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Elvis, Lennon & JFK

By ElvisNews.com/ Lex, March 16, 2013 | Book

Recently this book by David Chisnell was issued. Is it worth the time reading takes?

Content

This is what the publisher gave away on the content:

Elvis, Lennon & JFK is set on the evening of John Lennon's assassination in New York, 1980. Having been shot dead John finds himself in a strange room with only JFK and Elvis for company. Both try to convince him he is dead but John prefers to believe he's in the middle of some great Acid trip. Finally they succeed and John discovers that he has joined a very exclusive club. Membership requirements are that millions of people will forever remember where they were when they first heard of your death. There are only the three members. From there onwards the trio engage in a battle of one-upmanship, each trying to prove he was more important than the other two whilst alive and that, in death, he has left the greatest legacy. All three have valid claims and the reader is pretty much left to make up his or her own mind on the 'winner'. A monitor in the room allows the trio to watch events as they happen on Earth. This has allowed both Elvis and JFK to keep up to date with all that has happened since their respective deaths. Over the years JFK has become something of a Beatles fan but, unfortunately for John, seems to only like the songs written by Paul McCartney. He has also discovered who was responsible for his death and drops clues to the other two. Elvis has kept constant tabs on both Priscilla and Lisa Marie and provokes many tear-jerking moments as he reflects on how they've carried on without him. The book is never far away from moments of humour, anger, incrimination and accusation. JFK belittles John's peace protests and draws John's condemnation of the Vietnam War. John also attacks JFK for America's late entry into WW2 but JFK retaliates with the news that his brother, Joe Junior, died in the war fighting to help the British. Elvis recalls John's remarks after he was found dead and also surprises JFK by informing him that he wasn't the only one to dabble with Marilyn Monroe. Sinatra, McCartney, Yoko, Bobby Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon and many others figure prominently as the three pour out their memories. But it is when they reflect on their own lives that the book becomes most revealing. JFK finally realises that he was always his father's second choice to Joe Junior, Elvis admits that it was the hunger he endured when his father was in prison and he and his mother were virtually homeless that drove him to his eating disorder, and John discovers that it was the death of his mother that shaped his career and drew him so close to Yoko. All three are desperate to escape from the room but when they discover that they will be able to leave when people no longer remember them all three become desperate to stay. Being first out will mean you were the least important. There is enormous humour and heartache in the book. Many of the stories will already be known to the reader but, as with all autobiographies, they gain more clarity and confirmation when told through the words of the trio themselves. Elvis, Lennon & JFK will become the autobiography none of them got the chance to write before they died.

I can pretty much agree with this text. It is certainly a fun read, and I had done it before I knew it. The only question mark I have is the mentioning of the Bush dynasty… that didn’t happen yet in 1980. For me personally the common denominator doesn’t work. I was just on my way and had to wait nearly 9 month to see the light of day when Kennedy was shot. The news of Elvis’s dead I can remember clearly and I know exactly what I did at that moment. Lennon’s death on the other hand… no clue where I was when I heard it, probably because my girlfriend took too much attention.
For Elvis’s part of the story: most of it is true or could be true, at least there is no pertinent nonsense.

Conclusion

Again, it is a fun read, especially when you like fictional autobiographies with a lot of truth in it

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Buy at Amazon.co.uk
Steve V wrote on March 17, 2013
I am old enough to remember where I was when I heard about all 3. The review sparked my interest. I may pick this up. Thanks
sitdown revamped wrote on March 20, 2013
I was at school when I learned that Elvis died, and I went "Elvis who?" ;-) Despite of listening to a lot of Rock'n'roll Music back then: Haley, Lewis, later I learned that my neighbour who taped some music for me didn't like Elvis' style....Well, I caught up with everyting within that same year. I was at school, when we learned that Lennon was shot, and remember that a 15 year old female co-almuni was heartbroken. Oh and I even know where I was when JFK got killed: Still in the making in my mothers womb...;-)
kink56 wrote on April 09, 2013
The Bush Dynasty started WAY before JFK was shot! Did you think it started when George Bush was vice president?