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Inside Graceland

By ElvisNews.com / Kees, January 06, 2008 | Book

The “Inside” book series continues, but this time we actually go inside a building.

Design

This full color book by Elvis Unlimited has a very attractive design, no comments here.

Content

This is the kind of book you would expect to be released by Elvis Presley Enterprises, as they actually own, maintain and exploit the Graceland Mansion. But no, this book comes from a European fan club. Perhaps they decided to go inside the Graceland mansion because they announced to build a replica in Denmark. Whatever the reason, I’m glad they put this out.

The book is kind-of presented as a guided tour by Linda Thompson who is featured on many pictures. Much of the Louis XV red velour was Linda’s idea. The book mentions Elvis didn’t really like it, and that’s why it was restored to the white and blue from the Priscilla era when it opened to the public in 1982.

You can accuse our man of many things, but a good taste in decorating is not something you can put on him. This is kind of a relief because Linda, a bible reading girl, had turned the mansion into a brothel. Elvis must have really loved her to allow this ;-).
All images are presented with additional background information completing the picture.
Besides the old look of the house in 1975 we get images of some of the buildings surrounding Graceland, some cars and the way Elvis’ heritage was presented to the public in 1982 with his jumpsuit on hangers like they came straight out of the closet.

The difference with the official tour book, and a big pro, is that this book is actually dedicated to Graceland and not to its main occupier, Elvis, telling part of his life story too and showing lots of memorabilia. For a book with a mansion as the main subject that makes a huge difference.

The second pro of this book is that it shows Graceland they way it was when Elvis lived there. Of course there were many makeovers done by Priscilla and the various long-term girlfriends, but in this book it does not look like the “museum” it is now, no pun intended.

What I do miss are the drawings of the building, they are widely available on the World Wide Web, and it would have been nice to include some of those.

Finally it is nice to see that someone like Sherif Hanna opens up his collection for fans through quality products on the Follow That Dream label and now this book. I hope he continues to share his collection through quality products like this.

Conclusion

With this book you actually go inside the original Graceland, showing you how it looked when Elvis, or should I say when Linda Thompson, lived there.
It would have been nice when this and the official tour book were combined showing the two different looks of the mansion since together these two books paint the complete picture.

You can buy this book through our shop or directly from Elvis Unlimited.

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Buy at Amazon.co.uk
Harvey Alexander wrote on January 07, 2008
Sorry, but I like Elvis to be in the pictures in Elvis picture books I buy. Photos of the inside of his house? No thanks. This sounds like a Linda Thompson photo book to me.
Elvisnites wrote on January 09, 2008
Its so nice to be able to finally agree with you Harvey. This book is about Linda not Graceland or Elvis. I hope she's being paid well.
RJ wrote on January 09, 2008
If you don't like it, don't buy it and stick to the 679 other books with Elvis pictures! This is a rare opportunity to view the Graceland interior when Elvis was alive. Linda is a great woman, and has always been very respectful about Elvis....
Harvey Alexander wrote on January 10, 2008
RJ, can you please tell me why you want to see pictures of the inside of Graceland? So it was Elvis' house. So what. I've visited it and paid my respects several times, but I don't need a book full of photos of the inside of it - photos that Elvis isn't in! This is another example of "Elvis fans" buying anything with his name on it.
RJ wrote on January 10, 2008
If you don't care at all, thats fine. It's interesting because Graceland was redecorated after Elvis died. The book shows things you'll won't find touring Graceland nowadays. Just like his cars, airplane and clothes, it tells something about the human being Elvis. There's a market for it obviously, and it's different than the numerous Elvis books flooding the market nowadays. I assume there's more than just a few interior pics, and personally.. I have no trouble looking at some Linda pics at all;)
Kenneth wrote on January 11, 2008
I agree with you RJ, harvey just don't get it.
Paul Sweeney wrote on January 12, 2008
Inside Graceland is an excellent release, one I really like. The photos of inside the house are great and Linda is easy on the eyes, she was certainly beautiful.
EspenK wrote on January 14, 2008
I agree with RJ, I find this release to be of the more interesting book project the recent years. Graceland has always fascinated me, both in stories and pictures, with or without Elvis in them. And knowing the Elvis story and how much this place meant to him, and how much time he spent here, how can it *not* be interesting to a fan... Personally I find it much harder to understand how the zillions of books with grainy, partially unfocused or b/w pictures of Elvis in a 70s jumpsuit find its buyers... Unless you are a new fan of course, then enjoy! But after a while... There is a limit to how many mugshots of a man shouting into a microphone one can take before it becomes a tad tedious - even when that man is Elvis.
RustyLynne wrote on January 18, 2008
Is there anyplace in the US one could purchase this book?
Palle wrote on February 15, 2008
I have only one thing to say about this book: it's brilliant!
Devon wrote on March 20, 2008
I go to Graceland every year but if you can not go i think this book would be very nice i have seen alot of the pixs. that are in it, very well done.