Baby, Let's Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him

Excellent book!! I'm am so glad that I picked this book out of many that I own to read and do recommend this book to any Elvis fan. It's so full of exciting things that happened in his life like his concerts, tours and specials that you can match up with the very popular pictures we all have seen a million times and makes you feel like you were there behind the scenes watching it happen.But also, it tells of all the ups and downs of the worlds most famous man known by everyone in the world by his first name , Elvis.It shows a man that was unable to find true love in his terms, which isn't reality. Almost as if Elvis never grew up and matured like a normal man. I found it to be very sad to be Elvis, to have everything at your feet, but never feeling satisfied with his life and always looking for something that just wasn't there. Even though he was "The King" he was still unable to have the stable family, that I felt he really wanted and couldn't understand why he couldn't have it. He wanted his freedom to do all he wanted, while the wife should stay house and be faithful. No woman in my eyes even for Elvis, would be able to put up with that kind of emotional behavior. The strange thing is, is that he didn't ever see it that way? Elvis seemed to be a victim of his God given talent and just couldn't seperate his image from his personal life. Thank you Alanna Nash, for all the research you had to go through to writing one book that covers possibly over a hundred people that were a part of Elvis' life in one way or another and all the time that you put into bringing a " honest book" to Elvis fans everywhere. I will reread this book again because it made me more knowledgeable on Elvis and also the book made me laugh a lot and also made me cry. Definitely one of the "BEST" books on The Life of Elvis Presley.

I have been in love with Elvis since I was 4 years old and will be as long as I’m alive. His is the only poster I ever pinned on my wall. My wedding song was Can’t Help Falling in Love, which a friend sang for us. I was blessed to have seen his concert at Madison Square Garden and my love and admiration for Elvis grew exponentially- being in his presence, even in such a gigantic arena, was forever imprinted in my soul. I witnessed his thoughtfulness and generosity as he would occasionally turn to face those of us sitting behind the stage (I have never seen that in any other concert I’ve attended. I was a fan who loved when he got married, although I would have preferred he marry Ann Margret, and read Priscilla’s book as soon as it came out. I was surprised by many of her claims but believed a lot of it without allowing it to taint my admiration for him. I recently visited Graceland and bought her book again because I couldn’t find my old copy. This time I realized I was reading one side of the story so I’m reading every everything I can get my hands on searching for the truth. I find that so far this the most detailed and unbiased book I’ve read. I admire that the author was respectful of everyone in Elvis’ life without judging. The book flows well and the chapters were well organized. I cried for the man who gave so much of himself and his fortune to family, friends, and acquaintances but, with few exceptions, most use and abuse his generosity. I cried for his inability to change his ideal of what makes the “perfect” mate; as the author concludes how he kept using the same script with every woman. I cried for his loneliness and emptiness. I now know Elvis so much more. I now love Elvis so much more.

It may not seem like it on its face, but this book is a good general Elvis resource.It offers perspective on his motivations and attempts to explain some of the Elvis behaviors that people have commonly considered...odd. While some of the psychological content seems reachy and unnecessary, the basic premise of the book - that Elvis' relationship (and life) failures are at least in part based in his overwhelming sense of grief and guilt at the loss of his stillborn twin, Jessie, and his mother, Gladys, who died young - seems correct and obvious. The author describes Elvis' romantic quests as futile attempts at a sort of reunion with his missing sibling and parent, and it makes perfect sense.The book is most informative and interesting, though, in its accounts of Elvis' family, loves, and friendships - and there's a lot of that. You will literally learn the names of every single woman who played a role in the development of Elvis as a person, from his mom, grandmother, aunts, and cousins to his high school friends and crushes to Priscilla, Linda, and Ginger. The author presents a variety of perspectives, which allows for a thorough evaluation of not just the man, but the myths that surround him, too. Take, for example, the commonly-repeated idea that Elvis wouldn't have sex with a woman who'd had children.While I love the encyclopedic detail, it makes for a long slog of a read. It also creates a complicated web of cross-references throughout the book. Nash organizes the book in a largely chronological way, but even so, the major theme clusters constantly and unavoidably refer forward and back in time. In her haste to weave together references to the past, present, and future in any give chapter, it seems like the author is not always as clear as she intends to be, sometimes making statements that appear contradictory (for example, saying something happened after Linda "left," referring to a period before Linda and Elvis had actually broken up; did she mean "left to read for parts in LA?") or simply just unsatisfactorily defined (like saying that Sheila Ryan was Elvis' first "hippie girlfriend," without really explaining what that means and why it's worth mentioning).The author makes an obvious, concerted effort not to take sides in any of the usual ongoing/unresolvable/controversial Elvisland foodfights, but she does slide into a bit of the "who's best for Elvis" speak in some points, with a gentle backhand or two at Ginger's expense. End of day, I think it's important for anyone taking honest psychological stock of Elvis to acknowledge that the "best for Elvis" speak is essentially a slippery slope into "girlfriend xyz failed Elvis" and a way to blame the women for his obsessions, demands, addictions, mistakes, and mental illnesses, when none of that was their fault. End of day, nobody failed Elvis but himself.

Well written book about Elvis..a must for his fans.

O livro veio em perfeito e é uma leitura maravilhosa!!!

I have a lot of Elvis books I found this one very INTERESTING

Lo recomiendo muchísimo. Aunque la teoría de la pérdida del hermano gemelo como explicación de su comportamiento me ha resultado tedioso y un poco excesivo, desde luego es un libro que recomiendo a cualquier fan.

Als Elvis-Fanfrau mit über 40-jähriger Sammel- und Leseerfahrung: Eine interessante Bereicherung, in der Frauen zu Wort kommen, die wegen ihrer Beziehung zu Elvis noch nicht so im Rampenlicht standen! Als Fan unbedingt lesen, allerdings auf Englisch!

Makes a lot of sense.