Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 767
Printing Date: 1999-01
Sale Popularity Level: 1001105
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS, the very first part of Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Presley, received unprecedented accolades. This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis's life in rich and previously unimaginable 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's relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It's a breathtaking drama that places the events of a too often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context.
This is the quintessential American story, encompassing 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 figure of our times.
Amazon.com Review:
Until Peter Guralnick came out with Last Train to Memphis in 1994, most biographies of Elvis Presley--especially those written by people with varying degrees of acess to his 'inner circle'--were filled with starstruck adulation, and those that weren't in awe of their subject invariably went out of their way to take potshots at the rock & roll pioneer (with Albert Goldman's 1981 Elvis reaching now-legendary levels of bile and condescension). Guralnick's exploration of Elvis's childhood and rise to fame was notable for its factual rigorousness and its intimate appreciation of Presley's musical agenda.
Picking up where the very first volume left off, Guralnick sees Elvis through his tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Germany, where he very first met--and was captivated by--a 14-year-old girl named Priscilla Beaulieu. We may think we know the story from this point: the return to America, the near-decade of B-movies, eventual marriage to Priscilla, a brief flash of glory with the '68 comeback, and the surrealism of 'fat Elvis' decked out in bejeweled white jumpsuits, culminating in a bathroom death scene. And while that summary isn't exactly false, Guralnick's account shows how little perspective we've had on Elvis's life until now, how a gross caricature of the final years has come to stand for the life itself. He treats every aspect of Presley's life--including forays into spiritual mysticism and the growing dependency on prescription drugs--with dignity and critical distance. More importantly, Careless Love continues to show that Guralnick 'gets' what Presley was trying to do as an artist: 'I see him in the same way that I think he saw himself from the start,' the introduction states, 'as someone whose ambition it was to encompass every strand of the American musical tradition.' From rock to blues to country to gospel, Guralnick discusses how, at his finest moments, Elvis was able to fulfill that dream. --Ron Hogan
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Rated by buyers 
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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 endeavor 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.
Rated by buyers 
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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.
Rated by buyers -
I very 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.
Rated by buyers -
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.
Rated by buyers -
This second volume, along with the very 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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