Out since december 2002 is the book 'Elvis Presley' in the Penguin Lives biography series, written by fellow Southerner Mason. It is a 178 pages biography.
From Publishers Weekly:
Mason credits Elvis with inventing rock and youth culture and "[puncturing] the balloon of 1950s serenity and conformity." She posits that the result of his stint in the army "was to erase his rock-and-roll rebel image and turn him into a mainstream all-American boy next door," and that in 1969, after almost a decade spent making bad films, "he was genuinely invigorated by making good music again."
It's when Mason offers her insight into Southern culture that the biography turns superficial, like her attempt to contextualize the bloated figure of the drug-addled singer's late years by noting that "in the deep-fried South, his shape was a familiar sight, typical of his age group."
New Book Elvis Presley
January 03, 2003 | Book