The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Elvis

A book from 1997 by Aubrey Dillon-Malone titled "The Rise and Fall and Rise of Elvis" has been re-released in March. Info from the publisher:

'Once Elvis Presley touched your life,' said his 5-year girlfriend Linda Thompson, 'you were never the same again.' But for some people, that fact cut two ways.

It cut two ways for Elvis himself as well. A man who had everything going for him: a beautiful wife and daughter, unlimited wealth, fame beyond description - nobody knows why, as Paul Brady put it, he threw it all away. Or was it taken from him by forces he couldn't control?

It's now over twenty years since he died in his bathroom at Graceland. In that time, his legend has grown to a phenomenal degree, with people who weren't even born when he died becoming obsessive fans. His estate has also become infinitely more affluent. Which is why people speak about death, for Elvis Presley, being A Good Career Move.

This book, the first ever written on him by an Irish author, looks at his electric rise to fame, his near-oedipal relationship to his parents and equally complicated one to Priscilla, his charismatic but volatile personality, his ever-changing entourage of friends and his tragic descent into ill-health and premature death.

'Elvis died the day he went into the army,' said John Lennon. But if he did, he was re-born when he shook off the shackles of Hollywood and threw himself back into the kind of live performing that was his essence. For many, the Sun Studio days represent the greatness of Elvis, but he was equally vibrant in concert from 1968 onwards. The tragedy was that such a renaissance cost him his health and his marriage. And, ultimately, his life."

Details: Greenway Publishing, paperback, 165 pages, ISBN: 0-9526865-4-6.