3 Elvis book reviews by Monk

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[monk37]

It was a very Elvis xmas for me this year - I got many Elvis books and an excellent original painting by a local artist of Elvis.

Here's the Books I've read so far:


Genuine Elvis by Ronnie Macdowell.

Much smaller than expected, both in page count and overall size. there's familiar photos and paintings by Ronnie alternated with rather fluff anecdotes - including by people who didn't meet Elvis.

Overall: extremely disappointing


Elvis, Linda and Me by Jeane Lynn Lemay

Again, thinner than expected, but the never before seen photos were well worth it - I got the paper cover collector's edition, so the photos were in colour.

The tale is very charming and unique since she was Linda's friend and for a short while a secretary - she replaced Becky Yancy who also has a book.

Jeanne keeps the story light and it surprised me that she was such a sidekick to Linda - after all, Jeanne was Miss Rhode Island and didn't seem to attempt to turn that into anything, despite being in LA with Linda while she was doing auditions - and I was surprised to learn how Linda really took Elvis' credit cards for granted.

Rating: Entertaining perspective, no deep insight or revelations

Elvis Straight Up vol 1

When I first was reading about Joe Esposito doing this book, I thought it was a hardcover full book - instead, it's a thin paper back volumn to be serialized. Rather than a chronological tale, each short chapter is about a particular topic.
Most of the book seemed to be excusing people like Dr Nick or Parker or himself - while Joe promises to tell the truth, he fails to do so over the Racketball court lawsuit - he makes it sound like the lawsuit just happened, rather than himself being part of it.

Rating: unlikely to get any further volumns

[monk37]

Inside Graceland - Nancy Rook - Elvis' maid remembers

Another slim volume of anecdotes arranged in related chapters that lack any context to put them into a coherent narrative.

I didn't realize how many people worked at Graceland, not necessarily over years, but how many staff were needed at any time - the maids, the grounds keepers, animal handlers, security, electrician, maintenance and a host of others.

little facts I didn't know

- there was a chimp before Scatter
- there was only ever one cat at Graceland - Lisa's kitten
- Aunt Delta used to drop in on the fan tours and scream drunkenly at people to get out of her house.

[monk37]

Elvis for Dummies

I wanted this one sort of as a joke, but halfway through, it's one of the best Elvis books.

it doesn't focus on detail - but it put Elvis in a cultural/historical context and does an analysis of his career from that perspective.

I call this a must have

[JohnE1Gun]

Thank you for your book reviews. With so many new books it's helpful to hear from other fans before buying.

[monk37]

I just finished Sergent Presley by Rex and Elizabeth Mansfeild

She was Elvis' early German girlfirend and secretary, Rex was the amry buddy whole stole her heart from Elvis.


I also recommend that one -


I'm thinking of doing more detailed reviews on my blog.

I got, 10 or so Elvis books fro xmas/birthday this year. Plus 200+ ones I've collected over the years