This is probably one of the most detailed and well-researched biographies I’ve ever read, and that is honestly probably why it ended up being a three star read for me. Elvis’ ascent to fame involved a lot of the same thing happening over and over again on an exponential scale, and the middle third of this book in particular dragged as a result. Still very interesting as a description of the time as well as of Elvis’ life himself, although he is a curiously absent figure for much of the narrative - the many, many interviews with characters from his life make them feel alive in a way he himself does not: