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48th out of 411 books
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Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (Elvis #2)
Unrivaled in its scope, its detail, its authority, and its sheer readability, Peter Guralnick's biography of Elvis Presley tells a quintessential American story encompassing race, class, wealth, sex, music, and religion. It is a work that stands as the definitive life of an American icon -- and as one of the most important and accomplished biographies of our time.
Paperback, 768 pages
Published
February 10th 2000
by Back Bay Books
(first published 2000)
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Msmeemee
rated it
Recommends it for:
elvis fans and people who like being depressed
Shelves:
biographies
this book is sad as fuck.
i started out being a fan of the image elvis portrayed, the music that he brought into the world. then i made the mistake of wanting to get to know him as a person. after being thoroughly inspired by guralnick's first book, "last train to memphis," i delved almost immediately into this one, the second volume of the "definitive biography" on the king himself. i'd read countless reviews of this volume in preparation for the tragic ending. a...more
i started out being a fan of the image elvis portrayed, the music that he brought into the world. then i made the mistake of wanting to get to know him as a person. after being thoroughly inspired by guralnick's first book, "last train to memphis," i delved almost immediately into this one, the second volume of the "definitive biography" on the king himself. i'd read countless reviews of this volume in preparation for the tragic ending. a...more
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Harrowing. That's the best word to describe this brilliant, scrupulously researched biography of the King of Rock and Roll and his descent into lunacy. I've read many rock and roll biographies, mostly to satiate my inexplicable fascination with music and tragedy, and there have been some gems, man: Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, Ian Curtis, Gene Clark, the list goes on and on. Still, none of those stories came close, remotely, to the tragic downfall of Elvis. Not only was he ten times more famous th...more
This was an excellent although incredibly sad book on the second half of The King's life. It covers his time in the army through his drug-filled decline and death. Guralnick's strength is in his evenhanded approach to Presley's life. He does not judge or condemn, nor idolize Elvis, rather simply reports on his research and thousands of interviews with those that knew Elvis, in an easily readable manner. It's a long book for sure, nearly 800 pages, but well worth the read for those true Elvis...more
The 2nd part of a massive Elvis bio. Still very detailed, but I liked this volume better, maybe because I was more familiar with this time. This volume covers the army years (where he 1st started pills) until his death in 1977. I initially didn't like Elvis as much, but then thought, if someone reported on your every angry outburst or comment you made, everyone would look bad. On balance, he did love performing and his fans. Even after death, his father made his body available to fans ...more
Elvis Presley was an interesting man who wanted love and friendship, yet felt that showering gifts upon people would win him their affection and loyalty which in many cases would backfire on him. He was sensitive and kind but also hot-tempered and cruel at the same time and his behavior would end up pushing away many people who genuinely cared for him. I was shocked to find out how he treated women, especially Priscilla and wondered why he could never find satisfaction and comfort in just being ...more
The story of Elvis is so much sadder and stranger than I could ever have imagined, in spite of the calm, compassionate, and amazingly thorough nature of Guralnick's telling.
Really engrossing (and kind of gross). Guralnick is a smart guy and a good writer who also really loves Elvis. His research is extremely thorough.
This is Pt. 2 of a 2-volume biography. I figured I was only interested in the decline, but now I want to read Vol. 1 also.
I went to Graceland a few yrs ago. It was spectacular in its tastelessness, and also emotional and gut-wrenching in a way that I was totally unprepared for.
Elvis's life as told in this very...more
This is Pt. 2 of a 2-volume biography. I figured I was only interested in the decline, but now I want to read Vol. 1 also.
I went to Graceland a few yrs ago. It was spectacular in its tastelessness, and also emotional and gut-wrenching in a way that I was totally unprepared for.
Elvis's life as told in this very...more
I finally finished Part II of Gurlanick's detailed (nearing exhaustive) biography on The King. As whirlwind as Elvis' rise to fame was, the chronicle of his downward spiral is something akin to a slow moving train wreck with infinite chances for the possibility of aversion of disaster.
The faithful representation of Presley's bizarre sexual peccadilloes (we all know about his penchant for watching girls in white panties wrestle),obsession with law enforcement and the 'war on drugs' (a...more
The faithful representation of Presley's bizarre sexual peccadilloes (we all know about his penchant for watching girls in white panties wrestle),obsession with law enforcement and the 'war on drugs' (a...more
This book is amazing. There are so many thoughts that I have right now about this book and I don't think that I will be able to articulate them. I will say that even if you are not an Elvis fan you will love this book. It is one of the saddest things that I have read in a long time. To me it seemed like he just wanted it to be over. He was tired of being everything to everyone. He didn't even know who he was anymore. There is plenty of blame to go around and Elvis is not completely innocent eith...more
There's a moment from the film Pulp Fiction that ended up on the cutting room floor in which Mia Wallace asks Vincent Vega whether he's an Elvis man or a Beatles man. "You might like both," she tells Vincent, "but you always like one better." I'm a hardcore Beatles fan, but I'm still fascinated by Elvis -- especially the post-GI, bad-movie making, white jump-suited, bloated karate Elvis. And that's why I bypassed completely Last Train to Memphis -- the first book in Guralnick...more
The miracle of Last Train to Memphis, Peter Guralnick's portrait of Elvis Presley's early years, was that it erased the memory of that bloated caricature of a performer who staggered across the stage in Las Vegas and elsewhere in his final years and presented us instead with the exuberant young man of the 1950s who was in the throes of fashioning a new kind of music.
Expect no such happy miracle in Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, the second volume in Guralnick's excellen...more
Expect no such happy miracle in Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, the second volume in Guralnick's excellen...more
Greta
rated it
Recommends it for:
jill, elvis fans, music history buffs
Shelves:
biography,
descent-literature
Excellent biography continues from volume one. This book is darker than the first one and covers some more disturbing aspects of his life and career. As with the first volume I was touched with his vulnerability. In this volume his vulnerabilty focuses on several key areas such as: adjustment and/or maladjustment to obscene amounts of fame, niavite and a blind trust and faith in his manager and others who handle/mishandle his career, and dependent and codependent and dysfunctional relations...more
This is the sequel to Guralnick's biography of Elvis' life before he left for Germany. This book opens with Elvis' return, and then goes back to fill in details about his time in Germany, when he was allowed to live off base with his father and grandmother. Guralnick explains the facts about Elvis' life without sensationalizing them or passing judgment. I learned a lot about Elvis from this book, and it's a much sadder story than I realized. (I knew it was darn sad, but the details broke my hear...more
This was a really, really good book about a very sad subject. It answered a lot of my questions about the last days of Elvis - but it's still just as depressing and hard to read about the fall from grace of a truly great talent. But the book did make me realize that the fans of the King should never for one second believe that Elvis Presley did not enjoy every moment of his life. He lived life to the fullest - though he could have given so much more to the world.
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Read this in parallell to Keef and it was instructive to compare and contrast Guralnick's utter objectiveness as compared to the ramshackle subjectiveness of Richard's prose. I learnt loads and will read the first half of Elvis's story (Last Train to Memphis) when I get through the current pile of stuff. Brilliant writing, in turns funny, bizarre, tragic, unbelievable and all-too believable. Highly recommended.
Everyone knows where this story is going to end. But man, what a way to end it! The last half of the book was excruciating... he was completely out of control, and there wasn't anyone around with the guts to do what he needed in order to be clean.
The endless tours, the rants and raves whilst on the stage, the women, the drugs, the excuses, it was such a sad way to end what was such a success story in the beginning.
The endless tours, the rants and raves whilst on the stage, the women, the drugs, the excuses, it was such a sad way to end what was such a success story in the beginning.
Well-written book, every good in that respect as the first edition 'Last Train To Memphis'. Ultimately I didn't enjoy it as much as it is a sad, sad story and I'm less inclined towards the later Elvis recordings (those two are not unrelated), but none of that is the fault of Guralnick. A great chronicle of the times and the people and the sad ending. Happy 77th Birthday (tomorrow) Elvis!
The second volume of Guralnick's biography of Elvis is rather tiring due to the depressing nature of the material. Elvis essentially stopped living years prior to his death. Just very sad. The only negative I have regarding the book is that it is probably too long. There is only so many ways you can keep retelling the final years of Elvis' life. Tragic waste.
An excellent biography of Elvis, however, I recommend reading Last Train to Memphis 1st as it starts at the beginning. Careless Love begins with Private Elvis and you miss much of the beginning of his rise to stardom.This book is very detailed and descriptive. Few pictures though. Happy 75th Birthday Elvis! Your still the King!
Just imagine what Elvis could have been were he not kept tucked away behind his phalanx of cronies and kept in thrall to the stunted Col. Parker. I feel as if maybe E never got to grow up, and even though a lot of his actions and products are tasteless and embarrassing he's a great figure, nevertheless.
Peter Guralnick focuses as much as possible on the reality of Elvis himself and his emotions, and he writes beautifully in a style closer to a novel than a biography. While an honest and raw depiction of the man, it never lends itself to mockery or sensationalism. Guralnick's not afraid to editorialise at appropriate moments; to criticise where necessary or give credit where credit is due.
I think it's funny that I saw copies of 'Careless Love' for sale at the Graceland gift shop whe...more
I think it's funny that I saw copies of 'Careless Love' for sale at the Graceland gift shop whe...more
Elvis was ruined by his own good fortune. He had an extraordinary talent which he squandered. He was a bit demented, always surrounded by a group of loyal "guys" like a perpetual adolescent, and always armed. They say that success is a "bitch goddess" and the fate of Elvis Presley confirms it.
Excellent account of Elvis Presley's last years. Well researched and thoughtfully written. It really made me angry at all of the people around him who didn't have the guts to tell Presley he was killing himself.
I cried all the way through this. What a human tragedy this story is. How does it keep happening over and over? Middle aged people who lived through the Elvis years and live in Tennessee will especially love this book.
This book and its companion(Last Train to Memphis) are the best music books I've ever read. They are full of detail of not only Elvis's personal life, but they give a very detailed account of all his recordings and movies.
Read this book... Even if you hate music. It is about life. That we can have what we dream of if we are single-minded and we do what we love. Brilliant.
Great, yet sad look at Elvis life during his army days and afterward. His slow decline is incredibly detailed and yet shown in a sympathetic light.
Guralnick wrote the ultimate Elvis biography (two volumes). This is the one to read for sure. Sets the standard for now.
Well written and not judgmental, but so very sad. This is the follow up to Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley.
Guralnick's clunky and bloated prose never quite manages to sink the story or the main character. Elvis appears throughout as a larger-than-life specter that haunts and animates a turbulent life. And the sad tawdriness of Elvis' decline and death are made all the more poignant- the fumbling unwieldiness of the narrative seems to mirror the downfall of a man finally broken under the pressures of stardom, excess and unfulfilled longing. A mediocre book with a great ending.
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Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra. He has a son and daughter, Jacob and Nina.
Guralnick's first two books, Almost Grown (1964) and Mister Downchild (1967), were short story collections published by Larry Stark, whose...more
More about Peter Guralnick...
Guralnick's first two books, Almost Grown (1964) and Mister Downchild (1967), were short story collections published by Larry Stark, whose...more
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