Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley | Peter Guralnick

Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley | Peter Guralnick | Stirring...

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Careless Love: The...

	Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley Peter Guralnick Back Bay Books, 2000 - 768 pages average customer review:based on 87 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A poingant, depressing, and insightful look at Elvis...

First and foremost, this is a depressing book. There is a warning in the author's note that the book is about a tragedy, and this is an understatement. Elvis Presely's "fall" was a hard and bitter one. This book outlines events starting in 1960 up to Presely's death in 1977. Things start out looking pretty good for Elvis as he leaves the army and begins his career almost anew, but as the 1970s emerge, things start to cloud over, and the book follows the downward spiraling vortex that Presley and his somewhat bizarre and almost constantly fluctuating entourage followed up to the end. Along the way, Guralnick allows readers to draw their own conclusions about Presley. Mostly the book outlines details of certain events - sometimes so detailed one wonders if Guralnick was there himself - interspersed with commentary from people who lived through these same events. It is not an uplifting read. One gets the impression that Presley's fame isolated him from pretty much the human race, made him untouchable (reprisals were feared by anyone is his immediate "gang", and it didn't help matters that most of them were on his payroll) and ultimately put him beyond the help of his own family and the people who he thought were his friends. Presely's fame turns horrendously destructive in the 1970s, and some of the stories and anecdotes may make the sensitive reader wince. Some of the stories are just downright strange: Presley's religious enlightenment from seeing an image in the clouds of the face of Stalin turn into the face of Jesus; Presley's determination to secure himself a position of Narcotics officer from President Nixon; the pranks Preseley and his retinue play on each other, on audiences, and on themselves; the fact that, as record sales declined, Presely's revenue actually increased. Other anecdotes have a more disturbing undertow: Presley's manipulation and abject objectification of the women in his life, and the fact that many of them kept coming back even after being brusquely brushed off; Presley's fascination with guns, and his sometime not so comforting habit of pointing them at people when angry; Presely's wild, erratic, and irresponsible spending; Presley's inability to take advice from his wife, girlfriends, business manager, and even his own father on dire personal matters (e.g., his finances, his marriage, his health). It is a tragedy to read about someone who both cared about people but also put himself above others in a way that put him beyond their help or aid.

The figure of "the Colonel" lurks behind the entire story. He has Presley's business needs in mind, and, due to his business acumen, makes Presley (and himself) multi-millionaires beyond imagination. It's amazing to read how the Colonel is able to make more and more money from Movie studios, even as movies starring Presley are on a sharp decline in revenue and popularity. The whole story is mind boggling. In the end, the Colonel thought he was taking care of Elvis in the best way he knew how, but insatiable greed and insular attention to the bottom line and almost nothing else probably hurt Presley more than it helped him in the long run. Guralnick does not say this anywhere in the book. Again, the reader must draw moral conclusions based on the evidence. Guralnick does not moralize apart from calling the story a tragedy, and this makes this biography doubly interesting, as different readers will likely draw different conclusions based on their own interpretations of the delineated events. Who is to blame in the end? Is it fair to blame one or a few people? Is it fair to blame Presley? These questions are not answered (as they shouldn't be) but much food for thought is presented. As usual in life, the answer is far more complicated than mere finger pointing can accommodate. Guralnick handles this subject with eloquence and a distance that pull the reader in and allow for reflection upon what happened. This is not the usual shoddy rock biography that typically clutters the "Music" section of bookstores. This is a story to sink one's cognitive teeth into and reflect upon. Warning: this book will make you think; it will make you moralize; it will make you angry and frustrated at what happened, and it will make you ask "Why?" Regardless if you are an Elvis Presley fan or not (I'm really not; I was very young when Presley passed on) this is a book worth reading. It is a thick book, but a quick read (keep your dictionary handy nonetheless). Once you're in fifty pages or so, you'll probably find yourself stuck on it.

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Stirring...

I picked up the book Careless Love. At the time the title puzzled me. Who was guilty of Careless Love? Elvis? Umm. Go figure. But upon completion of the book, I now realize no other title would have suited. Elvis was guilty of careless love as was the people whom he surrounded himself with daily and most importantly the fans.
Now, I find no joy in his music and it is painful for me to look at smiling happy picture's of him when he was at the height of his career. Why? Because I know how it all ends. The man, who would burst on the scene and shred American culture, all the while rebuilding it, fascinates me. He was a pioneer, a rebel. Everyone knows the story. Poor boy makes good. But the trajectory his life took is painful to follow. How could a man whose vision changed the music world not have had enough foresight to see his own destructive and erratic behavior?
Paul Guralnick writes the only account of Elvis that I trust implicitly. Why? Because his regard for Elvis as an artist is woven between even the most heart wrenching accounts of his life. Mr. Guralnick does not try to persuade you to like or dislike Elvis. He merely gives Elvis life and places him in front of you saying, "Here he is...you make the decision on how you feel about him."
The book is a disturbing but respectful look at a man who was gifted beyond reason. Mr. Guralnick clearly demonstrates that the fame Elvis endured was even beyond him.

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An American tragedy

This book brought a lot of unexpected emotions up in me, mostly painful emotions. I felt a real sense of frustration throughout this book. Its amazing to read from a distance how Elvis' character flaws caused him to surround himself with weak, servile people who refused to see or help avoid the inevitable approaching train wreck. I found myself thinking of ways to help Elvis out in my head. Frustrating.
Why didn't they pull the plug and move on after say the Aloha Satellite concert, they'd made billions at this point and Elvis was obviously fading and weak at this time? Where were you Colonel?
Did Elvis start to believe the 'Godhood' title eggreigously put on him by the public?
How was it rationlized in Elvis' mind that the release that prescription drugs gave him was acceptable?
More questions than answers, painful questions.

I see this book as a cautionary tale about the immense pressure of stardom, which Elvis met headon and conquered, accepting his situation fully, lifting the spirit of America in the process on his back. Life is truly new every day, and despite all his huge victories, at the end Elvis was broken and beaten, if not in spirit in body and mind.
Thats a bitter truth to swallow, best we can do now is honor him in our minds and our hearts.

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Brilliantly written, scholarly treatise

Few people have ever impacted American culture as did Elvis Presley; his contribution to rock music is immeasurable. Guralnick takes a scholarly approach and writes a carefully researched, detailed biography of The King. The first book deals with his meteoric rise from humble beginnings; the second deals with superstar Elvis and his sad decline. No doubt readers will wonder how they could have saved Elvis if only they'd known him; unfortunately, the only person who could have saved Elvis was himself. Forces and fate no doubt played a role which drove Elvis to use drugs as an escape from the stresses and abnormality of his life.
Both books by Guralnick stand alone as well-written biographies of the King. However, I recommend reading them both to get the full impact. It is refreshing to have available a serious, respectful book on Elvis Presley that's void of the usual sensationalistic, simplistic trash found in other, hastily-churned-out Presley biographies.

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You want to know who Elvis really was? Read this book!

A wonderful achievement. Thoroughly researched, beautifully written. You'll learn everything about the King you always wanted to know - plus some facts of which you had rather remained ignorant. Careless Love is on par with the first volume of Guralnik's Elvis-biography, "Last Train to Memphis" (see also my review of that outstanding work).

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

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