Elvis Presley (Up Close) - Hardcover

Hampton, Wilborn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670061662 ISBN 13: 9780670061662

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers, 2007

Synopsis

?Elvis left no one indifferent to rock and roll??so begins award-winning author Wilborn Hampton?s thoughtful account of the beloved and controversial Elvis Presley. When Elvis shook his hips and sang his soulful songs, teenagers screamed and parents fretted. Fans, record executives, movie producers, and even the army wanted a piece of this enigmatic performer and shy boy from Tupelo, Mississippi. What Elvis gave them changed music forever.

This latest addition to Viking?s ongoing biography series, Up Close, includes gorgeous black-and-white photographs and introduces readers to the complicated life of the king of rock and roll.

About this title

About the Author:

Wilborn Hampton is an editor and writer for the New York Times and the award-winning author of Kennedy Assassinated!, Meltdown, and September 11, 2001. He lives in New York City.

From Booklist:

Elvis may have left the building, but interest in his life hasn't waned. This entry in the Up Close biography series records the familiar tracks in Elvis' life, giving slightly more attention to his assent to fame than the tragic descent into narcotics addiction and his extravagant lifestyle in the final years. The strained relationships with wife Priscilla and the controlling Colonel Parker are included, but daughter Lisa Marie is barely mentioned. Hampton provides plentiful examples to back up first girlfriend Dixie's assertion: "Elvis was just a nice boy who desperately wanted to please people." The language dealing with Elvis' exploits with girls is genteel as well--"The relationship became passionate very quickly, but both Elvis and Dixie agreed they would not go all the way until they were married." This didn't hold true for women he met on the road, but subtlety reigns there too, suiting this biography to a younger audience than most Presley picks. Source notes and bibliography are appended. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0670061662
• ISBN 13: 9780670061662
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192