The Elvis Encyclopedia
Overlook Press, October 2008
210 full-color photographs
210 black & white photographs
More than thirty years after his death, Elvis Presley remains indelibly
etched into the American psyche. As the Elvis of myth -- an embodiment of
the American Dream in the flesh -- has become synonymous with Elvis the
man, the subject of countless books, articles and songs, it has become
increasingly hard to discern who Elvis really was. By combining
obsessive research with absorbing writing, Adam Victor, author of the
bestselling The Marilyn Encyclopedia,
sifts through the competing versions of events throughout Elvis's life
and traces a young man's path to immortality. The Elvis Encyclopedia, the product
of over six years of research, was created to help bring order to the
massive amount of material written about Elvis Presley. In doing so, it
stands as the most comprehensive book about his extraordinary life and
legacy ever published.
The Elvis Encyclopedia is also a visual compendium of Elvis's life,
offering hundreds of photographs, ranging from never-before seen
unposed moments to the extraordinary iconic images the world has come
to love.
With this definitive one-stop resource, fans and scholars finally have
easy access to all of the information on Elvis's life and times,
testing what is real against legend. The facts are represented in
full -- a childhood mired in poverty; his unstoppable rise to the top with
over 150 gold, platinum, or multi-platinum albums; 31 feature films,
and 14 Grammy awards; his marriage to Priscilla; his early death.
Entries cover every significant aspect of Elvis and his world from
family members, lovers, benefactors, mentors, agents, directors,
co-stars, and coaches.
The Elvis Encyclopedia surpasses everything that has come before
it. It is a true testament to the legend that is Elvis Presley.
hardcover | ISBN: 9781585675982 | Publication Date: October 2008
Reviews:
“This obsessively detailed and completely entertaining chronicle
by Victor of every possible aspect of Elvis Presley’s life is
mesmerizing and deserves a wide audience. Elvis fans will delight in
the many famous and rare photos illustrating entries on the
King’s every song, album and movie as well as his complete last
will and testament. But nonfans will marvel at such meticulously
researched entries as “Religion” (a vision of “Stalin
and Jesus in a high bank of cloud” made Elvis consider
“joining a monastery”), as well as a comprehensive
state-by-state list of Hotels Where Elvis Stayed.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Everything Elvis! From facts on Jean and Julian Aberbach, the
Austrian-born brothers whose music publishing company represented Elvis
Presley for 22 years, to David Zenoff, the Nevada Supreme Court judge
who presided over his marriage to Priscilla in Las Vegas, the Elvis
Encyclopedia covers the King from A-Z. Author Adam Victor spent six
years sifting through nearly everything ever written or filmed about
Elvis to compile the coffee-table book. In addition to 500 color and
black-and-white photographs, it also includes several never-before-seen
images of the Memphis man who became an American music icon.”
– Southern Living
“The King lives on (and on) in The Elvis Encyclopedia by Adam
Victor, perhaps the most comprehensive Elvis tome ever. With lavish
color photos and information organized into a reader friendly format,
this book covers the hip-shakin’ rocker from A to Z.”
– Los Angeles Confidential
"Six years in the making, Adam Victor's Elvis Encyclopedia is just what
its title proclaims - a sprawling, 600-page distillation of everything
that might conceivably be said and thought about the King, with 500
photographs, many never before published, and extended notes on every
song Elvis recorded. . . Improbably rich, admirably thorough, Victor's
compendium lends weight to the thought that the Elvis phenomenon
reached nearly every corner of the world."
– Kirkus Reviews
“Adam Victor has followed his compendium of all known facts about
Marilyn Monroe with this remarkably handsome volume on another modern
icon - the greatest rock artiste of our time, and (arguably) the most
influential singer of any time. If you want to know about Elvis and
guns and telephones, how many paternity suits were filed against him,
what books he read and even what breed of dog he gave his last-but-one
girlfriend, this book is for you. As a visual compendium of Elvis and
his times the work is outstanding, and students of rock'n'roll history
have a valuable resource of quotes, pictures and facts - for every
detail of every single record is here, as well as the names of
musicians he worked with, those singers he influenced and the credits
for all his movies, down to “Colonel Tom Parker - technical
adviser”. (The old rogue looked after himself more than he looked
after the genius he managed.) Victor notes that his encyclopedia is
“longer than the Old Testament”; certainly to
fundamentalist Elvis nerds it will be as valuable as the Bible."
– The Times (UK)
