Elvis and Me by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley

This was a book that made me re-evaluate my perspective of Elvis Presley. I grew up on his music, went to see Graceland as a kid, and watched his movies with my Mom. This book changed the way I looked at him, his music, and his character. I had heard stories about him when I was younger but most of it had been over his love for collecting badges and his favorite peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

When my Mom picked up this book, I was eager to read it. I wanted to know how Priscilla lived with Elvis, how their relationship had started, and what made it end. All of this I was eager to read.

Looking back, I saw Elvis was not a great person of character. He was controlling of his wife, made her dress a certain way, and believed once she gave birth he could not touch her anymore. He went on to have numerous affairs even going as far as to flaunt them in the newspapers. He did not care whether he hurt her feelings or not.

No matter how much you spin it - Elvis was a horrible human being. He did not care for anyone except himself (there was an exception to this equation as he adored his mother, Gladys, beyond all measure).

Priscilla tries to spend a romantic relationship with Elvis but it is anything but. She might love him, the lifestyle he could provide her, and the daughter they had together, but he kept her eyes in rose-colored glasses and in a bubble I doubt she realized he had placed her in. When he met her, she was young, impressionable and he was something new and shiny in her life. I think, because of this, she never realized that he was the one controlling the puppet strings he had placed on her.

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