Elvis was blessed with many gifts from his Creator. Early on in his life, he had good intentions and morals. Fame and money probably came too fast - quicker than any old southern boy could handle back in those days (even by today’s standards). Temptation followed the man everywhere he walked. He indulged in it all; though, his hypocrisy about illegal drugs was almost comical - his demise was due to abuse of countless prescription drugs. All and all, the last several years of his life were sad ones. He appeared to be on top of world with his fans. Behind the scenes, things were nightmarish by all accounts, Guns, women, sex, divorce, drugs, ego, money and several other aspects finished him off in the end. I’ve seen some interviews with Sonny and Red West (& Hebler) - they seem sincere and honest. Elvis lived like a wild man and included these guys in the experiences. They were family and willing to die for him (Especially Red & Sonny). In the end, they were tossed out of the Memphis Mafia like trash on the street. Red West had every reason to be angry at Elvis - I’m sure that this book was a payback. Red was there for Elvis in high school, worked with him for bread crumbs early on and still made a limited income near the end. Elvis was frugal (maybe cheap?) when it came to paying salaries for his entourage. Yes, he bought them houses and cars on a whim over the years. However, he never respected their professional skills nor were they compensated equitably for their work. All of the gentlemen have passed now. I hope that this book enabled them to have some comfort and stability in life. Next year, Tom Hanks stars as Col. Parker in a new Elvis movie. Elvis has left the stage? Yes, but he still lives on today with renewed interest. Will folks still be interested in Elvis & Graceland a 100 years from now? That’s a good question.

I love traveling and learning a bit more of all the places I visit. I visited Graceland and the empire built around it three years ago; since then I’ve been interested in reading this book because I couldn’t understand how a person who had everything, lost interest in life. This book depicts a life of excess and how having everything makes you feel you don’t have more dreams or challenges to fight for in life.
It’s not a book for an Elvis’ fan, I’m not in fact, but I cannot deny Elvis’ talent and charm. This book was written by a journalist, based on three Elvis’ bodyguards’ experiences while working for him. The writer did a great job, if you watch any interview from these bodyguards you realize they didn’t have the power to convey their ideas in the way the journalist did. The book exaggerates feelings and reactions to grab your attention and adds comments to bias your understanding of the situation. If what it’s told is true or not, who knows, but I enjoyed it.
By the way, the book mentions that Elvis’ mansion (Graceland) was named by himself, but according to the tour I took, the mansion already had this name when Elvis bought it, it was in honor of one of the previous owner’s family member (the aunt, I think).
This book is difficult to find unless you want to pay more than $100, I feel very grateful to this site for sharing ‘Elvis: what happened?’ with its readers!

A book I have waited to read for decades and so glad I did I'm a huge fan of Elvis and still am let's not forget this book was wrote in anger due to the 3 bodyguards being layed off and yes Elvis was by far perfect but it shows me how human he was. That's to say if I believe every word written either way a good read

How very sad he rose so high and fell so far, alone and addicted. What happened? Now I know to much about him, and my love as a fan has been extinguished. SAD.