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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Early this year, I got a nasty cold and spent a couple of days on the couch in a NyQuil haze. This seemed like a good time to my severely addled brain to watch "Elvis" and "Priscilla" back-to-back. Both are incredible, albeit wildly different works of art. The first is bombastic, loud, glittery, and borderline hallucinogenic (or maybe that was the cold medicine) and the second is quiet, subdued and elegant. I don’t have a favorite, in case you are wondering: I never thought of those movies as competing to tell the same story, that’s really not what’s going on here. But "Priscilla" made me very curious about the book it was based on, Priscilla Beaulieu Prestley’s memoirs of meeting, falling in love with and living with Elvis. I wanted to see what Sofia Coppola had not put on the screen.
I want to clarify that while I really enjoy a lot of his music, I am a very moderate Elvis fan. His musical legacy is massive, but it’s also complicated, so I enjoy his work, but I never really idolized him.
While I read this book, I kept thinking: "poor, sweet little Cilla…"
The term ‘grooming’ is kind of weird, isn’t it? English is not my first language, and the first time I heard it, I thought of the lovely lady who used to trim my long-haired cat’s fur into a lion cut every summer. That’s not what it means, of course: it means to subtly (or overtly, in some cases) manipulate a generally young and inexperienced person into an idealized partner, the implication being that they don’t know any better, which puts them in a position where they are almost always being taken advantage of, if not simply abused. I thought about that term a lot while reading this, because dang! What Elvis did here is kind of textbook…
Priscilla was 14 years old when she first met Elvis. I tried to remember what I was like at 14, and I admit that’s far enough to be quite fuzzy now. I know I would have loved the attention, especially if it came from the biggest heartthrob of my generation. But even at that age, a ten-year difference would have felt like a lot… And while she insists, repeatedly, that Elvis was always nothing but a gentleman to her, that nothing he ever did was weird or perverted and that they didn’t have penetrative sex until they were married… she also often says that he taught her how to dress, how to do her hair and make up, how to keep house, and shared his drugs with her very liberally. I believe her when she says that he would never have hurt her or let anything bad happen to her, but at the same time, what he did was still manipulative and controlling. He didn’t like it when she talked back, when she behaved (in his words) like a man, by being strong and fighting back, he didn’t want her to go to college or get a job. Poor Cilla basically had to divorce him to have the space and the freedom to discover who she was, and I can’t help but find that tragic.
The book is strangely paced: they only get married in the second half of the book, and while they weren’t married very long, it still feels uneven. Priscilla loved Elvis with her whole heart (and probably still does) and she clearly wants to keep all her memories of him good, and that’s the way she spins – consciously or not. I don’t not get it; it must be difficult to think of such a major part of your life having been abusive. But from an outsider’s perspective, there is something off about what she thinks of as a great love story.
That said, her writing is sweet, if not terribly sophisticated, and while I often felt sad for how isolated she was during her years in Graceland, I also enjoyed learning what it was like living at the heart of this almost legendary place. It’s a shame that Elvis kept her so sheltered, because I think he might have been impressed with the woman she became.
I want to clarify that while I really enjoy a lot of his music, I am a very moderate Elvis fan. His musical legacy is massive, but it’s also complicated, so I enjoy his work, but I never really idolized him.
While I read this book, I kept thinking: "poor, sweet little Cilla…"
The term ‘grooming’ is kind of weird, isn’t it? English is not my first language, and the first time I heard it, I thought of the lovely lady who used to trim my long-haired cat’s fur into a lion cut every summer. That’s not what it means, of course: it means to subtly (or overtly, in some cases) manipulate a generally young and inexperienced person into an idealized partner, the implication being that they don’t know any better, which puts them in a position where they are almost always being taken advantage of, if not simply abused. I thought about that term a lot while reading this, because dang! What Elvis did here is kind of textbook…
Priscilla was 14 years old when she first met Elvis. I tried to remember what I was like at 14, and I admit that’s far enough to be quite fuzzy now. I know I would have loved the attention, especially if it came from the biggest heartthrob of my generation. But even at that age, a ten-year difference would have felt like a lot… And while she insists, repeatedly, that Elvis was always nothing but a gentleman to her, that nothing he ever did was weird or perverted and that they didn’t have penetrative sex until they were married… she also often says that he taught her how to dress, how to do her hair and make up, how to keep house, and shared his drugs with her very liberally. I believe her when she says that he would never have hurt her or let anything bad happen to her, but at the same time, what he did was still manipulative and controlling. He didn’t like it when she talked back, when she behaved (in his words) like a man, by being strong and fighting back, he didn’t want her to go to college or get a job. Poor Cilla basically had to divorce him to have the space and the freedom to discover who she was, and I can’t help but find that tragic.
The book is strangely paced: they only get married in the second half of the book, and while they weren’t married very long, it still feels uneven. Priscilla loved Elvis with her whole heart (and probably still does) and she clearly wants to keep all her memories of him good, and that’s the way she spins – consciously or not. I don’t not get it; it must be difficult to think of such a major part of your life having been abusive. But from an outsider’s perspective, there is something off about what she thinks of as a great love story.
That said, her writing is sweet, if not terribly sophisticated, and while I often felt sad for how isolated she was during her years in Graceland, I also enjoyed learning what it was like living at the heart of this almost legendary place. It’s a shame that Elvis kept her so sheltered, because I think he might have been impressed with the woman she became.
Giving this 5 stars because of Priscilla’s earnest and charming audiobook narration. Totally worth it to hear her little giggles and smiles as she talks.
I really wanted to read this before Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla comes out.
As any girl who worships Lana Del Rey will tell you, Priscilla Presley is an icon.
But I never knew her story.
This book on my covers the Elvis years but that’s what we’re all here for, right?
I really wanted to read this before Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla comes out.
As any girl who worships Lana Del Rey will tell you, Priscilla Presley is an icon.
But I never knew her story.
This book on my covers the Elvis years but that’s what we’re all here for, right?
A good audiobook, probably wouldn't have enjoyed reading it as much as I did listening to it, particularly since the author was the narrator.
I want to first say, I love Elvis's music and what he created in rock and roll but I never truly knew the story of the woman who loved him as she did. I heard stories about young girls and this sparked my curiosity since she was only 14 years old when she met him and he was also in the military.
Being a military spouse, I am super surprised her parents allowed her to see him and hang out than eventually live with him. At the end, her story was something I wanted to dive more in. Reader beware! Being a mother and strong minded as willed woman this was a hard book for me to read. I truly emphasized with the writer but at the same time I am annoyed.
Who were her friends, family, and close people to speak up and say why and reason this was just wrong for a numerous reason. Anyway, I did like it and it took me awhile, between kids, life, and other events but listening to the audiobook was amazing since she, Priscilla herself, was reading it out loud. I also cannot wait to see the movie.
Being a military spouse, I am super surprised her parents allowed her to see him and hang out than eventually live with him. At the end, her story was something I wanted to dive more in. Reader beware! Being a mother and strong minded as willed woman this was a hard book for me to read. I truly emphasized with the writer but at the same time I am annoyed.
Who were her friends, family, and close people to speak up and say why and reason this was just wrong for a numerous reason. Anyway, I did like it and it took me awhile, between kids, life, and other events but listening to the audiobook was amazing since she, Priscilla herself, was reading it out loud. I also cannot wait to see the movie.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Perhaps I should have read this before “The Great Unknown” but alas I did not.
Once more, I shall dictate that I am not an Elvis fan. Yet throughout this life I have heard Priscilla be wildly slandered and I never understood it. Her account of a “love story” is something I believe most young girls can relate to, falling in love with the idea of love, sacrificing and enduring manipulation all for the sake of approval. Her growth is admirable. Albeit concerning at times, in the audiobook Priscilla is giggling at rather inappropriate moments.
Both Lisa Marie and Priscilla have loving accounts of the same man all the while have contrasting views. That’s life, is it not? Two contrasting perceptions of the same person. Yet Elvis fans, who have never known him still wildly defend him all for the sake of falsifying idols.
Elvis, Lisa & Priscilla are all human. And they all did the best they could, once more I find the women in his life’s stories to be far more fascinating that the myth himself.
I saw the movie on the plane and wanted to learn more about Elvis and their marriage but the first half of the book was just the movie. It wasn’t written with much flare or reflection and I was a bit disappointed. The second half of the book was a bit more insightful.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Per the title, this is constrained to Priscilla Presley in the context of Elvis. There's one pre-Elvis anecdote, and the post-Elvis content is almost entirely in relation to Elvis. The level of detail varies wildly: early stages of the relationship are presented in minute detail; later years are more amalgamated, an impressionist overview; Elvis's death and beyond are lightly sketched, and entirely omit her stewardship of the estate after Elvis's death.
And that's ... fine. The lens through which Priscilla Presley interprets her relationship - the age gap, the grooming, the fame and drug use and infidelity and drama and decline, the love - is her own lens, somehow both open-eyed and idealizing, sorrowful and forgiving, and the efforts to remediate a salacious public record make for an innate, obvious bias. It's simultaneously manicured and authentic. I respect that choice, as it goes; it also feels like only one fraction of the story, and if I cared more I'd seek out other biographies for more complete portrait.
The audiobook is read by an author, and her giggles sprinkled throughout are as campy as Graceland and Elvis's public image, so ill-timed when paired against clear evidence of bad behavior that it's almost commentary, highlighting the incredibly intentional lens the author is turning on her subject.
And that's ... fine. The lens through which Priscilla Presley interprets her relationship - the age gap, the grooming, the fame and drug use and infidelity and drama and decline, the love - is her own lens, somehow both open-eyed and idealizing, sorrowful and forgiving, and the efforts to remediate a salacious public record make for an innate, obvious bias. It's simultaneously manicured and authentic. I respect that choice, as it goes; it also feels like only one fraction of the story, and if I cared more I'd seek out other biographies for more complete portrait.
The audiobook is read by an author, and her giggles sprinkled throughout are as campy as Graceland and Elvis's public image, so ill-timed when paired against clear evidence of bad behavior that it's almost commentary, highlighting the incredibly intentional lens the author is turning on her subject.
Growing up, I had only heard of Elvis as one would a myth or a legend. This book let me learn of what he was like as just a man. And while i know it would be difficult for those who love Elvis to separate myth from man, I do encourage others to read this book. Not everyone is perfect, but that shouldn’t lessen the positive impact they have had in other’s lives. And you can’t really judge anyone if you’ve never walked in their shoes.