Elvis Up Close: In the Words of Those Who Knew Him Best 

Rose Clayton and Dick Heard editors






I truly dislike this kind of book. If you decide you have a story to tell just tell the story. Telling a story in this manner is jolting and jarring. 


You never get into a groove when reading because the book keeps jumping from person to person. It always reminds me of listening to a vinyl album and having it skip throughout the song every few seconds.


There is another problem with “Elvis Up Close In the Words of Those Who Knew Him Best” and that is another book. I really hate comparing books, I make an effort to read a book as a standalone object, I try to read in a vacuum. More or less. Sometimes it’s difficult but in this case, it was impossible.


I am currently reading another Elvis biography. That’s a problem because it has informed what I have read in this book. I just can’t help comparing these two books, I won’t name the book here but there will be a review later, and that’s not good for “Elvis Up Close”. 


I can’t recommend reading this at any price because it will take time away from reading another book. Unless you are privileged in some way your time to read is precious. You have work and family obligations.  You may have volunteer activities or exercise or other health-related obligations. Your time to read is limited. Use that limited time to better effect because there are better biographies out there and there are certainly better Elvis biographies out there.  


I did consider not publishing this review because I can’t manage to say anything good about it. The book might have been an ok read if you got it cheap prior to 1999 but since then there are much better offerings.


I can’t even give a positive comment on the pictures included because there really is nothing new here. What on earth were these people thinking? I don’t know . . . 


This is a perfectly passable passel of papers.

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