The Colonel: The True Story Of Colonel Tom Parker And Elvis Presley

I wanted to add my 2 Guilders worth on the new Tom Parker book in that I am probably one of the very few who have already read it cover to cover, both in manuscript (unedited) form and in final form (greatly edited down
for price purposes only). I am probably also one of the very few who knows Alanna Nash personally and while some fans don't like her books -- what I read in their remarks is they don't like the "sources" in her books, not what she writes, because I have never known Alanna to not write
anything that was not well-researched and documented.

I note one of your commentors on this book attack Alanna on the "murder" story, saying had she printed this story before Parker died, he surely would have sued her. Well, FACT is, this story WAS printed before Parker died, in 1997 in the newspaper in Breda, Nederlands ... and AFTER that
date, Parker was a genial host to Alanna at his home in Palm Springs.

Also, this is a book about PARKER, not about ELVIS, and if anyone bothers to read it cover to cover, they will fully understand that while perhaps only Parker could have taken this "hillbilly cat" and turned him into ELVIS in the beginning -- in the following years, Parker was most
manipulative in his dealings, padding his own pockets first and foremost before looking out for "my boy." Alanna shines the light brightly on most of Parker's shady deals as no other write before has ever attempted to do; leaving nothing for future writers to uncover.

Most of Parkers lifelong cronies opened up to Alanna like they would not to any previous writers. She spent over seven years researching this book, her travels taking her to Florida, Las Vegas, Hollywood and even the Nederlands. She tried to leave no stone unturned.

I rate this book 5 STARS and would rate it higher had not the publisher stupidly cut her manuscript in half in order to keep the price of the book down.