Customer Reviews

Priscilla, Elvis, and Me

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I found this book fascinating for the simple reason that it compliments Child Bride so well and so exactly, at different times and with different men in Priscilla's life. Follow the thread and you will find quite a bit of unsettling truth regarding her motivations, how she used both Elvis and Michael for her own plans and successes... but how this one backfired on her.

Whereas Elvis was an ultimate gentleman who always took the whole blame for everything she claimed as fault, onto him, Michael is no such person. Priscilla gets a taste of her own medicine from this cad who dishes it out and humiliates her with the rawness of his disclosures.

Without ever meaning to be, it is a fine kind of touche as well, to her book, Elvis And Me, whose lies enclosed there surely would have hurt Elvis even further, had he been alive to read it.

What woman who cares, leaves her teen daughter alone for weeks with a boyfriend like Michael?!?!?? Thank God Lisa has Elvis' "knowing things" nature, and walked away safely.

This book is only a fair read, because Michael actually shows how immature and of questionable character he is....but it does have value as it does show that Priscilla knew this, too, yet wanted what she wanted, and what she could get from him, over any of those concerns.

It brought me to tears to see how when Elvis visited Priscilla just before he died, she rebuffed him, even when he was so sick. Elvis was such a kind gentle spirit, truly only wanting to bring people joy. He had just asked to be held, saying he was so lonely. Very few people indeed, ever returned the favor of comfort Elvis bestowed on those who needed it - but there was little sent to Elvis, as he was surrounded by takers.

I believe this book somehow helps balance the story of "poor little me" that Priscilla puts out there with some truth about the purposeful way in which she has planned her life and her success in the limelight. Read it directly after reading Child Bride for the eye opening similarities. Then read Elvis and Me, and you'll clearly see the lies.....

Then weep for Elvis (or rejoice that he's finally out from under that mess). He deserved so much better, and Michael says it here, without even realizing it.

This book is written by Michael Edwards- a former top male model and actor - who was Priscilla Presley's live in lover from 1978 to 1984.
It is the story from his perspective of their romance and his life with Priscilla.
It is written with unflinching honesty and it flows easily with its smooth, unpolished prose.
He blames the stress and problems they had in their relationship to the strain of living under the Presley name and legend, but after reading the book, it seems to me that their issues were caused more by a constant stream of drinking and fast living in Elvis's shadow.

I'm sure that Priscilla must have been enraged by this book as it holds back almost nothing, and after reading it, I can't say I blame her.

The most controversial part of the book and what I'm sure must have caused a small uproar when it came out back in 1988 , was Edwards own admission that he had romantic and sexual feelings for Lisa Marie when she was in her early teens.
I'm shocked that Mr.Edwards actually came out and admitted that.
He must have been raked over the coals about that when doing the inevitable publicity that one does for a book like this.

As an interesting footnote,I did an internet search using Michael Edwards name and came across a couple of interviews with Lisa Marie from 2003 and his name was brought up and she had an angry reaction, called Mr. Edwards a few choice names and said that she had hated him when he was with her Mother , which is a different picture than is painted in the book.

Of course this is a one sided view of events, but I'd recommend this book to anyone, who would like a glimpse into Priscilla's life in the immediate years following Elvis's death.

A confession: I didn't finish this whole book, for the same reason I didn't finish a roast beef sandwich that contained a hair at lunch yesterday; it was simply too disgusting to continue . I DID read about 90% of it, but you don't have to examine every item in the trash bin, down to the bottom, once you've ascertained that it's garbage. This guy KILLS me, and, by his book's third chapter, I wanted to return the favor.
Michael Edwards dated Priscilla Presley from 1978 to 1985. It took her almost seven years to figure out what I did in about two days: this man was nothing but an egotistical, shallow, opportunistic interloper. Poor Lisa Marie Presley. In the books photo section (and are there ever PHOTOS- Good Grief.... these two just LOVED having their pictures taken; I quit counting at thirty-five), little Lisa looks sad, but also, she has a resigned look on her face, sort of a "if you can't beat'em, join 'em" kind of smile. Mr. Edwards DOES present some interesting tidbits about Priscilla, and even Elvis himself, which is the only reason I gave this book "***". Some of them:
--Edwards was with Priscilla on the first anniversary of Elvis' death, and he recorded that Priscilla was deeply depressed during that time. She brought Edwards with her to help clean Elvis' Palm Springs bungalow in preperation for sale. It was exactly the way Elvis left it on his last vacation, and Edwards describes finding "soiled bed linens and towels" . He calls the stains on them "bodily fluids", though he doesn't say how he knows this fact. While Priscilla is sadly gathering her ex-husband's personal things, all Edwards seems interested in is pawing through the King's treasures, and asking if he can have some of them,meanwhile splashing Elvis'fermenting bottle of "Brut" all over himself, even though he hated that particular brand of cologne.
--Although several sources, and (some reviwers on this site) state that Edwards was blatantly bi-sexual, there are no signs of that lifestyle in this book. On the contrary, he seems obsessed with every female he meets, especially Priscilla. While they were living together, he chased everything in heels. He and Priscilla cheated on each other repeatedly. He with whomever he was working with (he was a male model, and according to him, THE most in demand model of his- or any other- time); she with everyone from a fellow student in her acting class, to Julio Iglesies, capped by a humiliating, drunken one night stand with a very young Richard Gere, who never called her or responded to her calls, ever again. Edwards even details for the reader the indignant, baffled letter Priscilla wrote to Gere.
--The "Bombshell" in this bio is that Michael Edwards very plainly states that he became attracted to and subsequently "fell in love" with a pre-teen Lisa Marie, going so far as to sneak into her bedroom at night, and peering under her covers. Lisa pretended to be asleep, but the next morning, she and her mother good-naturedly confronted Edwards about it, who "explained" that he was feeling "down", and he wanted to just "look at" the child. Excuse me? Priscilla and Lisa dropped the subject; nevertheless, Priscilla told Michael that she would no longer be leaving her daughter alone with him , which she didn't.
--Priscilla became pregnant with his baby, and they debated over what to do about it. He half-way wanted the baby, but there were both worried about their "careers". He left the decision in Priscilla's hands, and she had an abortion. He wrote that they both cried, all the way home, and that they were profoundly depressed for months afterwards, lamenting that they should have had the child.
Edwards makes many observations, some of which astounded me, if only for his boundless temerity in making them. 1) He felt that he was "annointed" to "take Elvis' place"- a direct quote. He felt fate wanted him to be Lisa's surrogate "Daddy", and he even relates a "vision" in which Elvis lets him know that it was time for him (Elvis) to "let go", and let Edwards step in. Can you imagine the Elvis Presley we know and love, telling another man that he would gracefully "bow out" of his ex-wife and daughter's lives just so Edwards' dreams could come true? I'll bet Elvis cut a dance jibe from "Jail House rock" in his grave when he "heard" that one!
The saddest thing in the book, to me, is the adolescent life of Lisa Marie. She depended on an elderly couple in her mother's employ for some measure of stability, and spent most evenings in their quarters, watching T.V., and just talking. Lisa was heart-broken when they tendered their resignation, the couple explaining to Priscilla that they felt there had been "too many changes" in the past year and a half for their comfort. This maid and butler took an interest in Lisa, and upon learning of their departure, she told her mother that "they quit because of Michael!" When Priscilla said that they would have quit anyway, Lisa wandered the house for quite a while afterwards, often asking, "What am I going to do NOW? Who am I going to talk to. What am I going to DO?"
Though Edwards had his own career, both in modeling, and obtaining bit parts in movies (you may remember him as "Uncle Ted", the man little Christina caught making out with her mother, Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest") he freely admits that he adapted to the new "high life" very quickly, and very well. He spent Priscilla and Lisa's money unashamedly- which, in reality, means he spent Elvis' money on purusing his various interests. So, when did invested in shady deals and failed, it wasn't his shirt he lost- it was Lisa's.....
In reading this, I was reminded of the story from the "New Twilight Zone": a pathetic, lonely mis-fit of a man idolizes a beautiful star, played by "Vanity". He was granted three wishes, which he used to win her love. He asked for his own physical beauty, which made her want him. Then, he asked that she fall madly in love with him, which she did. Once her obtained her, however, he STILL wasn't happy, and one long night, "Vanity" inspired a revelation, by saying, "You're unhappy? You wanted to be with me, didn't you?"
"No", he says, the awful truth dawning on him as he answered," I don't WANT you.. I want to BE you!"- whereupon his last wish is granted, and he becomes a grotesque version of Vanity. I kept thinking of that show, unseen for twenty years, while reading Edward's bizarre observations. He didn't want PRISCILLA, he wanted ELVIS- and she and Lisa were the closest he ever came. Then, he veers off by comparing himself to Elvis, in every way, from his hair, to a character Elvis had played in one of his 1960's movies-- "prophetically"(yet another photo caption reads) a character named "Mike Edwards"! Spooky, huh? Gimme a break, fella...Elvis played a character by the name of "Mike Stone", too. Was Priscilla running off with the REAL Mike Stone "prophetic", too? Anyway, it dawns on him that he wants to BE "Elvis", so he begins to study his life and the two girls Elvis loved, with a tenacity that was almost frightening. It got disturbing, after a while.
I looked Edwrads "up" on IMDb, and he's basically dopped out of sight since the late '80s, after revealing to his ex Priscilla (who left him for Marco Garibaldi, father of her son)that this book was in the works. He'd promised her that he WOULDN'T write a book or give interviews about their relationship- yet she was flabbergasted when he did it anyway. "Gee, Priscilla," I thought, "He's breaking his word? Why, you'd think the guy had NO MORALS!"
If you're interested in Priscilla Presley, RAW and uncensored, and are curious about her true feelings about Elvis (she really did love him, very much), then this is the book for you. Edwards describes her sexual proclivities, her nominal, rare use of hard drugs, like cocaine, and her parenting methods-- she once "jumped on" Lisa Marie for sneaking around and lying to her. She grabbed her hair and kept slapping her, all outside. A neighbor called the police, and, according to Edwards, Priscilla "instructed" her daughter to tell the cops she was "fine".
I'm not privy to what goes on in Micahel Edwards' head (God be praised), but after reading this, I DO believe that he misguidedly thought he loved Lisa and her mother, and that he admired and idolized Elvis-- but that he was discontent just being one of the King's subject; he wanted to be near the King, and eventually, he wanted to BE the King. As has been written, "Envy so often passes for love...."

This is a book about two people who used each other. Priscilla used Michael for his modeling connections and Michael used Priscilla just to be part of Elvis's world. I felt Michael was more in "love" with Elvis than he ever was with Priscilla. What he wrote about Lisa Marie I thought was really sad. She was a neglected and sad little rich girl. When Michael wrote about himself his actions were embarassing and egotistical. He was always comparing himself to Elvis. Priscilla sounded more into herself than with him or Lisa. It certainly did not help his career after his involvement with Priscilla Presley. The pictures in the book were wonderful! I think the book would of been better if Michael had help creating the stories in a format with better wording and deleted stories that had no basis to his life with Priscilla and Lisa.

The only reason I read this book, was to understand the person who is Priscilla Presley a little more. Although, the book was obviously written for the money, it did give some interesting information. Priscilla is and always has been out for herself, and whatever she can get with the Presley name. I always suspected that, and I believe it even more now.

Wanted to read this as I believed the subject matter here to be potentially explosive: An avid Elvis fan from childhood shortly after the death of "the king" finds himself filling his role in the Presley family as Priscilla's lover and Lisa Marie's father figure.

Firstly I would start by saying I thought this book was a good read, short and sweet, unintentional humour not much waffling and surprisingly flowed well considering this guy actually wrote every word himself and he isn't a professional writer. Something good about this book in comparison to other Presley related novels is you can't help but believe that every last detail in the book is "unflinchingly honest" (as the blurb on the back cover states) as he delves into his deepest darkest thoughts about his romantic feelings for an underage Lisa Marie to whom he was a father-like figure referring to her as his "beloved" one time when he sneaked into her room when she was sleeping to "look at" her and recalling another time he was playing with her in the swimming pool and he got sexually aroused. Edwards also without openly stating it more or less admits that he was very obsessed with Elvis, he admits that as a kid he was a fan of Elvis Music and tried to style his hair like his, at the meeting with Priscilla he was desperate to meet her purely because of her association with him and he describes going into Elvis bathroom at his palm springs home stepping into the shower and smelling his "old wrung out wash cloth", amongst other things. It's not clear in the book as to whether he ever actually revealed to Priscilla how admiring he was of her ex husband.

The book also goes quite abit into his past before meeting Priscilla which is interesting because a lot of it can explain some of his erratic behaviour later in life and reveals the realities of life as a top model around this time. He again without saying it credits himself for getting Priscilla into acting as he kept trying to support her and push her to achieve her dreams and ironically helps Priscilla write her novel "Elvis and Me".

I loved the fact that whilst reading this novel I began to feel like I knew him inside out as he held nothing back and you could really tell that the egotistical, laid back, daredevil between the pages was the same one behind the keyboard, which I thought complemented the book in its entirety. I don't think Priscilla was portrayed badly at all except for close to the end although the author doesn't seem resentful towards her. Lots of celebs make brief guest appearances such as Cher, Muhammad Ali and Richard Gere.

To finish off I just want to say that I think this book has gotten more flack than it deserves yes it was wrong that he lusted after an underage girl but he never said that he made any advances towards her and it seems as if he did genuinely love Priscilla as the book went along. I also got a sense of how passionately the book was written and I don't think anyone was portrayed badly except for himself in his unashamedly witty manner. He seemed like nothing more than a harmless lost soul who was eager to step in and fill his idols shoes. At the end there's a "postscript" which I guess as it's based on a true story is the equivalent of a work of fictions epilogue where he explains the controversy the book receieved on its release, comments such as "He should be shot - or horsewhipped would be even better" but ends with the paragraph "What I know of Priscilla and Lisa today is the same as what you know; it's what I read in the press. I'm sorry we no longer communicate. It's their wish and I respect it. But it's very important that they know I will always be there if they need me. I never meant for my honesty to hurt anyone"

I picked this up at a lending shelf at a best western and kept skimming it the way that you can't turn your eyes away from a wreck on the highway.
If there was ever a more disgusting set of reflections from a more self involved exploitative human being I hope I don't read it.

The confidences he breaks are not worth repeating here, other than his discussions of the purity of his love for and arousal from the pre teen daughter of his lover and his descriptions of his physical abuse of women are enough to wonder why someone didn't press charges (of course you know why--the crap he writes about would have come out in court).

This is the kind of book that, should you find it in a library, should be recycled (not put in the sell pile, recycled). it offers a certain grim fascination of how gross a lifestyle certain celebs lead--but if tempted to look at it, figure out a way to do so that in no way will result in a royalty check to this sleazebag.

I was 2.5 when Elvis died. I did get a kiss from him as my late father ( whom i inheritated 2,00 books, cd's etc from him on Elvis). It is obvious Elvis appreciated his fans. It seems EVERYONE who was connected with him wrote a book. "Elvis And Me"- as I know the grammar is wrong and Priscilla knew but "Me" sounded better than "I."....well, Edwards was so desp for attention he added to the title for his own benefit. Even the BS books, they were page turners. I have read like 60 pages and am bored. Look at the first photo- a set of pics of him in uniform as well as Elvis. he used Priscilla for her fame to further her career and basically wanted Lisa at 14- close to the age of his daughter! I bet he would have loved to marry HER- a part of Elvis' flesh and blood. Elvis and me and now numerous books by the Preseleys, yes, Priscilla acts like a widow- bout from 14-2o something, he was all she knew...and we all know about Elvis' problems. But Elvis' well known affair with a redhead actress before he marrried even attended the funeral and Priscilla wrote kind words about her. As this book was in the works, I was an early teen and wrote her,and this was shortly after her son was born ( now he said she did not want another child- but later she did-and found the right man...obviously she felt doubts with him)and yes, although she kept the Presley last name, it is Lisa's last name. I would do the same..and Elvis and her were great friends after they split. She still fights for his image...despite the problems they had) and Priscilla wrote me back, sent me an 8X10 autographed photo- all with these distractions and knowing Edwards was going to do this. I will read the rest of the book, but despite he did have feelings for her, most of them were because of Elvis connections, as he compares himself to him- and used her for his career, if he truly loved and respected her, he would not have written this book.

Hi, I think this book is a piece of crap. The guy who wrote this book is a big looser. He has not comparision with Elvis at all. He wants to be better than Elvis trying to describe Elvis like stupid, fat and dump. He showed Priscilla like she was too much for Elvis. Also, this guy was kind the sick describing how he wanted to have sex with mother and daughter. I feel bad for Priscilla that had to live with this guy for 7 years. I actually this book make me feel soory for her. In conclusion, I don't believe what he said.