Reply With Quotedon't always believe what you read, that is so true.
Since I have been in some interesting discussions here that invlove this book I thought I would investigate it some more.This book is often quoted here as factual.Contrary to what some people might think I dont follow Priscilla's life at all.So I was surprised to find out that she sued Currie Grant of Child Bride for slandering her.I didnt know this.I was even more surprised to learn she won the lawsuit against him and recieved damages.It just proves dont believe everything you read.The book didnt hold up in court so why would anyone quote it?It was proven to contain fabricated stories in it.The Truth Shall Set You Free
Jak
Last edited by jak; 12-01-2006 at 06:36 AM. Reason: Incorrect statement
don't always believe what you read, that is so true.
Without a song,the day would never end.
Without a song,a man ain t got a friend.
Without a song,the road would never bend,
so I keep singing a song. Elvis Presley
LA superior court judge Daniel Curry ruled in August 1988 that Grant was guilty of defamation.He stated Grant made totally false statements that were repeated and used as a source for the book Child Bride.So much for the well researched book.
Jak
I knew that book was a fake.
Without a song,the day would never end.
Without a song,a man ain t got a friend.
Without a song,the road would never bend,
so I keep singing a song. Elvis Presley
I read both books ? ?Elvis and Me? & ?Child Bride?.
First of all I don?t think these two books are that contrary at all. Together they sort of complete the picture. Finstad gives the reader a more detailed view thanks to a great variety of quotes from people close to Elvis. Concerning Mrs. Finstad: Why is it so important to know whether Currie Grant asked Priscilla to go and see Elvis Presley or Priscilla asked Currie to take her to his house? Is it that important??!! Priscilla might not have told the truth in her book concerning some issues. She might not have talked about other boys she was dating after Elvis went back to the States. But why should she have mentioned them? It was a book about Elvis and her and not about what she was doing after he left. This girl hadn?t seen Elvis Presley for TWO YEARS and she didn?t expect to see him ever again in her life. She couldn?t have expected to see him again when all she got from him after he left Germany were some irregular phone calls. Should this pretty young girl waste her teenage years mourning over Elvis who once back in Memphis kept on living with his girlfriend Anita Wood?
Concerning another ?big? topic: Mr. Grant ? well, what should one think of a married adult man abusing a 14 year old's dream of Elvis Presley to have sex with her? He should be ashamed of it. Therefore I don?t believe a word he said.
Like these two examples ? many of Priscilla?s so called lies are to be seen in context. Personally I don?t think these lies make Priscilla a cold and insidious person at all ? although I?m NO fan of hers.
Let?s be honest: In her book, Suzanne Finstad gives all those people who Priscilla thought not important enough to be a part of her story about Elvis or even be part of the story at all a chance to get a glimpse of fame. We all know that those persons were there, cause everybody has a past. But one cannot tell everything. She wanted to tell her story about Elvis and not a story about her first romance.
Priscilla Presley in fact did not tell a fairy tale in her book ?Elvis & Me? like Suzanne Finstad tried to reveal in her book. Priscilla told a deeply SAD story, a story of a girl that was betrayed by people right from the beginning, of a child moving with her secretive family from one place to another - unable to maintain any stability in her life. And about a girl who was deprived of the right to make her OWN friends. Her family, first of all her calculating mother shaped her personality and made her the way she is. And Priscilla not only told her own sad story ? she also told the sad story of Elvis Presley. Not in the slightest would I have imagined his life and personality so much depressing?.I will never understand how people got the idea ?Elvis and Me? is a fairy tale ? neither is this a perfect love story nor is there anything like a happy end.
Priscilla told her side of the story?..and I can fully understand it.
To a certain degree I would have probably acted the same way in some situations: She never had anything like a life of her own while she was with Elvis. Let?s forget about the story of her style - who would be interested in that? - but both Suzanne Finstad and Priscilla herself made it obvious that her life was nothing but Elvis. I can NOT remember reading a passage that said something like ?Elvis asked me what I wanted?., what I thought of?.? Or phrases beginning with a ?WE??a word that should be used when talking about a relationship. Instead the reader is offered a variety of Elvis? special likings. One really gets the impression that Priscilla obviously - like all the other people around Elvis - deeply cared for Elvis and one wonders if Elvis ever really cared about her. He might have thought he did. Or let?s put it this way: Elvis must have loved Priscilla, otherwise he would not have done so much to bring her (a 16 year old teenager) to Graceland. Neither do I think anybody could have forced Elvis Presley to live with her or even marry her (like Finstad claims). Elvis dumped so many of his lovers, he wouldn?t have hesitated to dump her as well. Priscilla?s story must contain at least some truth. There must have been something like love on BOTH sides. All this ?Elvis didn?t love Priscilla?,?Priscilla didn?t love Elvis?, ?Who did Elvis really love??- talk seems ridiculous to me. They spent a long time together and even after their divorce he called her at night and gave embarrassing speeches during his last concerts just like she was desperately trying to get his attention during her first years with him. Their love fell victim to the surreal life of a superstar. It was never the right time. There are two things that one has to consider before giving Priscilla a negative image:
- Elvis was cheating on her right from the beginning ? hundreds of times. There?s no need to tell how much it must have hurt her. It made her insecure, suspicious and eventually desperate.
- Elvis never gave her the chance to be ALONE with him. The whole entourage was living with them all the years Priscilla spent with Elvis. She never even got the chance to share an OWN apartment with him. She shared Elvis with all the others and not to forget with his pills. Can you imagine a life like that?
And worst of all: she couldn?t even criticize ANYTHING for Elvis would have sent her home then. Back to a life with her parents and people who then would probably look down on her as the girl Elvis left for another.
Therefore she had to cope with all that and watch her dreams passing by. And she did a very good job for a girl her age. There was no way out. She had to marry him eventually. Up to their wedding she tried to make the best out of it and adapt to Elvis? life. In contrast to him she didn?t get addicted to pills and all those things Elvis depended on.
Finstad never raised the question whether Elvis? personality was so weak that he never thought about what he was doing to Priscilla.
I wonder about his personality. Elvis obviously was a very generous, warm and sensitive person who tried to make all his friends happy ? but too often with material things. Was he so ocupied with his own problems that he didn?t even have something like a guilty conscience when deceiving Priscilla? Sure, he was the ?king of rock and roll??.there were too many girls running after him?He?s not to blame for it. No, but nobody has to feel sorry for him when Priscilly walked out on him in the end.
Finally she deceived him. This was the first step to walk out of Elvis? into her own world where people cared about HER, where someone loved her for being Priscilla. This was the time she could finally hurt him the way he?d been hurting her for so long. Although I?m not even sure if she wanted to hurt him anyway. People claim that she must have known all that before she decided to live with Elvis. I say ?no?, simply because she was too young and as Mrs. Finstad mentions her parents wanted her to do that. I don?t even think that Priscilla thought, the fact that she was leaving him could touch him at all for he permanently had lovers. One cannot accuse her of not having done everything to please and love Elvis Presley. She was still a young person with a life lying ahead of her. That this could no longer be shared with Elvis must be perfectly obvious to any woman. Not even the birth of her daughter ? her last hope for a life as something like a ?real? family ? could alter their sad relationship. It even made it worse ? Elvis had serious problems with making love to a ?mother?. To sum up: She had to go?.
As for me, Finstad?s ?revelations? are no revelations at all ? but she provides the missing links?beginning from Priscilla?s childhood?.
Last edited by CurlySusi; 12-01-2006 at 03:47 PM. Reason: Language-Errors ;-)
Nice post curlysusi
I've never been a fan of Priscilla post Elvis' death, I suppose concluding from your post it puts some things into perspective, what she couldn't control while Elvis was alive she now does after his death.
I don't dispute that Priscilla is very probably a very nice person, however Elvis has left a mark on her, she has at best become cynical with regards to the Elvis commodity.
Priscilla has come to realise that she will forever be intrinsically linked to the Elvis legacy, she now has the power to shape how that will look in the history books, I do however think that she has become resentful that a career outside of Elvis' shadow has all but been fleeting and she now is resigned to the fact the fame she wanted is now coming from her dead ex-husband.
It wont matter what the fans think as future historians will look at what has been achieved post Elvis without a bias from emotional fans
All said and done Priscilla will always be vilified by the fans whatever her decisions, lets hope she makes some good ones soon
Matt
CurlySusi
Very nice post.Everything you wrote is just common sense.I only started this topic because I was surprised to find out that Grant was found guilty of defamation.I wasnt sure if the supporters of that book knew that.
Jak
Thank you!Originally Posted by jak
I'm afraid they don't know it, Jak....
I really can't understand why so many people hate Priscilla. If they ever put theirselves in her place they probably wouldn't act other than she did in a lot situations....
(Please excuse my English, I'm not that good at it...)
Last edited by CurlySusi; 12-01-2006 at 03:48 PM.
Youre english is just fine.
I guess people saw elvis go down hill after she left thought it was her fault, and plus the affair she had made it even worse for elvis's fan to accept that she would do that to elvis,but when you young on your own alot that doesn't help either, plus after the baby she felt he didn't want her anymore, and for most mothers they should understand how she felt.
Without a song,the day would never end.
Without a song,a man ain t got a friend.
Without a song,the road would never bend,
so I keep singing a song. Elvis Presley
I wish Elvis could have the same chance and sue the writers of the books written about him..I see courts are trusted that much so, maybe then people would have believed Elvis,since even his own words are less important than a court's decision,many times..
Totally agree!!
Why have we to believe the court says the truth?
I haven't read Child Bride but I'm very curious...I don't believe Priscilla told everything about her relationship with Elvis.
If we can't believe in "Child Bride"...why should we totally believe in "Elvis And Me"?
Courts can take wrong decisions....a court decided to recognize that Elvis Presley Junior is Elvis' son
Do you really believe it's the truth???? PLEASE....
Sorry to go a little off topicTotally agree!!
Why have we to believe the court says the truth?
I haven't read Child Bride but I'm very curious...I don't believe Priscilla told everything about her relationship with Elvis.
If we can't believe in "Child Bride"...why should we totally believe in "Elvis And Me"?
Courts can take wrong decisions....a court decided to recognize that Elvis Presley Junior is Elvis' son
Do you really believe it's the truth???? PLEASE....but it has always amused me that Elvis Presley Jnr (son of Elvis
Sorry to go a little off topic
Right Matt!!!
This always makes me laugh
It was just an example to stand that courts are not so infallible
We can read many books and take a position...no one knows the truth...so why we shouldn't have doubts about Priscilla's stories?
I'd like to read Chil Bride, just to have another point of view...maybe I'll find something too exagerate in that book...but if we don't have to believe what books say...well, we shouldn't read anything about Elvis but just listening his songs....sometimes they tell a lot more about himself that every book
Last edited by ForeverTheKing; 12-02-2006 at 06:25 AM.
That is not true.I believe he was given the right to use the name.If he was proven to be Elvis son you would know it.It would have been front page news.There also would be money involved.C'mon people.He would be entitled to quite a fortune if that was true but it isnt.I would say a cash award against Grant is a strong indicetment of the book.Priscilla would not have sued and brought it up if she knew his claims were true.Totally agree!!
Why have we to believe the court says the truth?
I haven't read Child Bride but I'm very curious...I don't believe Priscilla told everything about her relationship with Elvis.
If we can't believe in "Child Bride"...why should we totally believe in "Elvis And Me"?
Courts can take wrong decisions....a court decided to recognize that Elvis Presley Junior is Elvis' son
Do you really believe it's the truth???? PLEASE....
Jak
Jak...this is what you can find in his website (homepage)...just read it:
"Elvis Jr. was awarded his name legally by The Federal US Court after sufficient documents and sworn testimonies were presented to a Judge. These documents including the last will and testament of Elvis Presley, established proof that Elvis did indeed had a son and the son was in fact born out of wedlock.
These documents were obtained not by Elvis Jr. but by investigators of the Government of the United States of America. This research included a lie detector test, a blood test with a D.N.A test to follow. Upon deliberation and examination of all evidence incurred a decision that should set the record straight. Elvis Jr., by the decision of the United States Government is allowed to use the name Elvis Aaron Presley Jr"
About Child Bride, I don't know a lot about this person, "Grant", and his story...I've just said I'm curious to read....sorry but I doubt about everything regarding Elvis, including Priscilla's version.
Everyone tells his own story...it's hard to know the truth...and the decision of a court is not a proof for me...this is the reason why I made the example of EAP Junior
I think you are wrong jak...
"Priscilla Presley suued Curry Grant for defamation claiming that his account that they had intercourse was false. Grant filed a cross-complaint against Presley for slander, based on her statement that Grant had tried to rape her. The law suit ended on 19, 1998 when Presley and Grant entered into an agreement that resulted in the court judging Grant for defamation. Presley and Grant agreed to keep the the terms of their agreement to end the lawsuit confidential."
I don?t think any of them had any way to proove if the incident was true or not and neither does the book claim it really was, it tells both parts of the story. Neither is a book against Priscilla. I would tell in the end of the book you can?t help but feel pity for her. And Priscilla is the queen of self-pity so... what more could she ask for ?
Is funny how she waited untill Elvis and Vernon died to write her book... Oh! maybe it was because dead can?t sue against you...
Now don?t be too hard on me jak, you know I?m very sensitive
_________________
I think you are wrong jak...
"Priscilla Presley suued Curry Grant for defamation claiming that his account that they had intercourse was false. Grant filed a cross-complaint against Presley for slander, based on her statement that Grant had tried to rape her. The law suit ended on 19, 1998 when Presley and Grant entered into an agreement that resulted in the court judging Grant for defamation. Presley and Grant agreed to keep the the terms of their agreement to end the lawsuit confidential."
I don?t think any of them had any way to proove if the incident was true or not and neither does the book claim it really was, it tells both parts of the story. Neither is a book against Priscilla. I would tell in the end of the book you can?t help but feel pity for her. And Priscilla is the queen of self-pity so... what more could she ask for ?
Is funny how she waited untill Elvis and Vernon died to write her book
Now don?t be too hard on me jak, you know I?m very sensitive
Thanks for your precious infos!!
Now I know something more and I agree with you about the fact she thought to write her book (and movie) only after his death....TOO EASY!
I think the reason a lot of fans hate Priscilla is due to what she did after Elvis died.
She managed to get her paws all over her ex-husbands estate, when he left her nothing in his will, that is an achievement.
There is no doubting it was a very hard life with Elvis - but - Linda Thompson experienced it in the latter stages which undoubtedly was worse. Yet Linda does not recieve the same negative feelings from fans in general as Priscilla does.
It's basically all down to what happened after he died.
The Sun Never Sets On A Legend...
If it wasn't for priscilla getting her hooks into graceland, what would happen to it than? Linda tompson well she isn't my favorive,
Without a song,the day would never end.
Without a song,a man ain t got a friend.
Without a song,the road would never bend,
so I keep singing a song. Elvis Presley
Posting Permissions
