Elvis in the Morning: Library Edition

Rating:
Summary: A great history lesson with a some Elvis thrown in
Review: Elvis in the Morning is truly a realistic story even though it's fiction. I love the character Orson Killare. Buckley places him smack dab in the world of Elvis Presley. From time he is caught stealing his records, living in Germany the same time he was in the Army and even being there for the funeral. I thought it was cute that Orson thought that it was he who brought Priscilla and Elvis together. I'm sure any Elvis fan who reads this book would believe that he or she wishes that they were Orson.

Rating:
Summary: a surreal trip through what could have happened
Review: Fourteen-year-old Orson Killere is living with his widowed mother on a military base in Wiesbaden, Germany when he first hears Elvis Presley's music. His best friend Priscilla Beaulieu (yes, THAT Priscilla) form a fan club on the base. Orson is also friends with his teacher Mr. Simon, who teaches the precocious teenager about Marxism, socialism, etc. Through an odd twist of events, Orson meets and befriends the King, and thus starts an long, strange trip.

The story is exclusively Orson's and tells of his life both with and without the King -- his studies and protests in Michigan, his nomadic journey through the US West, meeting his wife Susie .... peppered throughout is the life of Elvis, which is drawn straight from the real life of the King, down to the cities, dates and times. Orson is truly a friend, and comes to the King's aid as needed, even in the later years when it is obvious that Elvis is letting himself go down the raod to self-destruction.

It is a great book, well-researched, well-written, and very sad at times.

Rating:
Summary: who'd have thunk it: buckley + elvis = great book
Review: Go figure: Bill Buckley writes a novel about ... Elvis Presley? And the book is ... great? But indeed, Buckley has taken on The King, and he has pulled it off, smashingly. I've read several of Buckley's books, and "Elvis in the Morning" is his best, by far. The entire plot and situation -- Elvis's friendship with Orson, a (historically fictional) young Army brat fan who is befriended by Elvis in Germany (when he was Corporal Presley), who becomes his confidante until Elvis's death, and who is the childhood best friend of Priscilla (who, as we all know, ends up in Graceland) -- are treated with a tenderness and a gentleness that I have never seen from Buckley before, or for that matter from very few other writers. Elvis is portrayed with depth, in striking contrast to the one-dimensional cartoon character treatment he now gets, and Buckley, better know as an Apostle of Bach, is unafraid to sing the praises of Elvis's glorious voice and love of music (and people .. and, sadly, pills). There are no glitches nor loose ends; there's nothing contrived -- it's just a very pleasant read that goes all too fast. The dialogue is superior: again, the best Buckley has ever done. This is a great vacation read for anyone, whether a fan of Buckley, Elvis, or just good writing.

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Summary: Impressive fiction from Buckley
Review: Having been a fan of Buckley's political commentaries for some time, I decided to check out some of his fictional work. For better or worse, I began with this short novel. I was pleasantly surprised.

On one level, the novel is an "Edmund Morris-esque" biography of Elvis Presley, with the main character, Orson, finding himself caught up in the major events and dramas of Elvis' rise, fall, rise, and death throughout the 60's and 70's.

On another level, the book is a creative commentary on American political history - not too out-of-line with Buckley's other works. Orson's journey in and out of socialism begins with him stealing Elvis records in an attempt to give them out to people who can't afford them. He is kicked out of college for heading a botched student protest. His cross-country journey in search of an identity, all the while keeping in touch with Elvis, is symbolic of his gradual metamorphosis into a rational man - who, at least by his actions, rejects the ridiculous tenets of socialism that marked his failed early life.

Overall, it was a creative, refreshing way for Buckley to illustrate his insightfully conservative view of America during the turbulent 1960's and 70's.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting book & it worked for me
Review: Overall, I truly enjoyed this boy-meets-pop-idol story. I, oddly, find this an interesting topic, and did long before this book. Here, a teenager meets Elvis Presley and becomes Elvis's friend. It's a rock and roll fantasy.

In this book, Orson is our Elvis fan who becomes the King's most trusted confidante. Their friendship spans 15 years and, for me, worked better for, approximately, the first half of the book than the latter. By the end of the book, which is very much about Elvis Presley--the real guy--it's hard to keep the focus on Orson while knowing, feeling, awaiting Elvis's fate. And I don't think Buckley pulled this element off; the real Elvis overshadowed the literary fantasy of their relationship.

Orson is a well-fleshed-out character, and he has a life and a wife who is also a solid, full character; they've got their own story and lives that work and are interesting. I would have enjoyed reading even more about them.

But, when we are in the 1970's (chapters are titled by date and place), it became, for me, nearly impossible not to dread and anticipate what would become of Elvis. Chapter headings 1971, '72, '73, etc. - I was thinking to myself: Elvis is going to be dead in five years; Elvis is going to die in four years... Elvis Presley is such a looming figure, and his real life well described in this book, that my focus--and the book's, to a great extent--became Elvis rather than Orson.

What began as boy-meets-hero turned into story of Elvis. And at that point, the fantasy element got lost in the largeness of Elvis Presley. This, then, created other flaws for me. Buckley went to great lengths to tell us Elvis's real life. Elvis's relationship with Orson, then, by the end, was nearly superfluous and, therfore, more "not-believable" than it was fantasy. Similarly for Priscilla's (and Lisa Marie's and others') relationships with both Orson and Orson's wife. Orson had become part of a real life that was vividly described, and the book beame so much about Elvis, that Orson got lost, as did the hero-fantasy (as well, Orson is now an adult with a very real Elvis Presley considering him the only person he can trust -- their friendship took on a far-fetched feel).

All that said, I liked it very much. I liked the beginning for the hero-fantasy, and I liked the latter part for the Elvis story. What I liked in the end is not, I think, what the book was "about," but what I took from it - what a sad, sad story, Elvis Presley. By then, I didn't need Orson - the book had become about Elvis Presley.