Elvis and Me by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley: A Book Review

I'm trying to mentally "digest" this book! I picked up Priscilla's Presley's book Elvis and Me (1985) from the hotel gift shop. It's her personal account of their 18 year relationship, that began when she was only 14. I read it in 2 nights and highly recommend it. She talks about what she experienced with Elvis in vivid detail. You can actually picture what she went through as you read it. Their love story had good times, but the bad times are disturbing and went on for so long. Elvis (according to her) was a philanderer, at times abusive, and controlling. A movie (Elvis and Me) was made in '88 (Part 1 and Part 2), but the movie softens what she wrote in the book.

She mentions in the book: A bruised arm and black eye, in return from hitting Elvis too hard during a pillow fight ... a chair hurled at her and records hitting her in the face, because she didn't like a song ... she was reprimanded for having chipped nail polish on one toe ... she was told what to wear, not to wear and sent upstairs if it was wrong ... she was criticized if dinner was not to his liking ... she nor anyone else said anything when Elvis entered a room, until his mood was revealed ... she was told a woman has her place ... she was given prescription drugs that caused her to pass out for 2 days ... she was nearly raped by one of his employees ... when she questioned him about looking at a woman, his reply was "look woman...no one tells me who I can look at and who I can't" ... when she questioned him about another woman, his response was "you're getting a little too aggressive and demanding...took all her clothes out the closet....threw them on the floor...said all right woman...start packing...and yelled out to one of his employees to get her on the next flight out. You need someone to take you right to this point AND PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE (this was Elvis technique of keeping me (her) under control) Elvis detested aggressive women ... Elvis had her walking around the house with a book on her head, because he felt she had poor posture ... she was constantly informed of her shortcomings, and she would have to PROMISE that he'd never have to tell her of her shortcomings again. Are you exhausted yet? LOL Oh there's MORE! She couldn't talk to any man alone ... He yelled at her if he couldn't find a suit or if it wasn't picked up from the cleaners ...When she got pregnant, she ate only one meal a day and snacked on apples and hard-boiled eggs so she wouldn't gain much weight (she was worried about losing Elvis)...Elvis had the nerve to tell her he wanted a trial separation when she was seventh months pregnant. I'll just stop here. TRUST ME, I haven't told you NEARLY everything in this book. It's a page turner!

Did Priscilla mention anything GOOD about Elvis? HaHaHa Yes! Elvis was amazingly good looking, charming and giving. He was very generous to his family, employees and charities (money and gifts). He was very spiritual! However sometimes he didn't always live a "spiritual" life. They took a lot of trips and went on vacation a lot. He didn't shy away from African-Americans, during a time of extreme racism. He was always for the underdog and was a man of his word.

My overall opinion, after reading the book! Elvis was a gorgeous package on the outside, but there were many problems within (suffered from depression, addicted to prescription drugs, abusive (remember abuse can be mental, physical and/or verbal), controlling, perfectionist to an extreme degree). It was a toxic mix for him and anyone around him to deal with!

"He {Elvis} 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. Over the years, he became my father, husband and very nearly God." Priscilla Presley

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff)  

Elvis and Me is Supersweet