Book 'The Elvis Encyclopedia'

[Didi]

One of the most remarkable books in 2008 is 'The Elvis Encyclopedia'. Without any promotion, this book arrived in all silence in the stores, but it contains a true treasure of Elvis info.

Like the titles says, it is an encyclopedia and it comes in handy if you are looking for some extra info of every aspect in Elvis' life. Some items are explained very basic, while others - like the word 'will' - is very detailed with the complete text of Elvis' last will.

Without any doubt, this book is going to be one of the favourites on many holiday wish lists...


Source: epgold.com

[Herbi]

...einfach ein schönes bild das man hier für das cover ausgewählt hat !!

[crawfish]

Wobei mir das Bild egal ist. Der Inhalt ist das Wesentliche. Kennt jemand das Buch? Empfehlenswert?

[gast-20111607]

Den gleichen Titel hat doch dieses Stanley Buch...

[crawfish]

Den gleichen Titel hat doch dieses Stanley Buch...

Echt?

Na, dann... Schade, ich dachte, das wäre mal wieder was fürs Regal.

[MARIE]

Book Review:
"The Elvis Encyclopedia"

'Flawed release is none the less...........mandatory reading'

The Elvis Encyclopedia, Adam Victor, Overlook Buckworth, USA, 2008, Hardback (d/j), 598 pages, Illustrated, ISBN-13: 978-1585675982.

Finally.........Adam Victor’s long awaited book, The Elvis Encyclopedia, has been released. Was it worth the wait? In EIN’s opinion……yes.

Following a one-year delay, the hefty 598 page book is not cheap, but it does contain a mine of information. Be it lists of Elvis’ singles, albums or Platinum & Gold Awards; favorite restaurants; girlfriends; film co-stars; session musicians; likes-dislikes; Elvis’ ancestry; or what is Elvis’ lowest selling record, the breadth of information that Adam Victor has gathered is staggering!

There are also individual entries for each of Elvis’ recordings and information ‘Sidebars’ on various interesting subjects. Virtually all aspects of Elvis’ life are covered!


While not perfect (no book of its type could be!), The Elvis Encyclopedia traverses the Elvis terrain in expansive and detailed fashion with many insights along the way. It is very obvious the amount of research and thought the author has put into his project.

The final product is necessarily a big book…….in size (31 x 22 x 4.3 cms), in pages (598), in weight (2.7kgs) and in content (vast).

As the title implies, Adam Victor has adopted a letter format, from A to Z, to present a seemingly endless amount of facts, trivia and commentary. The author acknowledges his book has a USA bias and this is understandable.

While the encyclopedia type format has been done before: e.g. The A-Z of Elvis (John Tobler, 1982); The Elvis Encyclopedia (Stanley & Coffey); The Ultimate Elvis (Patricia Jobe Pierce); Elvis: His Life from A to Z (Worth & Tamerius, 1988); ‘E’ Is For Elvis (Latham & Sakol, 1990) – in many respects, Adam Victor’s effort goes further (in some cases much further) than these earlier publications.

In particular, many readers will welcome Victor’s coverage of bootleg and FTD releases and the fact that his information is current to 2007.

Another strength of The Elvis Encyclopedia is the author’s near essay like entries on subjects including Colonel Tom Parker; Elvis’ Sex Appeal/Sex Life; and Elvis’ Record Sales.

The book's visuals are very strong, a pleasing mix of the familiar and not so familiar. Not surprisingly, being from the Paul Lichter Elvis Photo Archives, there are numerous rare photos. A full color and very suggestive full page visual (p. 271) is but one of many stand out photos which will entrance the reader.

The more than 400 photos are split evenly among b&w and color shots, and benefit from excellent page design, being well placed relative to the narrative.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen greater coverage of Elvis’ immense cultural impact in Victor’s work. He is particularly strong on Elvis’ music but considerably less so on Elvis’ pervasive and lasting cultural impact. While Elvis’ recordings are the essence of his appeal, more than 30 years after his death the Elvis icon has gone way beyond just his vast songbook.

Similarly, while both Albert Hand and Todd Slaughter justifiably have entries in The Elvis Encyclopedia, surprisingly absent are other iconic names such as Rocky Barra (Strictly Elvis), Rex Martin (Worldwide Elvis News Service Weekly) and Sid Shaw (Elvisly Yours).

Another area which could have been improved is Elvis’ concert appearances – providing attendance figures would have added real value.

I also found it interesting that the author does not address arguably the dominant publishing form around Elvis today – the Internet. Prominent Elvis websites feature high quality reviews, interviews and commentary and boast a larger readership than most new Elvis book releases.

While many books and magazines are identified by author and/or name in The Elvis Encyclopedia, the few references I (have so far noticed) about Elvis websites refer to them using terms such as “according to a reputable website”. They are not mentioned by name.

Adam Victor also makes a number of sweeping statements, e.g. “It is commonly believed that Elvis made a total of 665 recordings….”. Such claims should have been supported by references.

How one perceives these issues will be an individual thing.

Undoubtedly, Adam Victor’s book will please the majority of fans and general readers interested in knowing more about Elvis’ incredible career.

The Elvis Encyclopedia is not cheap. Its retail price of US$65.00, discounted to around US$30.00 by online sites including Amazon, means it is one of the higher priced Elvis books on the market. However, its large size, depth and breadth of information, and quality photographs, also means it offers appreciable value for money.

Ratings:

Book Design: Very Good

Photographs: Very Good (crisp & clear – from the extensive ‘Paul Lichter Elvis Photo Archives’)

Text: Informative (although at times unreferenced)

Value for Money: Very Good

Verdict: There are now two essential book purchases in 2008: Joseph Tunzi’s Elvis: ’68 at 40 and Adam Victor’s The Elvis Encyclopedia! Both have a very different emphasis, but both offer something to delight fans time and time again.

Buy The Elvis Encyclopedia (USA)

Buy The Elvis Encyclopedia (UK)

Comment on this review

[michael grasberger]

teurer spass, das ganze. gut 50 euro im regulären buchhandel...

[PatrickVaals]

50 euro stimmt schon, nach dieser review bin ich schon was mehr uberzeugt von dieses buch. Ich habe es gesehen, aber um 50 scheine nieder zu legen ohne info's, nein danke.

[gast-20090802]

50 euro stimmt schon, nach dieser review bin ich schon was mehr uberzeugt von dieses buch. Ich habe es gesehen, aber um 50 scheine nieder zu legen ohne info's, nein danke.

es gibt mehrere Bücher mit dem selben titel.

[Aleksandra]

es gibt mehrere Bücher mit dem selben titel.

Das Cover ist anders, das Buch wird wohl das gleiche sein, nur eine andere Auflage...

[PatrickVaals]

Das buch ist schon ein interessantes nachschlagwerk. Nicht alle info bei der foto's stimmt, mit was man seht. Ist einige richtige encyclopedie, man geht zum beispiel bei der S um intiemere sachen. Aber ob man das leben mochtet

[PatrickVaals]

Um mahl was mehr uber den inhalt zu sagen. Zum beispiel jeder song der elvis gesungen hat steht da drin. Ob es jezt um ein private aufname geht oder studio/ live. Man kan lesen wo man der song finden kan, ob es bootleg oder officiel ist. Es steht auch eine kleine liste mit bootlegs drin, die man fur essentiel halt. Weiter wichtige personen und orte wo elvis war in seinem leben.

[michael grasberger]

ich hatte heute in der mittagspause endlich mal zeit, das buch näher unter die lupe zu nehmen & finde es sehr gelungen!
nicht ganz mit soviel witz geschrieben wie die vergleichbare, vor 2 jahren erschienene "dylan encyclopedia" von michael gray, aber dafür sehr ausgewogen und um objektivität bemüht.
dass neben den einträgen zu personen, songs, filmen etc. auch einzelne themen wie z.b. "dreams" behandelt werden, gefällt mir besonders. als garnierung zu den einzeleinträgen gibt es noch passende zitate anderer musiker, elvisforscher, bekannter&verwandter.
das buch funktioniert sowohl als nachschlagewerk als auch zum ziellosen herumblättern und irgendwo hängen bleiben.
leider ist die qualität von papier und bindung schlecht, sodass sich gleich beim ersten aufschlagen alles wellt.
50 eulen sind mir jedenfalls zu teuer. vielleicht kommt ja mal eine paperbackausgabe (von mir aus auch ohne bilder) zu einem angemesseneren preis.

[Andi3]

Schönes Teil

Vieleicht ist es die Erste Ausgane von diesem Buch

[praytome]

One of the most remarkable books in 2008 is 'The Elvis Encyclopedia'. Without any promotion, this book arrived in all silence in the stores, but it contains a true treasure of Elvis info.

Like the titles says, it is an encyclopedia and it comes in handy if you are looking for some extra info of every aspect in Elvis' life. Some items are explained very basic, while others - like the word 'will' - is very detailed with the complete text of Elvis' last will.

Without any doubt, this book is going to be one of the favourites on many holiday wish lists...


Source: epgold.com

na da wollen wir mal hoffen das er nicht bei der stanley enzo abgeschrieben hat...