In search of Elvis

the long version

The International Conference on Elvis Presley, convened at the University of Mississippi, transformed a rock and roll icon into a scholarly phenomenon. Educators, artists, and Elvis aficionados from across the world - plus over one hundred internationally based reporters - collected on Oxford, Mississippi, soil to analyze and celebrate Elvis's impact on the world stage. From this conference, which became front page New York Times Magazine news, springs this book, the best and brightest essays and artwork swirling around the cultural, social, political, and iconographic figure of Elvis Presley. Taken together, In Search of Elvis represents a daring and groundbreaking academic analysis. Richly illustrated with original Elvis-inspired artwork, this book captures the subterranean essence of one of the most phenomenal artists to have ever lived.