Elvis Presley

Description by OLDIES.com:

Charged with sex appeal and charisma during their lives, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe have been elevated to icons of American popular culture in the decades since their premature deaths. This ground-breaking book examines how the significance of these two entertainers has multiplied and taken on mythic proportions. Sometimes tinged with irony and wit, but always perceptive, 120 works of art - including images by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, and Christo - document Elvis and Marilyn's transformation into immortal symbols of gender, heroism, and even - as crouched in the traditional iconography of Christ and the Madonna - of spirituality.

A series of though-provoking essays by a distinguished panel of experts from art history, psychology, feminist criticism, and popular music and culture examines aspects of icon-making in contemporary society. The contributors have culled evidence from anthropologists and historians, popular fiction, newspaper feature stories, and testimonies from devotees from all walks of life. Together with lush art reproductions, documentary photography, and perceptive statements by the artists, this book offers compelling insight and analysis into how we transform a popular celebrity into an immortal.