Excellent biography (Part 1 of 2) of Elvis Presley, meticulously researched by the author. In his intro, Guralnick states that he hoped to rescue Elvis from the bondage of myth, and he most definitely does. Elvis emerges as a real human being with complexity and paradoxes. I also got a sense of what was happening culturally at the time that propelled Elvis to stardom, and learned a lot about popular music along the way. I would definitely recommend this biography, and I'm very interested in reading the second part.