This is the true story of Graceland in 1970s Memphis, Tennessee, in the years before the death of Elvis Presley. It is also the story of a black man in Jim Crow South who made it.
This special, limited edition, features 70 Full-Color, Never-Before-Seen Photos from Graceland. Millions of Elvis fans all over the world fantasized what it would have been like to know The King. Jeanne LeMay Dumas lived that dream. As Miss Rhode Island, Jeanne met Miss Tennessee Linda Thompson at the 1972 Miss USA Pageant. Striking up an instant friendship, Jeanne moved to Memphis and lived with Linda. As fate would have it, the two young beauties soon met Elvis Presley, and within a few months, Linda moved into Graceland as Elvis's girlfriend. An unforgettable four-and-half-year odyssey had begun... In Elvis, Linda & Me, Dumas offers an intimate portrait of her relationship with Elvis and Linda, recounting the night Linda met Elvis to their breakup just months before Elvis's death. Jeanne saw it all she toured the country with Elvis, worked as one of his secretaries in the office behind Graceland, and even threw sleepovers at Graceland with Thompson. Elvis, Linda & Me recalls...
Recipient of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction Lauded for her “astute and engrossing” (People) writing style imbued with “originality galore” (RT Book Reviews), Kim Wright channels the best of Jennifer Weiner and Sarah Pekkanen in this delightful novel of self-discovery on the open road as one woman sets out for Graceland hoping to answer the question: Is Elvis Presley her father? Blues musician Cory Ainsworth is barely scraping by after her mother’s death when she discovers a priceless piece of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia hidden away in a shed out back of the family’s coastal South Carolina home: Elvis Presley’s Stutz Blackhawk, its interior a time capsule of the singer’s last day on earth. A backup singer for the King, Cory’s mother Honey was at Graceland the day Elvis died. She quickly returned home to Beaufort and married her high school sweetheart. Yearning to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past—and possibly her own identity—Cory decides to drive the car back to Memphis and turn it over to Elvis’s estate, retracing the exact route her mother took thirty-seven years earlier. As she winds her way through the sprawling deep south with its quaint towns and long stretches of open road, the burning question in Cory’s mind—who is my father?—takes a backseat to the truth she learns about her complicated mother, the minister's daughter who spent a lifetime struggling to conceal the consequences of a single year of rebellion.
A teenage Elvis impersonator navigates the Lagos ghetto in this “searing chronicle of a young man’s coming of age in Nigeria during the late 1970s” (Publishers Weekly). Elvis Oke dreams of escaping the sprawling, swampy, cacophonous city of Lagos, Nigeria. Beset by poverty, floods, and beatings by his alcoholic father, he ekes out a living by impersonating his famous namesake. But soon he is tempted by a life of crime. Thus begins his odyssey into the dangerous underworld of Lagos, guided by his friend Redemption and accompanied by a restless hybrid of voices including The King of Beggars, Sunday, Innocent and Comfort. Ultimately, young Elvis, drenched in reggae and jazz, and besotted with American film heroes and images, must find his way to a GraceLand of his own. In this lyrical and nuanced debut novel, Nigerian poet Chris Abani shares a remarkable story of a son and his father, and an examination of postcolonial Nigeria where the trappings of American culture reign supreme. “A richly detailed, poignant, and utterly fascinating look into another culture and how it is cross-pollinated by our own. It brings to mind the work of Ha Jin in its power and revelation of the new.” —T. Coraghessan Boyle
The king of rock-and-roll's #1 hit song "Love Me Tender" is now an endearing picture book Adapted from the unforgettable classic song, Elvis Presley's Love MeTender is a heartwarming ode to the special bond between children and the adults who love and care for them--be they parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, aunts, uncles, or guardians. With its simple, timeless message, Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender is destined to join Guess How Much I Love You as a baby shower staple. And the sweet, inclusive illustrations make it a book every family will treasure "all through the years, 'till the end of time."
If you wanted a picture of the life of Elvis Presley, who better to paint it for you than someone who worked as his trusted cook and maid at Graceland? Someone whose daily tasks centered around keeping the ́King of Rock & Roll ́ happy, whose every move was designed to please the greatest music legend the entertainment world has ever known. Here is that picture, as painted by Nancy Rooks. Nancy worked for Elvis from 1967 until his untimely death in 1977. Read her stories of what those years were like, of what the routines were at Graceland, and what it meant to be close to Elvis and his family on a daily basis. Read the sad account of her rushing upstairs, after a frantic call from Ginger Alden, and finding him on the bathroom floor. This book presents that picture, one that every Elvis fan will want to see.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Elvis Presley’s fiancée and last love tells her story and sets the record straight in this deeply personal memoir that reveals what really happened in the final years of the King of Rock n' Roll. Elvis Presley and Graceland were fixtures in Ginger Alden’s life; after all, she was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. But she had no idea that she would play a part in that enduring legacy. For more than three decades Ginger has held the truth of their relationship close to her heart. Now she shares her unique story… In her own words, Ginger details their whirlwind romance—from first kiss to his stunning proposal of marriage. And for the very first time, she talks about the devastating end of it all and the fifty thousand mourners and reporters who descended on Graceland in 1977, exposing Ginger to the reality of living in the spotlight of a short yet immortal life. Above it all, Ginger rescues Elvis from the hearsay, rumors, and tabloid speculations of his final year by shedding a frank yet personal light on a very public legend. From a unique and intimate perspective, she reveals the man—complicated, romantic, fallible, and human—behind the myth, a superstar worshipped by millions and loved by Ginger Alden. INCLUDES PHOTOS
The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE PRISCILLA, DIRECTED BY SOFIA COPPOLA Decades after his death, millions of fans continue to worship Elvis the legend. But very few knew him as Elvis the man. Here in her own words, Priscilla Presley tells the story of their love, revealing the details of their first meeting, their marriage, their affairs, their divorce, and the unbreakable bond that has remained long after his tragic death. A tribute to both the man and the legend, Elvis and Me gives Elvis fans the world over an unprecedented look at the true life of the King of Rock 'N' Roll and the woman who loved him.
What if your son was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll? From the moment she first holds him, Gladys Presley loves her son Elvis ferociously. She is the one by his side when his father is in the jailhouse; as they move from place to place skirting poverty; as Elvis’s obsession with music grows and he begins his whirlwind rise to never-before-seen success. But while he brings audiences across the land to their knees and achieves unimagined wealth and fame, there is another story – of drinking and diet pills, loneliness and loss – and at the height of his power Elvis finds that even kings must go on alone. ‘Roberts is an exceptionally tender and empathetic writer, and the story of Elvis Presley and his relationship with his mother is one ripe for her skills... both epic and intimate’ Grazia