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A review by juushika
Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll by Priscilla Presley
3.0
Per the title, this is constrained to Priscilla Presley in the context of Elvis. There's one pre-Elvis anecdote, and the post-Elvis content is almost entirely in relation to Elvis. The level of detail varies wildly: early stages of the relationship are presented in minute detail; later years are more amalgamated, an impressionist overview; Elvis's death and beyond are lightly sketched, and entirely omit her stewardship of the estate after Elvis's death.
And that's ... fine. The lens through which Priscilla Presley interprets her relationship - the age gap, the grooming, the fame and drug use and infidelity and drama and decline, the love - is her own lens, somehow both open-eyed and idealizing, sorrowful and forgiving, and the efforts to remediate a salacious public record make for an innate, obvious bias. It's simultaneously manicured and authentic. I respect that choice, as it goes; it also feels like only one fraction of the story, and if I cared more I'd seek out other biographies for more complete portrait.
The audiobook is read by an author, and her giggles sprinkled throughout are as campy as Graceland and Elvis's public image, so ill-timed when paired against clear evidence of bad behavior that it's almost commentary, highlighting the incredibly intentional lens the author is turning on her subject.
And that's ... fine. The lens through which Priscilla Presley interprets her relationship - the age gap, the grooming, the fame and drug use and infidelity and drama and decline, the love - is her own lens, somehow both open-eyed and idealizing, sorrowful and forgiving, and the efforts to remediate a salacious public record make for an innate, obvious bias. It's simultaneously manicured and authentic. I respect that choice, as it goes; it also feels like only one fraction of the story, and if I cared more I'd seek out other biographies for more complete portrait.
The audiobook is read by an author, and her giggles sprinkled throughout are as campy as Graceland and Elvis's public image, so ill-timed when paired against clear evidence of bad behavior that it's almost commentary, highlighting the incredibly intentional lens the author is turning on her subject.