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List Price: $17.99 | | Publisher: Back Bay Books
Salesrank: 20716
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| Our Price: $7.97 |
| Used Price: $3.17 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
A prize-winning biography draws on almost a decade of research to recreate, in vivid detail, the beginning of the King's career. Reprint. National ad/promo. NYT.
Description of Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley:
There's no mention of sequins, drugs, or peanut butter in this understated biography of the teenaged Elvis, a serious and worthy attempt to answer the question, "Who was this guy before he was an icon, the voice of a generation, the King?" The essential clarity and honesty of Guralnick's prose clearly limns the eager, malleable boy whose immense talent changed the course of American music.
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley Reviews:
BEST ELVIS PRESLEY BOOK on the MARKET!!!! 
2009-08-25 - BEST ELVIS PRESLEY BOOK on the MARKET! ((Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley)) My name is Kenneth Haney and my wife is Kathleen Haney, and we collect everything that has to do with Elvis Mergidise and Collectors Stuff! They book is (BY FAR!)Our favore Elvis Presley Book of all times, and we have a collection of about 200 Elvis Books at home! YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK!
The Best Biography on Elvis...Period.
2009-07-20 - I've read quite a few biographies in my day, because I'm a big history buff. However, I'd have to say that Peter Guralinick's biography on Elvis Presley is the best I've ever read.
This doesn't read like your traditional bio. Guralnick has done a fantastic job of melding history with the fullness of literary prose. Elvis comes alive while you read this; he steps right off the pages. You'll jorney with him from Tupelo to Memphis to the stage. This book does a wonderful job of getting inside the King's mind and exposing his soul, his motivations, his charisma, and his inner demons.
This is a two part biography. Last Train covers Presley's life up till September of 1958. The second book,Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, picks up there and continues until the King's tragic death in 1977.
The Rise of Elvis 
2009-07-17 - This is an excellent account of the path Elvis took from his early days in Tupelo, MS, to becoming a cultural icon. This book details the steps he took in becoming involved in music, and recounts the Sun Record days and the role Sam Phillips had in getting Elvis's career off the ground, going From local talent shows to a star with immense talent and stage presence in a very short time.
You can really tell that things started to change when RCA buys Elvis and Colonel Parker takes the reigns as Elvis's business manager. The book ends with Elvis in the Army, and though there is no discussion of the tragedy we all know his life became, there are hints as to how it all was becoming too much for him to handle.
Overall, it's a great story of the Elvis that the world still loves.
Best Elvis book (s) to date
2009-07-16 - This is the book that Elvis deserved. Written with respect and reverence while not ignoring the "warts", this and the sequel CARELESS LOVE form a picture of the artist as much as the celebrity. The basics of the story are well known and oft repeated but Peter Guralnick has done a masterful job of painting a portrait of a life in turmoil. There are passages in this book that will bring tears to your eyes.
Most importantly (I Think) is that it brings us the story of the man instead of the legend and I for one found that much more interesting.
Diana Mercer is the co-author of Your Divorce Advisor and her company is [...]
Bio's Don't Get Much Better Than This
2009-03-04 - I generally only read Biographies and as an Elvis fan, just had to buy this. Whilst most biographies generally leave you short-changed at the end, the reseach that has gone into this is absolutely astounding. It charters Elvis' life up to his departure into Army-life at the age of twenty-three. Here you get a feel for what life was really like for the Presley's and how they struggled as they moved from one place to another. You get first-hand accounts from friends and family to galvanize the picture. You can almost feel Elvis breathe in every page and sense the excitment build as he slogs his way from one place to the next, promoting the 'new exciting hillbilly singer'. On reading this, it will make you feel that you have missed out on something by not actually being there at the time. There is no other Elvis biography that comes close to this. What I like about Guralnick's writing is that he does not make Elvis look good or bad, he just tells it like it is and let's the reader make up his own mind. Rivetting and highly recommended. I discovered a whole new chapter to Elvis that I hadn't seen. I would also recommend Volume Two 'Careless Love', which takes Elvis from age 23 to his death at age 42.
