Elvis culture : fans, faith, & image /

Doss (fine arts and American studies, Univ. of Colorado) offers a deft, thoughtful, highly informed analysis of "Elvis culture." She explores the collecting and emotional mania of EIvis's legions of fans and the resulting mega-industry of Elvis products, heavily (but not totally) controlled by Priscilla Presley and Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. Collecting and viewing what Doss refers to as "Elvis stuff" is epitomized by the enormous collections of Paul MacLeod and his son Elvis Aaron Presley MacLeod at GracelandToo in Holly Spring, Mississippi. Fans join Elvis clubs, visit Graceland, establish shrines in their homes, create "artistic" characterizations, and often clash over Elvis's meaning and legacy. Doss is particularly adept in discussing the complex legacy of Elvis's image in terms of gender and race. She more than adequately fulfills her goal of offering "ways to think about how popular images are made meaningful in contemporary America." Dozens of illustrations highlight the text, and the endnotes document the depth of Doss's research. Highly recommended for all libraries supporting studies of popular music and culture, and a fitting companion to Greil Marcus's Dead Elvis (1991) and Peter Guralnick's two-part biography Last Train to Memphis (CH, Apr'95) and Careless Love (1999). R. D. Cohen; Indiana University Northwest

If Elvis is dead, why does his image still permeate American culture, from postage stamps to Vegas stage shows? In her intelligent cultural analysis of one of this century's most revered, reviled and reviewed fan phenomena, Doss (Director of the University of Colorado at Boulder American Studies program) examines Elvis's enduring posthumous presence, among his unprecedented legions of fans as well as in the larger society that often looks askance at their fervent devotion. Exploring Elvis's multifaceted appeal, Doss argues convincingly that he crossed more than just musical boundaries, embodying the heady dangers of sexual ambiguity, racial transgression and even tackiness. Today, Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. owns and guards Elvis's "official" image, policing illicit and improper usage: the group outlawed black velvet paintings in 1995 and obtained a cease-and-desist order to prevent artist and devotee Joni Mabe from making buttons featuring "Elvis's Hair." Doss evinces an anthropologist's detailed interest in the permutations of Elvis culture, from the MacLeod family's cheerful GracelandToo, a two-story tribute to Elvis paraphernalia, to Kiki Apostolakos's shrine to her spiritual relationship with the KingÄbut the author is intrigued by more than just the artifacts and rituals. Her most striking insight is that Elvis's embodiment of contradictions allows aficionados and acolytes to engage in the ongoing process of creating Elvis's image, whatever Elvis Inc. may have to say. Doss's work is equally enjoyable for its considered analysis of fandom as for its vast catalogue of ways that fans honor their hero. The King may be dead, but his image is alive and well. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Twenty years after his death, Elvis Presley is still an American icon and shows no signs of flagging. Over a dozen new books about the King were published in 1998, and 60,000 fans show up at Graceland during Elvis week. Doss (Spirit Poles & Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities, Smithsonian, 1995) reveals the forces behind this obsession with the singer/actor whose image graces everything from stamps to car deodorizers. Through interviews with fans worldwide, Doss answers the question, Why Elvis? and examines the contradictory images of Elvis as idealized, rags-to-riches saint and transgendered erotic idol. Concluding that the phenomenon is a result both of the giant corporation that controls Elviss legacy and the fans who remake it to suit their own fantasies, Doss creates a very readable discussion of the origins and purposes of the popular image in society. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.Kelli N. Perkins, Herrick P.L., Holland, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.