Almost Graceland

Ray Johnston thought his life was disgustingly normal. At forty-two, he had lived in Memphis all his life. His ex-wife had saved him from paying alimony by marrying her divorce lawyer, he enjoyed his work at the lumberyard, and he had a girlfriend who, everyone had to admit, was a peach. He did suffer one recurring nuisance; from as far back as he could remember, strangers would come up to him asking, “Do you know you look a lot like Elvis?” One day a man at… (mehr)

Ray Johnston thought his life was disgustingly normal. At forty-two, he had lived in Memphis all his life. His ex-wife had saved him from paying alimony by marrying her divorce lawyer, he enjoyed his work at the lumberyard, and he had a girlfriend who, everyone had to admit, was a peach. He did suffer one recurring nuisance; from as far back as he could remember, strangers would come up to him asking, “Do you know you look a lot like Elvis?” One day a man at a bar notices the similarity. It turns out the man actually works for Elvis Presley, and soon Ray gets two unfriendly phone calls, supposedly from the King himself. Later comes a third, one that makes Ray dizzy. He has been invited to dinner at Graceland! In an hour! Why? Ray can’t believe it---even when the limousine arrives to take him to the famed residence.

What follows is a meeting of two men who have almost nothing in common except their looks, their age, and the city they were born and grew up in. One is a working man who is trying to deal with what life has given him. The other is the most well-known and worshipped singer who has ever lived.

Steve Carlson delivers an enchanting debut novel that explores the power of loss and redemption in a moving portrait of Elvis at the end of his life.