Rating: 
Summary: Lacks character building, simple story,
Review: A mediocre story is about a young man's fascination with Elvis Presley in his heyday. While the story begins in Wiesbaden in 1951-1954, a young man of 14 is obsessed with Elvis Presley's music. When he stole Elvis records from the PX, Elvis learns of this and wants to sing for him personally. Elvis soon befriends Orson and calls him "Killer." At the summary court-martial, Orson is put on probation for thirty days and he cannot listen to any Elvis music; now that, I believe, might just be torture! Hence, the title of the book, Elvis in the Morning as Killer's Mom says, "what will he do without Elvis in the morning?" Meanwhile Orson also goes to college and becomes involved in social protesting. This section of the book just didn't go anywhere. He gets married and has a kid, but that didn't go anywhere either. Meanwhile Elvis struggles with his career, making a stream of bad movies, and Orson is called upon to give Elvis some good advice. Some factual data about Elvis appears correct. But it APPEARS AS IF Priscilla Presley CEO of Presley Enterprise was strong influence over the input into this book, as Elvis is portrayed as such as good, nice, clean cut, wholesome American. You won't find anything inappropriate about the king, including his relationship with a child! ...MzRizz
Rating:
Summary: Lacks character building, simple story,
Review: A mediocre story is about a young man's fascination with Elvis Presley in his heyday. While the story begins in Wiesbaden in 1951-1954, a young man of 14 is obsessed with Elvis Presley's music. When he stole Elvis records from the PX, Elvis learns of this and wants to sing for him personally. Elvis soon befriends Orson and calls him "Killer." At the summary court-martial, Orson is put on probation for thirty days and he cannot listen to any Elvis music; now that, I believe, might just be torture! Hence, the title of the book, Elvis in the Morning as Killer's Mom says, "what will he do without Elvis in the morning?" Meanwhile Orson also goes to college and becomes involved in social protesting. This section of the book just didn't go anywhere. He gets married and has a kid, but that didn't go anywhere either. Meanwhile Elvis struggles with his career, making a stream of bad movies, and Orson is called upon to give Elvis some good advice. Some factual data about Elvis appears correct. But it APPEARS AS IF Priscilla Presley CEO of Presley Enterprise was strong influence over the input into this book, as Elvis is portrayed as such as good, nice, clean cut, wholesome American. You won't find anything inappropriate about the king, including his relationship with a child! ...MzRizz
Rating: 
Summary: A Dream Come True
Review: As a conservative teacher, William F. Buckley fan, and Elvis buff this is a dream come true. Buckley has well researched this book and he brings back an era as no other writer could. It lets us see the flow of history from the mid fifties to mid seventies as we best remember it and gives us new information that helps us to understand the time we lived in. Elvis would have approved this book, though I am not sure whether Priscilla would and wonder if she has read it. She should. This is a book for every student of cultural change whether they loved Elvis, as some of us still do, or not. The depictions of Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, and others are written as only a man can who has known them as personally as Buckley did. It is also the most positive telling of the legendary meeting between President Nixon and The King, an anecdote to some of the silly portrayals that have been put together by those who would ridicule both men. It is one of those books I intend to reread in the future. Fred R. Eichelman, Ed.D.
Rating:
Summary: Elvis In The Morning by William F. Buckley, Jr.
Review: Elvis In the Morning by William F.Buckley, Jr, is a small masterpiece, in the sense that Colette's Gigi is a small masterpiece. It deserves to be read carefully for the seemless writing and the profound metaphors that are well-concealed so as not to interfere with the pleasure of the read. Orson and his wife must both leave America for Latin America to regain their sanity. Elvis, the victim of American materialism, is destroyed by the leeches who see him as a money-making machine. The meeting with Barry Goldwater is not gratuitous, as some have alleged. Goldwater is a metaphor for integrity, and the young couple are really on a journey looking for authenticity. The decline and destruction of Elvis is told lovingly, but this is also a metaphor for the destruction of an America gone mad with self-indulgence.
Rating: 
Summary: Elvis In The Morning
Review: Elvis in the Morning is a chronicle, sort of a Reader's Digest condensed version of Elvis' life from 1958 on with large, large chunks left out. It adds the fictional friend, Orson Killare who, after meeting Elvis in Germany and introducing him to Priscilla, becomes his telephone buddy. He only meets Elvis a few times, on one occasion he advises him to stop making bad movies and get back to performing for his fans. Soon after, Elvis does the TV special. Orson becomes a silicon valley genius and a cocaine addict, kicks the habit and this sets him up to be the person Colonel picks to try to get Elvis into recovery. It doesn't work and Elvis dies. On the positive side, the book is factually accurate, particularly in the understanding of Elvis' addiction. It doesn't glamorize cries for attention such as giving away Cadillacs. It is a book which didn't need to be written, it shed no new light on the well known Elvis story.
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.
Rating: 
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: weirder than the George Will-baseball connection
Review: Hey, what is going on here? Buckley, Elvis? What? This is even weirder than the George Will/Baseball connection. I understand that these nerdy, wordy, narcissistic bibble-di-babblers feel the need to demonstrate to the world that they are capable of connecting with something normal in this world rather than just basking in the majesty of their own grammatical skills, but man oh man, this is just too wierd. I mean, can you picture Buckley downin' a few beers at a party and gettin' down on the dance floor to "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Don't Be Cruel", while yelling to his dance partner over the loud music about the myths of multiculturalism and balkanization or something? And just picture what his dance moves would be like - brrrr, it gives me the willies. I know it's a bit prejudiced and irrational on my part, but I can't help myself. I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on this one.
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