Perhaps the title and the marketing of this book does injustice to author Alanna Nash, because it might suggest cheap sensationalism, where in fact the book is dark, chilling and often very disturbing cautionary tale about effects of fame, money and success. Nash wrote the book with the help of the whole army of passionate aficionados, historians, and fellow authors but her chief inspiration was clinical psychologist Peter O. Whitmer, Ph.D. who provided her with knowledge about psychological motivations and how the medical science explains it.
A good decade earlier, Peter Guralnick wrote his masterful two-volume Presley biography ("Last Train to Memphis" and "Careless Love") still considered to be definite and for many critics, last word about the subject. For me, Nash is the other side of the coin, a perfect mirror image of Guralnick's work - where Guralnick focuses exclusively on Presley professional life and occasionally overwhelms the readers with detailed lists of recording dates, concert tours and tiniest details, Nash goes the other way around and meticulously researches every single aspect of Presley's private life, including long-forgotten letters, private photo collections and interviews with people who were there at the very beginning of phenomenon. If you think this book is cluttered with details, you should check out Guralnick - his books are results of borderline obsessive research, with description of every parking lot Presley ever visited.
Surprisingly, Nash is not mean spirited but cautiously clear eyed - her mission is not to tarnish the memory of the King - to set the record straight, she turns to clinical psychologist for explanation how the mind works and examines not only Presley's obsession with his dead twin brother, but his connection with the women as well. As she puts it so eloquently, at the beginning and at the end, Presley had women around him: "Gladys and Ginger, bookending his life. One watched too closely, the other not at all." Between overprotective mother, who baby-talked to her adult son (and refused to admit to herself that he represents sex symbol to the whole world) and the last girlfriend, who couldn't even bother to check on him while he died in the toilet, there was the whole lifetime of various women who, one way or the other, not only influenced his life but played different roles to his different personalities. Some were "ladies" that he treated formally and loved to show off in the public. Some were "chicks" who threw themselves at him and were quickly forgotten (or handed down to his entourage). Than there was his obsession with teenage virgins who appealed to him because they were so innocent and gullible - adult, strong women apparently scared him - the whole world took it as completely normal that 14 years old Priscilla was send to Graceland with her parents blessing (!) to be groomed as his potential future bride. Perhaps only Ann-Margret perfectly matched him as she was star in her own right, passionate, sexy and wild enough to be his female mirror image, but Presley could not make up his mind between needing a spiritual soul mate and wanting the old-fashioned Southern lady to stay at home and raise the family while he runs around. At the end, he had neither - Priscilla grew up and left him, while the never-ending list of temporary girlfriends meant nothing to man who slept with the lights on, feeling empty and lonely.
The list of women infatuated with his looks, fame and charisma is long - there are 34 chapters detailing every single girlfriend so it does get a bit tiresome occasionally and they all tend to blend into one nameless mass - though Nash does not mentioned it explicitly, same could be said for any member of Presley's entourage who followed him around because he paid them and showered them with gifts. Constantly surrounded with parasites, ruled by manager who exploited him, avoiding to step on people who threw themselves at his path, Presley eventually became delusional recluse who needed not a girlfriend but a nurse to make sure he does not choke on all the pills doctors were willingly supplying him with. Towards the end, the book really takes a dark turn and his whole life seems to become a train wreck where the end was not just near but inevitable - everybody was aware that he was on self destructive path and each single girlfriend would eventually leave, scared and disgusted with needy, clingy, self-absorbed ruin he became. Parasites continued to use him even posthumously - one of Presley's cousins accepted $18,000 to secretly photograph the corpse and the picture was published in National Enquirer's biggest-selling issue ever. Ginger, the last girlfriend, sold the rights for her exclusive interview for $ 105 000. Manager continued to exploit Elvis-souvenirs and music rights for years, until court ruled that the rights belong to Presley's family and estate.
Personally, I find the whole concept of the book absolutely fascinating - Nash and her psychologist friend discuss in detail the medical knowledge behind human motivations and how parents/childhood shapes our lives and destinies. Same could be probably said not just for subject of this book but about each and everyone of us, to a certain degree we are all product not only of genes but also of what our parents instilled in us. Presley happened to have been fascinating subject but there is no doubt that under magnifying glass we could all be subject of psychological analysis and very fat book indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment