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Tarfumes.com - Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley
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List Price: $17.99
Our Price: $12.23
Your Save: $ 5.76 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.42166092
EAN: 9780316332972
ISBN: 0316332976
Label: Back Bay Books
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 768
Publication Date: 2000-02-10
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Studio: Back Bay Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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"Here at last is the full, true, and mesmerizing story of Elvis Presley's last two decades, in the long-awaited second volume of Peter Guralnick's masterful two-part biography. Last Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Presley, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "a triumph of biographical art." This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis' life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnick's status as one of the great biographers of our time. Beginning with Presley's army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unraveling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis' relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It's a breathtaking, revelatory drama that for the first time places the events of a too-often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context. Elvis' changes during these years form a tragic mystery that Careless Love unlocks for the first time. This is the quint essential American story, encompassing elements of race, class, wealth, sex, music, religion, and personal transformation. Written with grace, sensitivity, and passion, Careless Love is a unique contribution to our understanding of American popular culture and the nature of success, giving us true insight at last into one of the most misunderstood public figures of our times. "
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Best Elvis Biography I Have Read
Comment: I've read and reread a lot of Elvis Presley biographies over the past 20 years and it's amazing to me that one life can still manage to reveal details and tell stories that I've never heard before. The last one I read was Sonny West's wonderfully personal memoir of being in the Memphis Mafia (well worth reading).
But I have to say that Peter Guralnick's biography of Elvis is the best.
I would steer anyone who hasn't read much there first...and I'd tell anyone who was a die-hard Elvis fan who's read everything else to be sure to check out Guralnick.
I can accept my heroes and stars with warts and all. Some biographies come across as the edited bland glory of press agents, but I like to get close to the real person and the real situations. ELVIS: WHAT HAPPENED?, written by fired Memphis Mafia members while Elvis was struggling through his final months, was sad and tragic but had an authenticity that couldn't be dismissed. Albert Goldman's much-reviled ELVIS in 1981 was shocking and eventually discredited but, to be honest, that book was compulsively readable and well-written. Sonny West's latest book does a great job of articulating ELVIS: WHAT HAPPENED? and clearing up ELVIS.
So why bring up the most critical books of Elvis?
To underscore what I liked so much about Peter Guralnick's work. His writing doesn't gloss over the more unsavory details of Elvis' life but it doesn't wallow them in either. Guralnick never intrudes on the story, never injects his own criticisms or displays any agenda. This is probably the most honest attempt to convey the life of perhaps the 20th Century's greatest entertainer for fans and those just-curious-what-the-heck-all-the-fuss-was-about outsider.
You get a sense of who Elvis was, what his incredible life was like, and how that life consumed and destroyed him.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it should be.
Comment: I have reviewed this book and must say that although Peter is a fantastic researcher the work comes up very short and has sunken to the level of Alana Nash. I am at the point where it is almost better to only read from people that were actually around Elvis like Joe Esposito or Jerry Schilling. Read what they write and you cannot go wrong. From Joe Esposito Remember Elvis, Elvis Straight Up and the Celebrate Elvis series with Daniel Lombardy. Jerry Schilling his book Me and a guy. If you want a great Guralnick book aquire Elvis Day by Day pound for pound the best in terms of an Elvis dictionary.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Brittanica for Elvis
Comment: I first read the Guralnick books on Elvis about four years ago (2004) when I was just ready to explore the Elvis World. I'm second-generation (about Lisa Marie's age) but missed all the hoopla, and my parents didn't say much. So when I decided to "research" Elvis for myself, I searched the Amazon.com reviews for guidance.
I have to agree with the heavy, authoritative (but not authoritarian) reviews of other Elvis fans who felt Guralnick's work was "comprehensive and accurate." Once I read the Guralnick books, I felt -- not disillusioned -- but bludgeoned with information. Reading Guralnick's book, the reader almost has no choice but to come out not liking Elvis, not only personally but musically or artistically. It was a bitter pill; I had really liked Elvis before reading Guralnick's work.
Four years later, while I'm still "researching" Elvis, what I have found is most of Guralnick's work is actually a compendium, a "Reader's Digest" if you will (a Brittanica), of nearly all major Elvis publications up to that time. In short, Guralnick's work wasn't so much the decisive definitor of Elvis' composite work, but rather the encyclopedia of combined published information. I hasten to point out that Guralnick was not deceptive in any way, but fans and interested persons may have made the mistake of thinking because Guralnick had the "most" to say about Elvis (in two large books) he may have been the most accurate or comprehensive, and that simply isn't true.
As a fan, and someone who has since come to truly appreciate Elvis in all his humanity, my advice for those who want to know Elvis is to BEGIN with Guralnick, as a map, then read the books Guralnick quoted from (and attributed) and then read the little offbeat books written by people claiming to know Elvis. (Use your discernment to know which may have merit and which are entirely fictitious.) Elvis wouldn't want one author to be the judge of his life.
Guralnick did a great service by collecting and basically annotating the collected written works regarding Elvis up to that point, but I think if you really read between the lines, Guralnick himself does not claim to be an expert, nor does he really draw a conclusion. Guralnick's great service is he opened a door, but he does not claim to define the beginning or end of Elvis Presley. That choice -- like the music -- is up to the individual to decide for him or herself. In short, start with Guralnick, but do not end with him. I think he himself would agree.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Comment: Extremely revealing portrait that makes clear that Elvis became a drug addict even before he went into the Army in 1958. This bio leaves out nothing, including all the dreary and the tawdry as well as the musical genius. While Jerry Lee Lewis lost his career for dallying with his 13-year-old cousin, Elvis got clean away with dating a 14-year-old Priscilla. All the bizarre details are here. Guralnick does it again. A must read for anyone who wants to know the story of Elvis.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Comment: This second volume, along with the first -- Last Train to Memphis -- are riviting. One of the absolute best biographies I have ever read. A journey through the life, from beginning to end, of one of the world's great entertainers and personalities. Highly recommend.
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