The Life of Elvis Presley: Fortunate Son

Is there anything left to be said about Elvis Presley's life since the publication of Peter Guralnick's two-volume biography in the late 1990s? Even Ponce de Leon, who teaches history at SUNY-Purchase, acknowledges his significant debt to Guralnick in an "interpretive biography" that skims over many of the details of Presley's life to focus on cultural context. Unfortunately, this doesn't lead to a new appreciation, just a retread of some familiar themes. Thus Elvis was "influenced by the products of a national mass culture" until he became one of that culture's greatest icons while creating a sound that wove together various strains of music from Southern whites and blacks. The presentation is so compressed that much of the music and many movies are elided, and even the personal details are packed tightly into a psychological reading that sees Presley's downward spiral as an attempt to escape the pressures of fame in "an alternate universe governed by his own whims and predilections." Ponce de Leon's portrait is sympathetic, confidently defending Elvis from those who would brand him a racist, but this is all just reinforcement, not reappraisal. The competent, workmanlike retelling of Presley's life won't alienate fans, but neither will it spark debate. (Aug.)