Rating: 
Summary: How Could They?
Review: Author Steve Dunleavy worked (and maybe still does) for News Limited boss Rupert Murdoch. The name of the game for Rupert has always been "sensationalism", afterall, it does sell newspapers and in this case books on the life of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. To cross-check some of the book's content, remembering Red and Sonny had been sacked by Vernon, read Elvis' original guitarist's autobiography 'That's Alright Elvis' by none other than the great Scotty Moore. For all of Elvis' great amassed wealth from such humble beginnings, it should be remembered that Moore received a measely $38,000 after 14 years with the King, and original bassist Bill Black didn't fair any better. There's no denying Presley was a gifted singer and performer, but somewhere along the line he got lost real bad. Pity, it would have been interesting to see/hear him still around today.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Written, Insightful ...
Review: Contrary to other reviews you've read, this book was extremely well written. No, it's not a chronology of events; however, if one is looking for insight into who Elvis was as a person, I've yet to come across anything as complete as this.
For the pollianna Elvis fan, some of the information may be hard to swallow, but the fact that it was written by those who were closest to him consistantly over a 20 year period provides all the credibility a reader should require.
The book is certainly not a condemnation of Elvis; rather, it is a complete -- seemingly truthful -- sketch of a total man: his talents as well as his faults, his accomplishments and his misfortunes.
The reader who is interested in more than just an iconoclastic version of "The King" will appreciate the candid glimpse of the emperor both in and out of his clothes.
Rating:
Summary: elvis what happened
Review: HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ORDER THIS BOOK TO BE ABLE TO REVIEW IT BUT FOR SOME REASON THERE IS NO "ADD TO SHOPPING CART" BUTTON ON MY SCREEN. WHAT AM I MISSING. ANGELA
Rating: 
Summary: The King Indeed
Review: I found this book totally captivating!!
I read it in two days, loved every word...
I was only eight when he died, but I recently visited Graceland
and became fascinated by his life.. and death.
Thumbs up for the guys who wrote it... they definately had some
interesting insight to the king's life!!
Rating:
Summary: elvis , good and bad
Review: i think the book is a great book, it tells the soft side of elvis , and the hard side, it tells the side that people wanna know , but dont really wanna hear, it is really straight and u can tell how honest it is , i think it is a great book, and most if it is not really bad , about 90 percent is all good....
Rating: 
Summary: An Embellishment of Truths
Review: I'm not disputing much of the stories that were told to Steve Dunleavy, (a gossip reporter at the NY Post at the time this book was written),he took much of what was told by "the bodyguards" and put a negative spin on them sensationalizing them, making Elvis seem like an obsessed crazed man! After all, gossip was Dunleavy's forte. I'm not saying that the book is inaccurate, but I am saying that this book does not represent the real "Elvis Presely". And the 3 bodyguards were not happy in the way the book was written. This book is an embellishment on the truth, distorting so to sell that many more books. The structure of the book is so fragmented and confusing...one minute you're in 1958 the next your in 1972! It's apparent that Dunleavy was used to writing columns for the Post. Bottomline is that Elvis was no different from anyone else and had problems as we all do. He hurt no one but himself and for all thats ever been said about this man, the good far outweighs the bad.
Rating:
Summary: An Embellishment of Truths
Review: I'm not disputing much of the stories that were told to Steve Dunleavy, (a gossip reporter at the NY Post at the time this book was written),he took much of what was told by "the bodyguards" and put a negative spin on them sensationalizing them, making Elvis seem like an obsessed crazed man! After all, gossip was Dunleavy's forte. I'm not saying that the book is inaccurate, but I am saying that this book does not represent the real "Elvis Presely". And the 3 bodyguards were not happy in the way the book was written. This book is an embellishment on the truth, distorting so to sell that many more books. The structure of the book is so fragmented and confusing...one minute you're in 1958 the next your in 1972! It's apparent that Dunleavy was used to writing columns for the Post. Bottomline is that Elvis was no different from anyone else and had problems as we all do. He hurt no one but himself and for all thats ever been said about this man, the good far outweighs the bad.
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as I thought
Review: Perhaps time heals all but this is not as bad as I thought. Throughout his career, there was no real negative publicity about Elvis so at the time this was published it would have been a real shock but looking at it now it's a case of so what! These guys actually come across as loving Elvis and really at the end of their rope with his behaviour. Perhaps they thought it was the only way they could get him to listen. Red and Sonny really did respect the guy and were pilloried for writing this, but did they feel this was the final straw? Worth a look if only to look back and see how tame it all was.
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as I thought
Review: Perhaps time heals all but this is not as bad as I thought. Throughout his career, there was no real negative publicity about Elvis so at the time this was published it would have been a real shock but looking at it now it's a case of so what! These guys actually come across as loving Elvis and really at the end of their rope with his behaviour. Perhaps they thought it was the only way they could get him to listen. Red and Sonny really did respect the guy and were pilloried for writing this, but did they feel this was the final straw? Worth a look if only to look back and see how tame it all was.
Rating:
Summary: The most (in)famous Elvis-book ever written!
Review: This book is one of the first books written when Elvis was still alive. Ironically, Elvis died a few weeks after the publishing of this book. Was the content that shocking? At the time, probably, yes. But we have to consider the fact that before this book was published, most people didn't know that much about the "private Elvis" (you can ask yourself, if we know that much about the "real Elvis" today), therefore most people found this book revealing and shocking back in 1977. Today, this book isn't, of course, shocking any more. Most people already know the stories this book tells us. We all know Elvis had a problem with his medication, we all know that he loved women, that he loved singing and spending almost all his money on cars, clothing, jewelry, houses and charity. Basically, that's the story this book tells us. The only minus is the fact that the book is poorly written with barely any structure. It's more like an interview with the three bodyguards (Red & Sonny West and Dave Hebler) who tell their memories. Ridiculous is the fact, that they admit they had a lot of fun with Elvis, but that Elvis, in their eyes, was going down hill. They say they tried to help him, but he wouldn't listen. This could be true, but they didn't stop working for Elvis, nor did they refuse his gifts. It was because of the fact that Elvis' father fired them, that they went their own way. And here we find the reason for writing this book: bitterness.(At a 1977 pressconference a reporter asked them why they wrote such a sensational book about Elvis, and Sonny West answered: "(...)It was out of bitterness...") That indicates the fact that their memories were more based on emotions than on intellect. Further, the memories told in this book, are written down without any structure. They ran e.g. from 1958 to 1976, back to 1965 to 1972. At one moment they are talking about Elvis' schoolyears and "whoops!" there we are at an Elvisconcert in the 70's. I find it a pitty that the bodyguards didn't got a better writer than Dunleavy was. Their memories could have been written down in a much better, appropriate way.
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