BIGGEST ELVIS Another King, another Graceland, another chance... A dozen years after Elvis Presley's death in Memphis, a man called Biggest Elvis - the oldest and fattest of a trio of Presley impersonators - galvanizes the sailors and bar girls around the huge U.S. naval base in Olongapo, Philippines. In their act, Baby Elvis (who portrays the youthful Presley), Dude Elvis (who does the movie years), and Biggest Elvis incarnate the King's evolving life. Their popularity grows; in a tawdry, anything-goes town, a successful act becomes more than that, almost an obsession. But there are those who think that Biggest Elvis has to go, and Biggest Elvis himself senses that something is coming, something ominous. As the trio of counterfeits starts playing for real stakes, the bar girls - Whitney, Elvira, Dolly, Lucy Number Three, and Malou - take center stage themselves, before Biggest Elvis's last and greatest show. Rights Information Publisher: Viking, Hardcover (August 1, 1996) Penguin, Paperback (August 1, 1997) Territory: All rights reserved Rights Available: Translation Reviews: "Kluge, best known for the novel Eddie and the Cruisers (1980), which also has a rock-'n'-roll theme, is a practiced hand at investing his musical scenes with surging emotion and an almost mythic resonance. Overall, this is a compassionate, provocative work." - Booklist "[Kluge] writes lyrically whether he's describing the gaudy triumphs of his Elvis trinity or the rushing hardships of life around the Subic Bay naval base...[a] dreamy melancholy tale of economic and pop-cultural imperialism." - Sarah Ferguson, New York Times Book Review "a well-written, highly entertaining novel...Kluge has created a diverse group of sympathetic, three-dimensional characters who take turns telling the story." - Library Journal "Eschewing the empty kitsch of some other Elvis invocations, Kluge fashions a resonant, often poignant tale full of humor and, ultimately, hope." - Publishers Weekly Blurbs: Purchase at Amazon.com

BIGGEST ELVIS

Another King, another Graceland, another chance... A dozen years after Elvis Presley's death in Memphis, a man called Biggest Elvis - the oldest and fattest of a trio of Presley impersonators - galvanizes the sailors and bar girls around the huge U.S. naval base in Olongapo, Philippines. In their act, Baby Elvis (who portrays the youthful Presley), Dude Elvis (who does the movie years), and Biggest Elvis incarnate the King's evolving life. Their popularity grows; in a tawdry, anything-goes town, a successful act becomes more than that, almost an obsession. But there are those who think that Biggest Elvis has to go, and Biggest Elvis himself senses that something is coming, something ominous. As the trio of counterfeits starts playing for real stakes, the bar girls - Whitney, Elvira, Dolly, Lucy Number Three, and Malou - take center stage themselves, before Biggest Elvis's last and greatest show.

Rights Information

Publisher: Viking, Hardcover (August 1, 1996)
Penguin, Paperback (August 1, 1997)

Rights Available: Translation

Reviews:
"Kluge, best known for the novel Eddie and the Cruisers (1980), which also has a rock-'n'-roll theme, is a practiced hand at investing his musical scenes with surging emotion and an almost mythic resonance. Overall, this is a compassionate, provocative work." - Booklist

"[Kluge] writes lyrically whether he's describing the gaudy triumphs of his Elvis trinity or the rushing hardships of life around the Subic Bay naval base...[a] dreamy melancholy tale of economic and pop-cultural imperialism." - Sarah Ferguson, New York Times Book Review

"a well-written, highly entertaining novel...Kluge has created a diverse group of sympathetic, three-dimensional characters who take turns telling the story." - Library Journal

"Eschewing the empty kitsch of some other Elvis invocations, Kluge fashions a resonant, often poignant tale full of humor and, ultimately, hope." - Publishers Weekly

Blurbs:

Purchase at Amazon.com