Rating: 
Summary: An exhaustively detailed study of Elvis as icon and mortal.
Review: This richly detailed biography of arguably the most important figure that popular music has known will entertain more than the die-hard Elvis fanatic; Guralnick offers a text that will captivate any follower of American music history, be it country, blues, folk, gospel or good old rock and roll. Simply put, you don't need to be an Elvis devotee to enjoy this book. We begin our look at Elvis where Gurlanick left off with his last look at the King, The Last Train To Memphis. The author spares no detail in following the path of young Elvis as he served his time for the Army in Germany, where he would meet his future wife Priscilla, work hard to prove he was just another soldier, and still manage to enjoy the outrageous perks that fame brought his way. From there we follow Elvis back to the states and witness first hand the insecurities that plagued him as he sought to reestablish himself as the rightful ruler of the American music world. Things only get more interesting as we travel along with Elvis through the 60's and ride the rollercoaster of fame that never seemed to stay on an even keel for any length of time. The reader gets access to all the information of Elvis' life here: his at-first attractive movie career, his immediate attraction to Anne Margaret (and her's to him), his increasing value as an entertainer (and increasing need to spend his money in an reckless manner), the unrivaled successes of the '68 Comeback Special and the Live From Hawaii broadcast (and the volatile dealings that accompanied these events). From there we move on to the 70's and witness an Elvis that was still very much on top of his game but soon to be rocked by the breakup of his marriage, the ever-present search for spiritual guidance, his dealings with middle-age and his increasing dependance upon prescribed medications. Guralnick does not offer a trashy biography that seeks to portray the King in an unfavorable light. At the same time, this magnetic book does not in any way resort to hyperbole or make Elvis into something more than he indeed was. We are presented with a look at Elvis from both sides of the curtain. On one hand we have the public vision of Elvis: swaggering, the man all the ladies love and all the guys want to be like. The other vision of Elvis is the man as mortal: painfully shy, a mama's boy to an almost Freudian degree, vain at times, not motivated by money but by the constant need for friendship and true understanding. Guralnick must be commended for this piece of work, the amount of time he has devoted to his subject is impressive and it shows in his precise attention to the details of Elivs' life and it is to his credit that he doesn't let his obvious respect for the performer taint or weigh down the clarity and objectivity of his prose. I would, once again, recommend this work to any person who is a fan of music and of performance art. Although I can't claim my allegiance as an Elvis fanatic I was captivated by the life of this legendary performer, the unreal elements that made up his daily existence and the tragic element of the cultural icon at odds with the man who sought to simply live a normal life.
Rating: 
Summary: Poignant and Sad, Never a Work of Caricature
Review: We all think we know the post-Army Elvis. He's the gradually fattening lounge act on steroids (and other assorted chemicals) who cranked out awful movies with mechanical regularity. His talent rebounded in the late 60s with his NBC comeback special and some of his live performances to remind us what he meant when his first performances made a young Bob Dylan feel like he was breaking out of jail. Reading Guralnick's successor to "Last Train From Memphis," one is reminded of the old line that airplane pilots experience 98 percent sheer boredom and 2 percent sheer terror. This resembles Elvis's life, enclosed in a dual prison of Graceland's walls and the companionship of the "Memphis Mafia"--his cronies and pals whose lives consisted of serving the King's often bizarre whims, and awaiting his generous handouts. The predicament echoes China's last emperors in their Forbidden City, ruling a landscape they can no longer see and in which they no longer mattered. This book oozes sadness, and I sensed that Guralnick, whose prose crackles with energy even describing Elvis at his most pathetic, felt personally disappointed with the great waste of talent Elvis's life became. In the preface and on the book's last page, Guralnick makes reference to the mythic Elvis we encountered in "Last Train." In between, a chronicle of pathos unfolds. Guralnick could have used the decline and fall to interrogate the American mythology Elvis once fulfilled, to show how ultimately false it proved. Instead, we get a touchingly human portrait of a man living in the chaos that celebrity creates. I wouldn't wish celebrity on my worst enemy. One is struck by Elvis's loneliness, by the sense of loss occasioned by his mother's death, and from which he clearly never recovered. The mythic Elvis is still here, particularly in the burst of achievement from the '68 Comeback Special, through the American Recordings with Chips Moman, and the early stands in Vegas. But even when recounting the saddest days of his apotheosis in the mid-70s, Guralnick's tale suddenly shows Elvis explode out of his stupor with charisma and passion, leading his band through the occasional great session or show. Elvis's bizarre obsession with law enforcement and completely surreal desire to meet Richard Nixon and volunteer to serve the country as a Narcotics Agent has something of greatness about it. All that vitality had to go somewhere, and if it's not fed with healthy outlets, it manifests itself strangely. When I visited Graceland as a tourist a few years ago, the walls still seethed with the boredom the place must have witnessed. Guralnick captures the pathos without descending to the pathetic, while still maintaining a perspetive on his subject that dilutes none of the passion.
Rating:
Summary: Exellent!
Review: As the review suggested,I read the first volume,"Last Train from Memphis", and then "Careless Love". What an extraordinary biography and a great read. The author has written a compre hensive and absolutely fascinating account of the life of "The King". A top ten book of 1999. Read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Star-struck Elvis book strikes out
Review: The dumbing down of the book publishing industry brings us trash like this .This volume tells the reader nothing new .Nor does it send anyone out and about to buy an Elvis CD. Just why anyone would want to listen to an entertainer who needed drugs and backup singers to fill in high notes is a total mystery . Is this book a put on??
Rating:
Summary: A superb companion to "Last Train to Memphis"
Review: As he did with "Last Train To Memphis", Peter Guralnick has once again written a definitive book on Elvis. Picking up where "Last Train" left off, this book takes us from Elvis' Army years to his last days. Even if you are not an Elvis fan, you will find this book engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: An essential companion to "Last Train To Memphis"
Review: Peter Gurlanick's "Careless Love" is an essential companion to the definitive "Last Train To Memphis". As he did in that book, Guralnick once again gets inside Elvis' mind and world. Picking up where the first volume left off with Elvis entering the Army and ending with his death in 1977, this book presents the King, warts and all. A must have.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, informative, as objective as possible.
Review: Guralnick treats us to yet another triumph. Previous books about Elvis (Goldman et al.) have not come close in trying to understand the legend for what he was and how he became what killed him. All biography should aspire to this.
Rating:
Summary: A poingant, depressing, and insightful look at Elvis...
Review: First and foremost, this is a depressing book. There is a warning in the author's note that the book is about a tragedy, and this is an understatement. Elvis Presely's "fall" was a hard and bitter one. This book outlines events starting in 1960 up to Presely's death in 1977. Things start out looking pretty good for Elvis as he leaves the army and begins his career almost anew, but as the 1970s emerge, things start to cloud over, and the book follows the downward spiraling vortex that Presley and his somewhat bizarre and almost constantly fluctuating entourage followed up to the end. Along the way, Guralnick allows readers to draw their own conclusions about Presley. Mostly the book outlines details of certain events - sometimes so detailed one wonders if Guralnick was there himself - interspersed with commentary from people who lived through these same events. It is not an uplifting read. One gets the impression that Presley's fame isolated him from pretty much the human race, made him untouchable (reprisals were feared by anyone is his immediate "gang", and it didn't help matters that most of them were on his payroll) and ultimately put him beyond the help of his own family and the people who he thought were his friends. Presely's fame turns horrendously destructive in the 1970s, and some of the stories and anecdotes may make the sensitive reader wince. Some of the stories are just downright strange: Presley's religious enlightenment from seeing an image in the clouds of the face of Stalin turn into the face of Jesus; Presley's determination to secure himself a position of Narcotics officer from President Nixon; the pranks Preseley and his retinue play on each other, on audiences, and on themselves; the fact that, as record sales declined, Presely's revenue actually increased. Other anecdotes have a more disturbing undertow: Presley's manipulation and abject objectification of the women in his life, and the fact that many of them kept coming back even after being brusquely brushed off; Presley's fascination with guns, and his sometime not so comforting habit of pointing them at people when angry; Presely's wild, erratic, and irresponsible spending; Presley's inability to take advice from his wife, girlfriends, business manager, and even his own father on dire personal matters (e.g., his finances, his marriage, his health). It is a tragedy to read about someone who both cared about people but also put himself above others in a way that put him beyond their help or aid. The figure of "the Colonel" lurks behind the entire story. He has Presley's business needs in mind, and, due to his business acumen, makes Presley (and himself) multi-millionaires beyond imagination. It's amazing to read how the Colonel is able to make more and more money from Movie studios, even as movies starring Presley are on a sharp decline in revenue and popularity. The whole story is mind boggling. In the end, the Colonel thought he was taking care of Elvis in the best way he knew how, but insatiable greed and insular attention to the bottom line and almost nothing else probably hurt Presley more than it helped him in the long run. Guralnick does not say this anywhere in the book. Again, the reader must draw moral conclusions based on the evidence. Guralnick does not moralize apart from calling the story a tragedy, and this makes this biography doubly interesting, as different readers will likely draw different conclusions based on their own interpretations of the delineated events. Who is to blame in the end? Is it fair to blame one or a few people? Is it fair to blame Presley? These questions are not answered (as they shouldn't be) but much food for thought is presented. As usual in life, the answer is far more complicated than mere finger pointing can accommodate. Guralnick handles this subject with eloquence and a distance that pull the reader in and allow for reflection upon what happened. This is not the usual shoddy rock biography that typically clutters the "Music" section of bookstores. This is a story to sink one's cognitive teeth into and reflect upon. Warning: this book will make you think; it will make you moralize; it will make you angry and frustrated at what happened, and it will make you ask "Why?" Regardless if you are an Elvis Presley fan or not (I'm really not; I was very young when Presley passed on) this is a book worth reading. It is a thick book, but a quick read (keep your dictionary handy nonetheless). Once you're in fifty pages or so, you'll probably find yourself stuck on it.
Rating:
Summary: Brings back memories
Review: Except for some more detail lacking in the post divorce years (after 1973), this is an outstanding book. However, I wish I hadn't read it. It's not hard to understand what the fascination with Elvis is about. There won't EVER be another one. I've seen well over 50 concerts in my life, but the Elvis concert I saw in Dayton, Ohio in 1972 was without a doubt the most incredible event I have EVER witnessed in my life. He TORE the place up, he was in 100% total awareness and control. He was almost God like and he KNEW it. I saw also saw him him in Louisville, Ky on 5/21/1997, less than 3 months before he died. Needless to say, the Elvis I saw in 1977 didn't resemble the Elvis I saw in 1972. He was already dead inside. It is a tradgedy that one man with so much could fall so fast professionally. I wasn't sure the Elvis I saw in 1972 was human and I'm not sure the people around him realized he was human either. But he was and that's the sad part, the show I saw in 1977 made that clear. I wish I hadn't read this book. In fact, I'm going to get rid of it. When Elvis was on top of his game, non-other compared. It's IMPOSSIBLE to stay at that level......IMPOSSIBLE. That's the way people want to remember Elvis, on top.....that MAGIC that ONLY he had. Skip this book if you don't won't to be sad.
Rating:
Summary: A poingant, depressing, and insightful look at Elvis...
Review: First and foremost, this is a depressing book. There is a warning in the author's note that the book is about a tragedy, and this is an understatement. Elvis Presely's "fall" was a hard and bitter one. This book outlines events starting in 1960 up to Presely's death in 1977. Things start out looking pretty good for Elvis as he leaves the army and begins his career almost anew, but as the 1970s emerge, things start to cloud over, and the book follows the downward spiraling vortex that Presley and his somewhat bizarre and almost constantly fluctuating entourage followed up to the end. Along the way, Guralnick allows readers to draw their own conclusions about Presley. Mostly the book outlines details of certain events - sometimes so detailed one wonders if Guralnick was there himself - interspersed with commentary from people who lived through these same events. It is not an uplifting read. One gets the impression that Presley's fame isolated him from pretty much the human race, made him untouchable (reprisals were feared by anyone is his immediate "gang", and it didn't help matters that most of them were on his payroll) and ultimately put him beyond the help of his own family and the people who he thought were his friends. Presely's fame turns horrendously destructive in the 1970s, and some of the stories and anecdotes may make the sensitive reader wince. Some of the stories are just downright strange: Presley's religious enlightenment from seeing an image in the clouds of the face of Stalin turn into the face of Jesus; Presley's determination to secure himself a position of Narcotics officer from President Nixon; the pranks Preseley and his retinue play on each other, on audiences, and on themselves; the fact that, as record sales declined, Presely's revenue actually increased. Other anecdotes have a more disturbing undertow: Presley's manipulation and abject objectification of the women in his life, and the fact that many of them kept coming back even after being brusquely brushed off; Presley's fascination with guns, and his sometime not so comforting habit of pointing them at people when angry; Presely's wild, erratic, and irresponsible spending; Presley's inability to take advice from his wife, girlfriends, business manager, and even his own father on dire personal matters (e.g., his finances, his marriage, his health). It is a tragedy to read about someone who both cared about people but also put himself above others in a way that put him beyond their help or aid. The figure of "the Colonel" lurks behind the entire story. He has Presley's business needs in mind, and, due to his business acumen, makes Presley (and himself) multi-millionaires beyond imagination. It's amazing to read how the Colonel is able to make more and more money from Movie studios, even as movies starring Presley are on a sharp decline in revenue and popularity. The whole story is mind boggling. In the end, the Colonel thought he was taking care of Elvis in the best way he knew how, but insatiable greed and insular attention to the bottom line and almost nothing else probably hurt Presley more than it helped him in the long run. Guralnick does not say this anywhere in the book. Again, the reader must draw moral conclusions based on the evidence. Guralnick does not moralize apart from calling the story a tragedy, and this makes this biography doubly interesting, as different readers will likely draw different conclusions based on their own interpretations of the delineated events. Who is to blame in the end? Is it fair to blame one or a few people? Is it fair to blame Presley? These questions are not answered (as they shouldn't be) but much food for thought is presented. As usual in life, the answer is far more complicated than mere finger pointing can accommodate. Guralnick handles this subject with eloquence and a distance that pull the reader in and allow for reflection upon what happened. This is not the usual shoddy rock biography that typically clutters the "Music" section of bookstores. This is a story to sink one's cognitive teeth into and reflect upon. Warning: this book will make you think; it will make you moralize; it will make you angry and frustrated at what happened, and it will make you ask "Why?" Regardless if you are an Elvis Presley fan or not (I'm really not; I was very young when Presley passed on) this is a book worth reading. It is a thick book, but a quick read (keep your dictionary handy nonetheless). Once you're in fifty pages or so, you'll probably find yourself stuck on it.
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