Elvis: Word for Word by Jerry Osborne

Juanico and his next steady girlfriend, Anita Wood. In his letters to Wood, he wrote that he didn't want anyone else to read the letters, and though he's dead, this could still be seen as a breach of his privacy.

Elvis wrote few letters. Most of his alleged responses to fan mail were written by his staffers -- not that he couldn't have been involved in their preparation. At the height of his fame in the '50s he was receiving 15,000 letters per week. The staff-written letters, and a few he might have actually written, are included in the book in addition to the personal correspondence. Elvis author Jerry Osborne didn't have the letters he believes Elvis wrote analyzed by graphologists to verify if Elvis actually wrote them; he has relied on his familiarity with Elvis's writing style.

Other curiosities include Elvis's army induction, his speech to the Tennessee legislature, Elvis and his manager Colonel Tom Parker's telegram to The Beatles on their first trip to America in 1964, and Elvis's request to President Nixon to become a federal narcotics agent. Toward Elvis's later years, when he resumed touring, he showed a more humorous side of himself during his stage monologues. He often liked to introduce himself to audiences as Johnny Cash or Tom Jones. Most of the 1970s transcriptions are from his concert appearances; he didn't grant as many interviews then. Toward the mid-'70s the monologues became longer, as he talked about karate, a lifelong obsession. Few passages are reminders of his decline, except for some mispronounced words and moments of forgetfulness. Some sad poems he wrote in that period reflect his loneliness.

Fan, collector, and author Jerry Osborne has written numerous books about Elvis and collector's guides. He was once a DJ and he later met and became friends with Elvis; he also includes their correspondence.

Most of the information within is already available on video and CD, therefore the book should appeal to trivia buffs and memorabilia collectors. It contains little that's not already well documented, however, it's true to its purpose, offering Elvis's point-of-view. Elvis: Word for Word is the real deal and reduces books that misquoted him to the level of mere impersonators.

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