critical -- everything a good biography needs to be, and everything elvis' complicated life needs in order to be properly illuminated.