Elvis: In the Twilight of Memory

Author: June Juanico
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Arcade, 2012
Pages: 368
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: She was a good girl from Biloxi, Mississippi; he was a rockabilly singer on the verge of stardom. They fell in love in the summer of 1956, and found a timeless moment of innocence and simple pleasure. In this acclaimed, intimate portrait of the American legend, Juanico gives us the Elvis she knew and loved - the Memphis boy with aw-shucks charm, impeccable manners, and an easy and irresistable sensuality. Their lives merged quickly and completely: Elvis' mother, Gladys, felt June was her son's last hope against the excesses of life on the road and the corruption of fame. But Elvis was on a train that no one could stop. Selve possessed, June chose her own path; she left Elvis; determined never to look back. But in this completely disarming and fascinating memoir, she does look back, and proves she has remembered everything, every conversation, every story, and every caress. Elvis: In the Twlight of Memory gives us an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the man who would be King. 

Review: My newly discovered obsession with Elvis continues. To see how this came to be, click here.

I really enjoyed his former girlfriend's retelling of their life together. I came away with the same feeling I did after visiting Graceland, it's such a shame. He was a talented, humble visionary who didn't have the best judgement of a person's character. He was so focused on his music and giving his fans a show, that he couldn't be bothered with the business side of his career.

Maybe things would have turned out differently had his relationship with June Juanico worked. I tried to put myself in June's shoes and imagine what would it would have been like dating someone so high profile, and what it would have been like to move on with them. Then, how she must have felt at Elvis' death. Regret, bittersweet feelings, or maybe just "thanks for the memories?"

I don't often have hangovers from these sorts of books, but I sure did with this one.

American Daughter: A Memoir

Author: Stephanie Thornton Plymale
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: River Grove Books, 2020
Rating: 296

Synopsis: No one outside her immediate family would ever have guessed that her childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: a mentally ill mother who was in and out of jails and psych wards throughout Stephanie's formative years, neglect, hunger, poverty, homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a harrowing lack of medical care, and ongoing sexual abuse.

Stephanie, in turn, knew very little about the past of her mother, from whom she remained estranged during most of her adult life. All this changed with a phone call that set a journey of discovery in motion, leading to a series of shocking revelations that forced Stephanie to revise the meaning of almost every aspect of her very compromised childhood.

Review: So heartbreaking, but so well told. This made me grateful for my parents, my childhood, and it affirms that I'm doing okay with my own children.

The Last Train to Memphis

Author: Peter Guralnick
Genre: Biograpy
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 1995
Pages: 576
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been on of the most vivid and enduring myths of American culture.

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past the myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, it traces the evolution not just of the man, but of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely fresh portrait of Elvis and his world.

This volume tracks the first twenty-four years of El
vis' life, covering his childhood, the stunning first recordings at Sun Records (That's All Right, Mystery Train), and the early RCA hits (Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel). THese were the years of improbable self-invention and unprecedented triumps, when it seemed that everything that Elvis tried succeeded wildly. There was scarcely a cloud in sight through this period until, in 1958, he was drafted into the army and his mother died shortly thereafter. This book closes on that somber and poignant note.

Last Train to Memphis takes us deep inside Elvis' life, exploring his lifelong passion for music of every sort (from blues and gospel to Bing Crosby and Mario Lanza), his compelling affection for his family, and his intimate relationships with girlfriends, mentors, band members, professional associates, and friends. It shows us the lonliness, the trustfulness, the voracious appetite for experience, and above all the unshakable, almost mythical faith that Elvis had in himself and his music. Drawing frequently on Elvis' own words and on the recollections of those closest to him, the book offers an emotional, complex portrait of young Elvis Presley with a depth and dimension that for the first time allow his extraordinary accomplishments to ring true.

Review: We decided to visit Memphis and Graceland for Spring Break. While I like some of Elvis' music and know a little about him, I wanted to be more prepared. I found Last Train to Memphis at my local library.

It was so dry. So so dry. Here is a person and a time period, AND general subject matter (music) in which I have an interest, and I felt like the book could have been a cure for insomnia.

Anyway, I made it through and actually enjoyed some of the chapters, toured Graceland, and then toured Sun Studio (also in Memphis). It's a fantastic tour and I came away from that trip, a fan.

At the end of the tour, I told the guide I had read this book and thanked him for making it come to life. I felt validated when he made a face and mentioned that this book is a touch read, very dry.

So, there you have. An expert in the field had a hard time getting into this book. It wasn't just me. It's unfortunate too because Elvis was an interesting guy, music at that time was changing, and we wouldn't have the music of today without the artists of the 1950s.

Me & Patsy Kicking Up Dust

Author: Loretta Lynn
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2021
Pages: 240
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Loretta Lynn and the late Patsy Cline are legends - country icons and sisters of the heart. For the first time ever Loretta tells their story: a celebration of their music and their relationship up until Patsy's tragic and untimely death.

Full of laughter and tears, this eye-opening, heartwarming memoir paints a picture of two stubborn, spirited country gals who'd be damned if they'd let men or convention tell them how to be. Set in the heady streets of the 1960s South, this nostalgia ride shows how Nashville blossomed into the city of music it is today. Tender and fierce, Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust is an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that defined a generation and changed country music indelibly - and a meditation on love, loss, and legacy.

Review: I am a big Patsy Cline fan and I love Loretta Lynn too. Despite those facts, I found this short book a long one to slog through. It just wasn't that compelling, in fact, I was rather bored with it.

The Dutch House

Author: Ann Patchett
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019
Pages: 352
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin and enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing on everyone he loves.

The story is told by Cyril's son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they're together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they've lost with humor and rage. But when at last they're forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between and indulged brother and over-protective sister is finally tested.

Review: I absolutely loved this character-driven novel. The house is as much as a character in the novel as it is a backdrop.

I found myself falling into Maeve and Danny's world easily and being absorbed by the story. I read rave reviews about the audio version (read by Tom Hanks) as well. 

This was my first Ann Patchett novel, and I have t
o hope many of others are just as good.

The Four Winds

Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2021
Pages: 464
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis:

Texas, 1921. A time of abudance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman's only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows. 

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa's tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa - like so many of her neighbors - must make an agonizing choice; fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

Review: I first took an interest in the Dust Bowl when I read Timothy Egan's book, The Worst Hard Time. Kristin Hannah's last few books have been excellent so I was excited to see she had one set during this time period. This did not disappoint.

One of my friends commented that nothing good happens at all, ever in the book, and while that's true, there is a lot going on in this novel. Nobody writes relationships better than Hannah, and this is a believable and engrossing human experience during what was truly an awful and seemingly never-ending time of poverty in the United States.

Other Kristin Hannah Novels
Angel Falls
Summer Island
The Great Alone
The Enchantment
The Nightingale
The Women
True Colors

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics

Author: Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Chronicle Books, LLC, 2020
Pages: 480
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics is a landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend.

As told by Dolly Parton in her inimitable words, explore the songs that have defined her journey. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished images from Dolly Parton's personal and business archives.

Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 175 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics. 

Review: When I picked this book up from the library, I immediately thought, "no way." It's huge. It weighs about 5 pounds is big (about 14 inches top to bottom). I started flipping through it and found it quite readable. With a lot of large, color photos, and blurbs about various songs and Dolly herself it was a fast read. I read the whole thing in one day. Some of the songs were unfamiliar to me so I had a good time watching and listening to them on youtube.