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What a disappointment this book was, on a number of levels. I was keen to read it, as I was interested in the truth about their relationship. It had always puzzled me how Elvis could have taken in such a young girl to live with him, as his girlfriend, and nobody questioned this? Why would her parents allow this to happen? I know things were different in that era, but even so, it was still very questionable. Priscilla describes how her father reluctantly allowed her to live in Memphis, Tennessee to be near Elvis. The initial arrangement was that Priscilla would live with Vernon and Dee while attending a Memphis Catholic school. Contrary to this arrangement, Priscilla gradually moved in with Elvis. In his search for a "higher state of consciousness", Presley became fascinated with the occult and metaphysical phenomena. During his spiritual quest, everyone around them saw Presley's personality change dramatically, from vibrant and playful to passive and introverted. Presley went through a period of celibacy, in keeping with the teachings of an Indian guru. "He was going through a cleansing period, physically and spiritually... He loved me and deeply wanted to be faithful to me but never felt certain that he could resist temptation. It was a persistent battle, and it even got to the point where he felt he had to resist me." For the next few weeks, Elvis felt the need to withdraw himself from the temptations of sex. He said, "We have to control our desires so they don't control us. If we can control sex, then we can master all other desires." When they were in bed, "he took his usual dose of sleeping pills, handed me mine, and then, fighting off drowsiness from the pills, pored over his metaphysical books." Priscilla was not interested, and recalled Elvis saying, "Things will never work out between us, Cilla, because you don't show any interest in me or my philosophies." However after reading this book I have to say I have little respect for the man. Good singer or no, he had the morals of a hyena. While they planned on having children, Elvis and Priscilla had hoped to wait awhile, and Priscilla was not prepared for her pregnancy. She considered an abortion, in part because Elvis had made derogatory comments in the past about "women using pregnancy as an excuse to let themselves go." Feeling insecure, she dieted to the point that by the time she gave birth, she then weighed less than she had before becoming pregnant. During Priscilla's pregnancy, she and Elvis made love passionately until she began hearing rumors about Elvis and Nancy Sinatra, his co-star in the film Speedway. When Priscilla confronted Elvis about the stories, he dismissed them out of hand, telling her she was being overly sensitive due to her "condition" (pregnancy). However, six months into her pregnancy, Nancy Sinatra telephoned Priscilla and said she wanted to give her a baby shower. Priscilla was apprehensive about such a request coming from a woman she hardly knew, but Elvis convinced her to accept the offer. Priscilla went along with it and she and Sinatra got along well together. Everything seemed fine until a week or so later, when Elvis informed Priscilla that he needed time to think and wanted a trial separation. Devastated, all she could say was: "You've got it. Just tell me when to leave." She lived in agony for days, but Elvis changed his mind without ever saying a thing. Two months later, their daughter Lisa Marie was born in Memphis on February 1, 1968.
It would be 7 years before the pair wed in 1967, finally consummating their love. The built up passion led to their only child, Lisa Marie, born one year later. But their relationship wasn’t the stuff of fairy tales. As Priscilla matured, she began to realize she’d been moulded by Elvis to be his “ideal wife”, denying the true woman within. “He taught me everything, how to dress, how to walk, how to apply makeup and wear my hair, how to behave, how to return love – his way. I was Elvis’ doll, his own living doll, to be fashioned as he pleased.” Her entire world revolved around the star. “I just followed what he did,” she claimed. “I mean, you lived his life. You saw the movies he wanted to see, you listened to the music he wanted to listen to, you go to places that he would go… I honestly didn’t have my own life… So I really kind of lost myself.” Priscilla is a beautiful, intelligent, loving, and caring woman and her book is a MUST READ for every Elvis Presley Fan. Priscilla shares with us the brightest moments as well as some ugly truths about the man she loved and their unique relationship. She also shares interesting tidbits about Elvis' eccentricities and his career in film and music. This was a difficult read in how it explores the details of how Elvis groomed and manipulated a young child (actively being failed by her parents) into marrying him. Even more difficult is the denial Priscilla lived in at the time of writing this memoir 38 years ago.
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The version of Priscilla Presley who lingers in pop culture—dark eyeliner, teased hair, immaculate gowns—is the primary one we see in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, played by Olivia DeJonge and seen primarily as a witness to the central drama between Elvis and Colonel Tom Parker. The bulk of their relationship took place in the 1960s, a period skimmed over by a montage.
I have enjoyed this book since the first day it was available for sale. As much as I respect what she wrote in the book I have even more respect for...what she left out.While Elvis was spiraling downward, working like a dog in Vegas and not around anymore that is when Priscilla started finding her own strength, style and voice, especially through karate and dance. When it comes to reading a biography… I feel a little unfair when I rate the book anything under 5 stars unless I hate it. This is the persons own words, on their own experience - their life. Reading older biographies is sometimes complicated, and it sure was in this case. I read through contemporary eyes; things that shouldn’t have been ok then… shouldn’t have been tolerated were. “It WaS a DiFfErEnT tImE” - yeah, idgaf. A lot on this book was hard to wrap my brain around (I’ve compiled a short —- ehhh… short-ISH list below of those points). Elvis and Me was published in 1986, and written about a time in the 60s and 70s. The societal shift on what’s acceptable and what isn’t is showcased in this book. Elvis and Me is a book worthy of being read by Elvis Fans...and others looking for a "good read" that shares details about a complicated relationship between a young woman and a man suffering from the lost of his beloved Mother while in the Army in another land. Their love overcame geography, age, and much more.
Elvis Presley’s ex-wife Priscilla Presley recently shed light on her past relationship with the signer in a new memoir and even went into candid details about the good and the bad.I have to question why Priscilla decided to write this book. What was her agenda? Was it simply to record their 'love story', or was it a form of revenge? Having completed the book, my belief is that it is quite cleverly a trashing of Elvis' reputation, under the guise of a love story. This is her version of the truth, her final act of revenge, cunningly delivered as a tribute to him. She speaks lovingly of the man, but so cleverly imparts information about him that is quite devastating and ruinous to his reputation. I had no real goals after graduation. But I did sometimes dream of becoming a dancer or possibly enrolling in an art academy. Now I realize that I was deeply influenced by Elvis’s casual attitude toward continued schooling.” Elvis liked old movie classics revolving around family or struggles to survive in the world such as Les Misérables, Wuthering Heights, It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Skeffington, Miracle on 34th Street, Letter from an Unknown Woman and his favorite, The Way of All Flesh, the story of a self-sacrificing father. In a televised interview on January 14, 2005, with Larry King on CNN's Larry King Live, Anita Wood said that following media reports of a girlfriend in Germany, Elvis "had me believing that she (Priscilla) was just a friend and her daddy was in the Army with him, and there was nothing to it whatsoever." Elvis was a very complex man and this book displays more than any other media I’ve come across what a problematic man he was. The age gap, his manipulation, and all the infidelity are so clearly stated in here, yet I’m surprised how casual Priscilla is about it and that the book ends on such a positive note regarding that. I would’ve wanted even more reflections from her side how she believes that this has affected her life and her personality. Or perhaps she had not even worked through that by the time she wrote the book. Has she even by now?
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