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

Meticulously researched and the author has a pleasant and very readable writing style. I was especially pleased to read about Natalie Wood's first meeting with Elvis and his entourage. That's not something usually repeated in other 'Elvis biographies. But she simply can't resist being an arm chair psychiatrist and spewing out ridiculous nonsense about Elvis' difficulties maintaining long term relationships with women because of his attachment to his mother and because of his dead twin. All in all a very rewarding book, but skim over the psychoanalysis

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.

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.

This has got to be one of my favourite reads about Elvis and his life . The book is well researched and written . I have been an Elvis fan for many years and thought I knew it all , this book told me facts that I never knew about Elvis . It was an honest account and very respectful account of Elvis's life . This book is a keeper and I intend to keep dipping into it to re read the facts. A book I think you could never get bored with. I'm sure all the ladies mentioned in the book are happy with the true but sensitive way Alanna Nash has written about their relationships with Elvis . I will definitely be ordering more of Alanna's Elvis books .

Rien de bien nouveau et beaucoup de ragots et potins sans que le principal interessé ait pu donner sa version, remarque valable pour tous ces livres d'ailleurs Dommage car les nouveaux "fans"n'ont pas la connaissance pour faire la part des choses et relativiser. Un peu ennuyeux au bout du compte.

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

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.