Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

One would think that Elvis Presley, who possessed talent and great charisma and wealth and unparalleled fame, would be a person to be envied. However, after reading this book I don't believe anyone could envy him. This is a story of one of the saddest lives imaginable.

Guralnick is not one who knew Elvis, but he has obviously compiled such a wealth of information from those who were with Elvis at various times that it must be believed that this is a very accurate and unbiased picture. The author offers few judgments of his own, instead presenting the what's and who's of events, letting the reader draw his own conclusions.

Any criticism I have of this biography would be that Guralnick erred by presenting too much information. For example, what musicians played on the various concerts and recording sessions and their backgrounds may be of interest to music insiders, but the information adds nothing to the general reader's understanding of Elvis and actually detracts from the narrative.

I was a typical teenage Elvis fan when he first became popular. I never got to see him in person, but I had an Elvis scrapbook and tacked photos on my wall and had a huge fight with my parents because they made me go to church on the Sunday night that he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Along with thousands of others, I was crushed when he was drafted into the army. But after he returned, I no longer perceived him in the same way. I often wondered if that was because I had changed, he had changed, or just that the times changed. He seemed to me to become a caricature of himself. Of course, before his death he became just pitiful and I was embarrassed for him.

These are some of the conclusions I reached after reading this biography:

**Elvis was a seriously flawed human being, who I think would be diagnosed nowadays as having ADHD and being neurotic, particularly in his obsession with his mother and his fear of being alone. His involvement in prescription drugs exacerbated tendencies which were already present.

**His fabled generosity (I should go back and count the number of luxury cars he gave away.) was not so much from goodness of heart as it was an effort to buy love and loyalty.

**His manager, the legendary Colonel Tom Parker, contributed greatly to his decline by considering only the money-making potential of projects, ignoring any questions of artistic integrity. This was particularly true of the movies Elvis made. Between Parker's own gambling debts and Elvis's extravagant spending habits, the ailing and drug-addicted star was almost literally worked to death because of their need for more and more money.

**As was true in the case of Michael Jackson, Elvis was enabled in his drug addiction by various doctors who continued to prescribe for him. Both super stars, of course, died as a result.

I would recommend this book to anyone who was ever a fan of The King.