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Here at last is the full, true, and mesmerizing story of Elvis Presley's last two decades, in the long-awaited second volume of Peter Guralnick's masterful two-part biography. Last Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Presley, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "a triumph of biographical art." This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis's life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnick's status as one of the great biographers of our time.

Beginning with Presley's army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unraveling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis's relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It's a breathtaking, revelatory drama that for the first time places the events of a too-often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context.

Elvis's changes during these years form a tragic mystery that Careless Love unlocks for the first time. This is the quintessential American story, encompassing elements of race, class, wealth, sex, music, religion, and personal transformation. Written with grace, sensitivity, and passion, Careless Love is a unique contribution to our understanding of American popular culture and the nature of success, giving us true insight at last into one of the most misunderstood public figures of our times.

Peter Guralnick is widely regarded as the nation's preeminent writer on twentieth-century American popular music. His books include Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway, Sweet Soul Music, Searching for Robert Johnson, the novel Nighthawk Blues, and Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke.

 
Reviews

 "Definitive."—Rolling Stone

"...Mostly what Guralnick is obliged to chronicle ...is the story of a man who gave up his creative life for the security of wealth and unquestioning friends....Careless Love documents the life of a sheltered bore who turned his miracle into a tragedy as well as a joke."—Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly

"Together [Guralnick's two Elvis books] make up a 1,100-page masterwork — a streamlined and riveting narrative tracing the rise and fall of arguably the most important entertainer of the century."—Craig Havighurst, Wall Street Journal

"...This volume tells a far more depressing tale than its predecessor....he gives us a harrowing...litany of lost opportunities, failed movies, manic enthusiams...and crazed drug binges....Mr. Guralnick manages to recount such events without indulging in the faintest bit of voyeurism or sensationalism..."—Michael Kahutani, New York Times