Rating: 
Summary: Non-sensational but very interesting
Review: A great book, and I'm not even much of an Elvis fan
Rating: 
Summary: Careless Journalism?
Review: I can't believe Peter's recklees journalism and misguided lack of fact.In particular the reference that Johnny Rivers stole the song Memphis from Elvis.How stupid of Peter.Peter not only didn't your do his homework on this subject,but instead seemed bent on repeating something somemebody says they heard somebody else say.This style of journalism Peter is second rate and distasteful and I thought benneth you.How could you ever look Johhny Rivers in the eye again? Respectfully sumitted, Gilbert Campagna
Rating: 
Summary: Disappoint with Guralnick's lack of the True Facts
Review: Peter Guralnick's followup to Last Train to Memphis is a major disappointment when it comes to some real facts. Guralnick's version of how Johnny Rivers released the song Memphis couldn't be farther from the truth. JR and Elvis jammed on the tune Memphis in 1963. According to the Memphis Mafia (the same people who were responsible for killing Elvis by hiding his drug problem-real loyal friends)JR knew that Elvis intended to release Memphis but JR went ahead and released it anyway. Supposedly after the recording became a hit for JR, Elvis wanted nothing to do with JR. I'm surprised Mr. Guralnick used this version of the story, especially after JR gave Guralnick an extended interview regarding the above falsehood. Elvis loved JR and the feeling was mutual. Elvis had JR as his personnal guest while he performed in Vegas several times. Does this sound like a person who didn't want to be around JR anymore? Elvis also allowed JR to utilize his band for JR's 1971 release Slim Slo Slider. In fact, JR was one of the few artists that Elvis allowed his band to perform with during this period. James Burton, Elvis' guitar player and the man responsible for helping get JR's career going by giving one of JR's songs to Ricky Nelson, has stated on record that Elvis never had negative words about JR. Larry Geller, Elvis' spiritual leader and hairstylist, has also discounted Guralnick's account of the Memphis fiasco. This was simply a rumor that the Memphis Mafia embellished over the years, and Guralnick decided to publish the rumors instead of seeking out the facts. The embarrassment to JR by Guralnick's shabby account of the situation makes one wonder how much more of the book is factual, and how much of it is B.S. I'd give this book a half star if I could. Peter, get your facts straight the next time you try to impress Elvis and JR's legions of fans. You'll be doing all of us a favor. In the meantime, I'd skip on shelling any hard earned cash out for this book.
Rating:
Summary: A great account of our lives and times. The good times!
Review: God bless Peter Guralnick for bringing back a flood of welcome memories. His accurate account of an incredable performer, his friends , family, and occurances.Peters unrelinting search for the facts have made this book great reading. Congratulations Peter.
Rating:
Summary: He's done it again
Review: Peter Guralnick has done Presley the greatest favour of all; he has charted his rise and fall and still left his dignity intact. It is something that so many other Presley books have failed to do. What Guralnick has done is make Presley human. We feel the loneliness, we feel the frustration and the boredom. We read about the pills, the women and his bizarre behaviour. Yet, at the end of it all, our respect for Presley is still as strong as ever.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Brilliant
Review: The two books together comprise one of the best biographies I've ever read, right up there with Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" about Robert Moses. You'll never be able to look at an Elvis movie or listen to an Elvis album again in quite the same way. In fact, PBS broadcast "Elvis: That's the Way It Is" last weekend, and watching it after reading the book made the documentary resonate in a million ways. Congratulations, Mr. Guralnick.
Rating:
Summary: THE definitive biography of Elvis Presley!
Review: Along with the author's "Last Train to Memphis", this is the definitive biography of Elvis Presley. To remember the vision, purpose and incredible drive that the young Elvis burst on the American musical scene with, and to see it be extinquished by personal insecurities, self-imposed exile from his public, and pharmaceuticals has to rank as one of the great cultural tragedies of the twentieth century.
Rating: 
Summary: A very fine account of Elvis' later years.
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. Alot of info in here I never knew. My one sticking point was his accounts of the concerts of the 70's. I have some of the concerts he panned on cd. He describes Elvis' voice as unrecognizable and says the tapes were "doctored". I would love to hear the "real tapes" as I cannot believe any Elvis concert would be like that. He loved his fans too much for that. Other than that little quibble I loved the book. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: The most telling passage of Careless Love comes on page 323 when suddenly for really the first time in the book (he says 'to me' once earlier but quickly moves on) Guralnick switches to the first person for one page of narrative. It catches you off guard at first,but moreover what it really does is personalize the entire book. After that interlude the book comes alive affecting all you've already read as well as what lies ahead. Guralnick's obvious commitment to his work comes across on every page and he is able to combine thorough resaerch with rich story telling. Together with 'Last Train to Memphis' this is all you ever need to read to understand 'the king'.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling but unevenly detailed biography of the King
Review: After reading Last Train to Memphis, I anxiously awaited the publication of the second volume. By and large, Careless Love does not disappoint. The giddy and sudden rise to stardom portrayed in Last Train to Memphis is paralleled by the equally startling and painful fall portrayed in Careless Love. And ss with Last Train, this book is well written and a fascinating read even when the details are familiar. Careless Love, however, is not a perfect or even necessarily the definitive biography of Elvis. There are bothersome elements. Guralnick describes in complete detail at every possible chance the monetary amounts and contractual arrangements negotiated by Colonel Parker for his "boy". By the fifth such contract and lengthy description, you have long since gotten the idea that Parker was running the show and arranging things increasingly for his own benefit. Similarly, Guralnick never fails to enumerate the number of "takes" for almost every song in every recording session even when there is no further discussion of a particular song. Perhaps the author felt this was entirely new information and decided to include it at every chance and in as detailed a fashion as possible. I also suspect his pedigree as a music reviewer led him to focus on the material he was most comfortable with and interested in. In contrast to the detailed information on contracts and recording "takes" are the much less complete accounts of Elvis' relationships with some of the major people in his life including his women and the members of the infamous "Memphis Mafia". The descriptions here are much more perfunctory and abbreviated compared to the lengthy passages devoted to the recording sessions. The effect of this imbalance is that at times, Priscilla seems almost a shadow figure. And Ann-Margret's autobiography, for example, has much more information on their brief, but apparently, intense relationship. The literally larger-than-life Lamar Fike disappears into a few anecdotal accounts of his being a pathetic sycophant, butt of all jokes. To be sure, Guralnick does write about the compulsive parade of women in Elvis' life offering the occasional salacious detail, but again without the same level of scrutiny and insight as when he writes about Elvis' music and the machinations of Colonel Parker. Because of the relatively greater attention to these aspects of Elvis' life and the far smaller attention to Elvis' odd and perpetually adolescent interpersonal world, a definitive, scholarly and sober biography of Elvis' personal life remains to be written. However, this is still a fine effort and a must read for any Elvis fan.
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