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Being Elvis: A Lonely Life
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Being Elvis: A Lonely Life Hardback - 2017

by Ray Connolly

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Reader reviews for Being Elvis: A Lonely Life

From the publisher

Elvis Presley is a giant figure in American popular culture, a man whose talent and fame were matched only by his later excesses and tragic end. A godlike entity in the history of rock and roll, this twentieth-century icon with a dazzling voice blended gospel and traditionally black rhythm and blues with country to create a completely new kind of music and new way of expressing male sexuality, which simply blew the doors off a staid and repressed 1950s America.

In Being Elvis veteran rock journalist Ray Connolly takes a fresh look at the career of the world's most loved singer, placing him, forty years after his death, not exhaustively in the garish neon lights of Las Vegas but back in his mid-twentieth-century, distinctly southern world. For new and seasoned fans alike, Connolly, who interviewed Elvis in 1969, re-creates a man who sprang from poverty in Tupelo, Mississippi, to unprecedented overnight fame, eclipsing Frank Sinatra and then inspiring the Beatles along the way.

Juxtaposing the music, the songs, and the incendiary live concerts with a personal life that would later careen wildly out of control, Connolly demonstrates that Elvis's amphetamine use began as early as his touring days of hysteria in the late 1950s, and that the financial needs that drove him in the beginning would return to plague him at the very end. With a narrative informed by interviews over many years with John Lennon, Bob Dylan, B. B. King, Sam Phillips, and Roy Orbison, among many others, Connolly creates one of the most nuanced and mature portraits of this cultural phenomenon to date.

What distinguishes Being Elvis beyond the narrative itself is Connolly's more subtle examinations of white poverty, class aspirations, and the prison that is extreme fame. As we reach the end of this poignant account, Elvis's death at forty-two takes on the hue of a profoundly American tragedy. The creator of an American sound that resonates today, Elvis remains frozen in time, an enduring American icon who could "seamlessly soar into a falsetto of pleading and yearning" and capture an inner emotion, perhaps of eternal yearning, to which all of us can still relate.

Intimate and unsparing, Being Elvis explores the extravagance and irrationality inherent in the Elvis mythology, ultimately offering a thoughtful celebration of an immortal life.

Details

  • Title Being Elvis: A Lonely Life
  • Author Ray Connolly
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition 1st
  • Pages 384
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Liveright Publishing Corporation
  • Publication date 2017-03
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • ISBN 9781631492808 / 1631492802
  • Weight 1.6 lbs (0.73 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 in (23.62 x 16.26 x 3.56 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
  • Category Biography / Autobiography
  • Library of Congress subjects Rock musicians - United States, Presley, Elvis
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2016054735
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 11/01/2016, Page 15
  • Kirkus Reviews, 10/01/2016, Page 0
  • Library Journal, 11/01/2016, Page 81
  • Library Journal Prepub Alert, 07/01/2016, Page 55
  • Publishers Weekly, 10/24/2016, Page 0

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Being Elvis: A Lonely Life
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Being Elvis: A Lonely Life

by Liveright Publishing Corporation

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  • Hardback
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Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
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Being Elvis
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Being Elvis

by Connolly, Ray

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
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Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Being Elvis
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Being Elvis

by Connolly, Ray

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
Quantity available
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Free Delivery to USA

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Description:
Used - Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Being Elvis
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Being Elvis

by Connolly, Ray

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
Quantity available
1
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Item price
A$11.16
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Used - Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Being Elvis
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Being Elvis

by Connolly, Ray

  • Used
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Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
Quantity available
1
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Item price
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Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Being Elvis
Stock photo: cover may vary

Being Elvis

by Connolly, Ray

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
Quantity available
2
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Item price
A$11.16
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Used - Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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A$11.16
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Being Elvis

Being Elvis

by Ray Connolly

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  • Hardback
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Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
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Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017. Hardcover. Very Good. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Being Elvis: A Lonely Life

Being Elvis: A Lonely Life

by Connolly, Ray

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  • Hardback
Condition
Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
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Description:
Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017. Hardcover. Good. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Being Elvis

Being Elvis

by Ray Connolly

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  • Hardback
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Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
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Description:
Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017. Hardcover. Acceptable. Disclaimer:A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Being Elvis

Being Elvis

by Ray Connolly

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Hardback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781631492808 / 1631492802
Quantity available
2
Seller
Item price
A$11.35
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017. Hardcover. Very Good. Disclaimer:May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Item price
A$11.35
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