Description

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A vibrant, sympathetic portrait of the once and future king of rock 'n' roll by the award-winning author of Shiloh and In Country

To this clear-eyed portrait of the first rock 'n' roll superstar, Bobbie Ann Mason brings a novelist's insight and the empathy of a fellow Southerner who, from the first time she heard his voice on the family radio, knew that Elvis was "one of us." Elvis Presley deftly braids the mythic and human aspects of his story, capturing both the charismatic, boundary-breaking singer who reveled in his celebrity and the soft-spoken, working-class Southern boy who was fatally unprepared for his success. The result is a riveting, tragic book that goes to the heart of the American dream.

About the Author

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Bobbie Ann Mason is the author of The Girl in the Blue Beret, In Country, Shiloh and Other Stories, An Atomic Romance, Nancy Culpepper, and a memoir, Clear Springs. She is the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, two Southern Book Awards, and numerous other prizes, including the O. Henry and the Pushcart. She was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. She is former writer-in-residence at the University of Kentucky.

Praise For…

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If youÆre going to read one book to find out what Elvis was all about, MasonÆs is a good choice. She brings to the task a novelistÆs eye and the sensibilities of a Southern girl who came of age in the 1950s. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

If youÆre going to read one book to find out what Elvis was all about, MasonÆs is a good choice. She brings to the task a novelistÆs eye and the sensibilities of a Southern girl who came of age in the 1950s. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)