The book Elvis fans have long awaited--the intimate, honest recollections of Presley"s closest confidant and road manager, who was with him through the best and worst of times, and knew him better than anyone. The book contains 16 pages of rare photos from the author"s private collection. * Product Details Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 11, 1994) Language: English ISBN-10: 0671795074 ISBN-13: 978-0671795078 Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews) Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #875,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) Did we miss any relevant features for this product? Tell us what we missed. Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price? Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly Esposito met Elvis Presley in the army. In 1960, when both were discharged, he accepted Elvis"s offer of a job, becoming one of the "Memphis Mafia," the inner circle of friends and employees who went virtually everywhere with the King until his death in 1977. With freelance journalist Oumano, Esposito writes of a puerile fantasy lifestyle, the chief pleasures of which were boyish pranks and the pursuit of women. Elvis emerges as both charmingly naive and a tyrannical prima donna, while his much-maligned manager, Colonel Parker, was, Esposito maintains, simply a shrewd businessman who cared about his protege"s best interests. Esposito soft-pedals some of the more controversial aspects of Presley"s life, e.g., his drug abuse and womanizing, but on the whole the singer portrayed in these pages, one of the most mythologized figures in American culture, seems human and perhaps even likable. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. * From Library Journal Even during his 1958-60 army stint, E (as close friends called Elvis) surrounded himself with a group of loyal male friends who were also his assistants. Esposito was quickly assimilated into this group of merry men, who soon became known as the Memphis Mafia. The name came about because Esposito was an Italian from Chicago, and Elvis was intrigued by the idea that he might be involved in organized crime (although he was not). After Elvis completed his tour of duty, Esposito served as his personal manager for almost 20 years, looking after every wide-ranging detail of his personal life. He made sure that Elvis was where he needed to be and that he was fed and comforted; Esposito was partly responsible for placing a constant stream of beautiful women at Elvis"s disposal. In a crowded field, Esposito"s book offers a unique view of Elvis"s life and thus belongs in public libraries that can afford another Elvis biography. Regina Beach, Mississippi State Univ. Lib., Mississippi State Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. See all Editorial Reviews * Most Helpful Customer Reviews 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful Warm and honest portrayal of a celebrity friend By Marsena Cook on August 18, 2002 Format: Paperback I appreciate Mr. Esposito"s warm and honest portayal of Elvis Presley as a complex, imperfect, yet sincere human being as well as a great performer. I especially appreciated his clarification of Elvis" relationship with blacks, and relieved to hear accounts from Myra, one of the members of the Sweet Inspirations (the black female group that did background with Elvis from the late 60s until his death) that Elvis was not a racist and treated blacks with respect, courtesy and admiration. (in fact, he appreciated black music as a child sneaking to black churches to hear the singing). The only thing that bothered me was his account of the late J.D. Sumner and the Stamps running around chasing women the same as Elvis did. Even if it were true, this must be very painful for his widow and children to hear, and I think Esposito should have at least spoken to J.D. before he published something of this nature about him (I believe that J.D. passed away after the book was published). I"m sure if Elvis (who deeply respected gospel music) were alive, he would be appalled. Other than that, the book was very good. * 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful A fine EPE approved book..... By DAK77 on September 27, 2011 Format: Hardcover I remember when this book came out in "94 and I was still a pretty new Elvis fan. Then the years went on and I learned that there were two Elvis worlds; the EPE inner-circle world and the real world. Esposito is in the EPE payroll world, along with Schilling, Priscilla etc. Guys like Lacker, Billy Smith etc. they"re in the world that actually existed from 1935-1977. The book has some good stories but Esposito has a tendency to over-portray himself as Elvis" best friend and right-hand man. Yeah, he was his road manager for the tour years but he was also a huge liability to Elvis (i.e. the racquetball lawsuit). I think we as the readers need to take into consideration that every one of Elvis" mafia guys wanted to be his best friend (just read any of the other books) so many of the opinions will be weighted. Out of all of the books I have read about Elvis" life, I recommend Alana Nash"s book that she wrote with Billy Smith, Lamar Fike and Marty Lacker. You"ll get many more believable stories and you"ll see the real Esposito away from the EPE facade portrayed in this book. I don"t hate Esposito but from meeting him and reading this book and a slew of others, I think he was a gold digger that was like so many others in Elvis" life, a leach. Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes N