Elvis Presley in the Media

Press Release

PUBLISHED JULY 2004

ELVIS PRESLEY:
The Man. The Life. The Legend.
by Pamela Clarke Keogh

Written with the rare assistance of Elvis Presley Enterprises, the bestselling author of Audrey Style and Jackie Style turns her attention to American icon Elvis Presley and explores the King of Rock and Roll through the prism of his music, life and style with her latest book, ELVIS PRESLEY: The Man. The Life. The Legend. (Atria Books, July 2004).

That voice, Graceland, the cars, the girls, the hair . . . Elvis Presley revolutionized American pop culture when, at age twenty-one, he became the worldÕs first modern superstar. A Memphis Beau Brummel even before he was famous, Elvis's personal style, like his music, had such a direct impact on his audience that it continues to permeate our world to this day. With Elvis Presley: The Man, The Life, The Legend (Atria Books), Pamela Clarke Keogh compellingly examines Elvis's life and style to reveal the generous, complex, spiritual man behind the fourteen-carat gold sunglasses and answers the question "why Elvis matters."

From his modest beginnings in a two-room house to his meteoric rise to fame, Elvis Presley is the story of one man's life. An American story, it tells of a man, a boy, really, born poor in Tupelo, Mississippi. But he could do one thing: he could sing to break your heart.

Elvis was the first. Before the Beatles, before the Rolling Stones, before U2, before Eminem, there was Elvis. The original Slim Shady, he was black and white, rhythm and country, hot and cool. His appearance on Ed Sullivan ripped the 1950's in half, and America was never the same. In the beginning, Elvis did not understand the audience's ferocious response to him. But he quickly learned to harness it, toying with his screaming fans like a lover. Onstage, something came over him. He was a different person - freer, able to express himself, musically articulate as he never was in conversation. People loved him and he gave their love back to them in kind.

The first modern superstar, Elvis was almost pure style. Tolstoy believed that one way to judge art was if it got a response - either good or bad. Everything about Elvis was provocative. His clothes, his hair, the way he sang, the way he moved on stage, his half kidding sneer. Adults, church leaders, the great dull morass that makes up acceptable society considered Elvis a joke but Leonard Bernstein saw his impact: "Elvis Presley is the greatest cultural force in the Twentieth Century," he proclaimed. "He introduced the beat to everything and he changed everything - music, language, clothes. It's a whole new social revolution - the Sixties came from it."

In addition to his extraordinary talent, physical beauty and the sheer fun of being the biggest entertainer in the world, Elvis Presley: The Man, The Life, The Legend explores the shadows of Presley's life - which were as necessary to his stardom as the spotlight. While exploring his ambition, desire, fame, life on the road, women and money, Elvis Presley: The Man, The Life, The Legend also examines the cost of being an artist in todayÕs society.

Written with the assistance of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Elvis Presley: The Man, The Life, The Legend draws on extensive research and interviews with Presley friends and family, including Priscilla Presley, Joe Esposito, Jerry Schilling, Larry Geller, Bernard Lansky, famed Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby and designer Bill Belew. Granted access to the Graceland archives, Keogh culled thousands of images to choose the over 100 color and black and white photographs in the book, many of which have rarely been seen before.

In Elvis Presley: The Man, The Life, The Legend, Keogh introduces readers to the distinct Elvises that emerged throughout his career, complete with fascinating insights into his life and times. The result is both an entertaining exploration of the King of Rock and Roll and a timely, provocative celebration of what Presley means to America today. It is a book no fan - or future fan - should be without.

Pamela Clarke Keogh is the author of two international bestsellers, Audrey Style (HarperCollins, 1999), a biography of Audrey Hepburn, and Jackie Style (HarperCollins 2001), a biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, written with the assistance of both the Hepburn and Kennedy families. In addition to being on the New York Times, Barnes & Noble and amazon.com bestseller lists, Ms. KeoghÕs books were featured on the Today Show, Larry King Live, and Dateline NBC, as well as hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles across the country. Ms. Keogh lives in New York City and cannot wait to return to Memphis.

Atria Books is a division of Simon & Schuster, part of the entertainment operation of Viacom Inc., a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and multimedia formats. Its divisions include the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Online, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.SimonSays.com