Careless Love - by Peter Guralnick (Paperback)

About the Book

Unrivaled in its scope, detail, authority, and sheer readability, Guralnick's biography of Elvis Presley tells a quintessential American story of one of the most important entertainers of the century.

Book Synopsis

Careless Love is the full, true, and mesmerizing story of Elvis Presley's last two decades, in the long-awaited second volume of Peter Guralnick's masterful two-part biography.

"A masterwork." --Wall Street Journal

Last Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Presley, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "a triumph of biographical art." This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis' life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnick's status as one of the great biographers of our time.

Beginning with Presley's army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unravelling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis' relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It's a breathtaking revelatory drama that for the first time places the events of a too-often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context.

Elvis' changes during these years form a tragic mystery that Careless Love unlocks for the first time. This is the quintessential American story, encompassing elements of race, class, wealth, sex, music, religion, and personal transformation. Written with grace, sensitivity, and passion, Careless Love is a unique contribution to our understanding of American popular culture and the nature of success, giving us true insight at last into one of the most misunderstood public figures of our times.

Winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award
Winner of the Southern Book Critics' Circle Award for Non-Fiction
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year
An Esquire Distinguished Book of the Year
Salon Magazine's Top Five Non-Fiction Books of the Year
Winner of the 1999 Salon Book Award
People Magazine's Best Rock And Roll Books
Billboard's 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time

Review Quotes

"Let's get a little loud...Peter Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Aron Presley, of which Careless Love is the second installment, is not simply the finest rock-and-roll biography ever written. It must be ranked among the most ambitious and crucial biographical undertakings yet devoted to a major American figure of the second half of the twentieth century."--Gaerald Marzorati, New York Times Book Review

"Nothing written about Elvis Presley comes close to the detail, authority, and uncondescending objectivity that Peter Guralnick has brought to his two-volume biography...Hypnotic."--Andy Seiler, USA Today

"Riveting...A masterwork."--Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Peter Guralnick's books include the prize-winning two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love. He is a recent inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame. Other books include an acclaimed trilogy on American roots music, Sweet Soul Music, Lost Highway, and Feel Like Going Home; the biographical inquiry Searching for Robert Johnson; the novel, Nighthawk Blues, and Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. His most recent book is Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll.