Latest news with #LittleBrown
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Drugs, murky contracts, secrets: Shocking Elvis revelations in 'The Colonel and the King'
What if we got it wrong about Colonel Tom Parker? That's the provocative question raised by music historian Peter Guralnick's latest book, 'The Colonel and the King' (Little, Brown, 624 pp., out now), which examines Parker's reputational arc from visionary to villain. 'His motivations were almost completely misunderstood,' says Guralnick of Elvis Presley's wheeling and dealing manager, who receives an overdue reassessment in the new biography. 'When I call their partnership a partnership of equals, I think it really was.' For Parker, 'it was love at first sight. The colonel was a believer in show business. That was his one article of belief. And Elvis was the greatest entertainer he'd ever seen. He knew it the moment he saw him.' 'Burning Love': Elvis balked about recording the oversexed song. Then it became his last hit. Guralnick realizes it's a reappraisal many aren't willing to undertake, and 'I'm not trying to paint the colonel as a saint,' he says. 'I would be glad to have him as my manager, but at the same time, I would want to look closely at what I was agreeing to.' The book, which traces the colonel's life from his secretive childhood in Holland to his death in 1997, takes a deep dive into their productive partnership. (Elvis fans may be surprised that touchstones like the courting of Priscilla Presley and the making of the '68 Comeback Special are mentioned only in passing, but this is, after all, Parker's story.) In keeping with the characteristic level of detail that the faithful have come to expect from Guralnick's previous Presley biographies ('Last Train to Memphis,' 'Careless Love'), nearly half the book is turned over to Parker's illuminating letters. These are among the biography's biggest revelations: Colonel Tom Parker ran away from home repeatedly and claimed to have been adopted multiple times. Parker spun a myth about his upbringing in West Virginia that endured for decades. In reality, he was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in Holland and came to America as an underage stowaway. He presented himself as an orphan and would ingratiate himself with families and then disappear, joining circuses, carnivals and the U.S. Army on his way to careers as a Humane Society director and a music promoter. Guralnick cautions against taking Parker's explanation of his origins too literally. 'He loved to tell that story, and you can judge from that his psychology. But he was someone who in some ways felt so abandoned and alienated from the world in which he grew up. He was abused by his father. But I don't think that was the real story. Something traumatic happened, and he carried that with him all of his life.' From Elvis to Michael Jackson: The biggest reveals in Lisa Marie Presley's memoir Elvis' high-stakes contracts were often handshake deals that Tom Parker didn't have in writing. Elvis' contracts, specifically with RCA, were often verbal agreements. 'One of the things that necessitated everything not being written down was the favored-nation clause, which every big star had. Any big employer can understand this,' Guaralnick says. 'You say to me, I'll pay you $1,000 more. But if you have contracts with other people, there may be a dozen other people, so it's not just my $1,000, it's going to cost you $12,000 more.' The colonel worked those backdoor deals to Presley's advantage, Guralnick notes. In November 1955, Elvis was paying back his RCA advance out of his royalties. Eleven months later, Elvis had a million-dollar contract (the equivalent of $10 million today). 'That's a pretty good turnaround,' Guralnick says. '(Parker) always articulated the belief that a deal was no good unless it was to the benefit of both parties.' Elvis never toured internationally, but mostly because he couldn't cross borders with his drugs and guns. Presley's friends in the Memphis Mafia were convinced that Elvis wanted to tour the world and blamed Parker's fear of deportation. But the colonel worried that security would be a concern. 'Everybody thought he meant you can't get armed guards to protect Elvis from the crowds,' Guralnick says. 'That wasn't what he meant at all − he meant the security to keep Elvis from getting busted. Who was going to carry the drugs? Who was going to carry the guns?' Elvis and the colonel both considered parting ways. But their respective addictions kept them together. In addition to the infamous 1973 incident at the Hilton Hotel in Vegas, in which Elvis lashed out at Parker from the stage, and they (temporarily) fired each other, there were other instances when they attempted to split. But the colonel had developed a gambling addiction to go along with Elvis' drug dependency. 'Each of them was aware of the other's addiction, the other's failures, and neither one of them was going to bring up the other's failure for fear that the other would then bring up his own. And so they were stuck,' Guralnick says. 'The colonel became in a sense not a tragic figure, because he was a life force overall, so full of vitality and creativity. But I came to see those last years with Elvis as a linked tragedy, in which each of them has their own addiction, and I just didn't see that before.' Elvis may have known Tom Parker was an undocumented immigrant − and kept it a secret. In 1960, Parker's family in Holland recognized him in a photo with Elvis. He reluctantly agreed to bring his brother Ad to the United States for a visit in 1961 and apparently introduced him to Elvis, who might reasonably have wondered why his American manager's sibling spoke virtually no English. Many in Elvis' entourage doubted that the meeting happened, 'because Elvis could not keep a secret. He was the worst in the world at keeping a secret, and this was the biggest secret of all,' Guralnick says. The colonel may have presented Ad simply as someone he knew from the carnival or circus. 'But I'd like to think he introduced him as his brother and that Elvis knew.' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elvis' story retold in book on manager Colonel Tom Parker
CBS News
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Bill Clinton and James Patterson on their new thriller, "The First Gentleman"
Seems that there is always a lot going on behind the walls of the White House where truth can often be stranger than fiction. But fiction can be pretty compelling, too. In the new novel "The First Gentleman" (to be published June 2 by Little, Brown & Co.), the commander in chief is a woman, and her husband is accused of murder. It's the third collaboration from best-selling author James Patterson and his co-writer, President Bill Clinton. Little, Brown & Co. Was there a scenario in the book that Patterson couldn't have written without Clinton's help? "Oh, I couldn't have done any of it without him," Patterson said. "I would have been lost. But the other thing, you know, look, I mean, he's the expert on the first gentleman. You know, he was almost a first gentleman!" "Yeah, I thought about it for years. And it's the only political job I ever wanted and I didn't get!" Clinton smiled. "'Cause I really thought Hillary should be president." Clinton would have been the very first first gentleman had his wife, Hillary, won the 2016 election. And he says back then he did a lot of thinking about what his role would be as a presidential spouse: "How could I do this job in a way that I would be on-call to help if she needed me, but I wouldn't get in the way?" "That's the way I feel about this relationship: How can I help without getting in the way?" Patterson said. "I'm kind of the first gentleman of our [relationship]!" "If you believe that, I got some land in Arizona I want to show you!" Clinton laughed. And sometimes, their made-up White House looks almost like real life. In the book, the president keeps working through an agonizing personal crisis. During his 1999 impeachment proceedings, President Clinton kept working, too, with some of the very people who were trying to kick him out of the White House. "And they were amazed by it," he said. "They'd come and do business with me, [and] as far as they knew, I couldn't remember what was going on. And we would try to hammer out deals." In the midst of impeachment? "Because that's what I got hired to do," Clinton said. "The American people don't pay you to have personal feelings. They pay you to deliver for them." Clinton and Patterson have been delivering since 2018, with their first book about a president gone missing, and in 2021 their second about the president's daughter getting kidnapped. Both were bestsellers. But for them, it's really not all about work. Asked how their relationship has evolved over their three books together, Clinton replied, "We've played a lot more golf." Patterson said, "He's been president more times, but I have more holes-in-one." "Oh God. Well, I have one; he has nine," said Clinton. "How many Americans have nine holes-in-one?" "I know. That's sick," Patterson said. "Remember I'm a fiction writer." "Makes the craziness stop for a little while" I asked, "There's so much political drama in the world today, real-life political drama. Do you think that there's an appetite for political thrillers, for fictional political thrillers?" Patterson said, "I think so, 100%. I mean, one of the nice things here is you escape, but you don't totally escape reality. It's like, 'Yeah, I love this. I can't put it down.' Or 'I keep reading,' or in some cases to me what's even better, which is you don't want it to end. "I think it's useful, and 'cause so many people are wandering around, they go, 'Oh my God, oh my God, please make it stop'? This makes it stop for a little while, makes the craziness stop for a little while for people." Clinton said, "One reason I hope there's an appetite is… I hope that people will still believe in our democratic system enough to stick with it and keep pushing to make it work." During the summer, Patterson lives at his home on the Hudson River; the president is about five miles away. Former President Bill Clinton and writer James Patterson, with correspondent Tracy Smith. CBS News Asked what they may have learned about each other during the writing process, Patterson offered, "the notion … of not worrying about stuff that we can't do anything about. And if we can do something about it, try to do it." Their new book comes out tomorrow and they hope it's another bestseller. But if you spend any time at all with Patterson and Clinton, you get the sense that their partnership is about something money can't buy. I asked, "Back when you wrote your first book together, The New York Times said that the two of you 'complete each other in the Jerry Maguire sense.'" "Well, we kinda do," Patterson said. "This has been driving me for months now, which is: my time here is short. What can I do most beautifully? And in this case, doing another book with my friend is a beautiful thing to do." READ AN EXCERPT: "The First Gentleman" by Bill Clinton and James Patterson WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Bill Clinton and James Patterson For more info: Story produced by John D'Amelio. Editor: Jason Schmidt.
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Moral Ambition By Rutger Bregman — Review
Greed and selfishness are failing humanity: can 'moral ambition' save the day – and us? Helping hand. getty Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?Tell me, what is it you plan to dowith your one wild and precious life? – The Summer Day by Mary Oliver I have eagerly followed Dutch historian Rutger Bregman's career online ever since I saw a video clip on twitter of him speaking truth to power at the Davos CEO Greedfest Conference. In this video, Mr Bregman admits to the audience that he was bewildered by the economic scolds at Davos who talked about participation, justice, equality and transparency, but 'nobody raises the issue of tax avoidance and the rich not paying their share. It is like going to a firefighters' conference and not talking about water.' After I had been won over by that charming introduction to his moral philosophy, I simply had to know more. I'm most pleased to tell you that, a few years later, I finally managed to get a review copy of his hot-off-the-presses book, Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference (Little, Brown and Company, 2025). This impassioned book is incredibly readable – I read it in one go. It uses crisp, energetic prose and interesting examples to argue that it is possible for all of us to live meaningful lives. Additionally, reading the opening credits in this book that quote numerous book reviews already published, I felt like I was in an online book club with some of my favorite famous people, from Trevor Noah and Timothy Snyder to Stephen Fry, and I was determined to read this book that they all were talking about, so I could be part of the conversation, and an active participant in this social movement, too. Mr Bregman opens Moral Ambition by discussing how most people waste their talents on bullshit jobs, when they could instead focus their talents, energy and time on how to live a meaningful life that is useful to society. We learn how our conventional definitions of success harm us, animals and the planet, and Mr Bregman uses numerous examples to demonstrate how we can shift our focus from personal gain to societal benefit. This, in a nutshell, is moral ambition; the willingness to devote one's life to solving the world's biggest problems – globally pressing threats like climate change, pandemics, or the energy crisis. In his book, Mr Bregman describes the four categories of people as he sees them. First are people who are neither ambitious nor idealistic. This category includes those who work at meaningless 'bullshit jobs' and those people who only seek to retire. Second are people who are ambitious, but not idealistic. This group includes consultants, bankers, many tech employees (and I'd suppose, most politicians.) Third are people who are idealistic, but not ambitious. Most protesters and activists fall into this group. Fourth are those incredibly rare people who are both ambitious and idealistic. Mr Bregman moves on to discuss his concept of 'zeroes', 'ones', and 'twos'. Zeroes are those rare people who start things, the trailblazers – or troublemakers, if you prefer. Ones are the people who help the zeros in their crusades. Twos are those who join in and follow after things have gotten started. According to Mr Bregman, regardless of whether you are a zero, a one or a two, the ultimate goal is doing something that's useful for humanity. As an example, he points to how the young law student, Ralph Nader, got his start back in the day, by successfully suing General Motors for making unsafe cars. Nader's actions led to LBJ signing the Highway Safety Act and Traffic Safety Act. Following on that success, Nader then started the 'Radical Nerds', a group of talented and idealistic law students who were recruited by Nader specifically to focus on solving societal problems. Mr Bregman discusses the idea of the 'Noble Loser' – someone with ethical intentions but unable to make a difference. This is often because Noble Losers don't know how to make a difference. According to Mr Bregman, one way to overcome this deficit is to join a group centered around moral ambition, that relies on a cult-like mentality to identify and accomplish their goals. (I disagree with the author here because a cult can so easily go wrong, as we've seen far too often.) Some of Mr Bregman's examples include the Against Malaria Foundation, the Abolition of Slavery movement and even 'ordinary people' hiding Jewish people in their homes during WW2. Using these examples and more, Mr Bregman discusses what is necessary to make a substantially positive social impact. He concludes that it really doesn't take much. For instance, many of those who hid Jews did so simply because they were asked to. And anyone who knows this can have similarly powerful social impacts. In the book's final chapter, Mr Bregman introduces three global challenges (in addition to climate change) that could serve as worthy, solvable threats for those with moral ambition who are seeking to improve society: nuclear war; artificial intelligence and biological warfare. Despite some of my reservations, I think Mr Bregman's argument to think carefully about the impact that your actions and life have on others is critically important. Taking deliberate actions to live a meaningful life, a life that is useful, and impactful, is the most fulfilling way to live your best life. An inspirational guide to finding that path for ourselves, Moral Ambition reminds us that the real measure of success lies not in what we accumulate, but in what we contribute, and it shows how we can build a lasting legacy that truly matters. Highly recommended for absolutely everyone from the ages of 15 to 115, I think this powerful, well-argued book would be an especially thoughtful and transformative graduation gift for your high school or university students. © Copyright by GrrlScientist | hosted by Forbes | Socials: Bluesky | CounterSocial | Gab | LinkedIn | Mastodon Science | Spoutible | SubStack | Threads | Tribel | Tumblr | Twitter
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Historic pub crawls book set to explore Brighton boozers
A new book series will feature a historic pub crawl through Brighton. The series, titled Historic Pub Crawls, is written by Thomas J. Vosper and will be published by Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group. The series will feature 10 to 15 curated pub walks per volume, each filled with historical facts and local flavour. The series aims to blend British heritage with community pub culture, guiding readers through historic drinking spots with expert commentary, quirky trivia, and classic British charm. Eccentric author Thomas J. Vosper brings his viral pub walks to Brighton (Image: Thomas J. Vosper) The Historic Pub Crawls Through England volume, which will be released on July 24, 2025, will feature a pub crawl through Brighton. Other cities included in this volume are St Albans, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, London, Newcastle, York, and Manchester. The series began after Thomas J. Vosper spontaneously hosted a birthday pub crawl through London's iconic alehouses. From crazy trousers to cosy taprooms: Vosper's guidebook hits Brighton next (Image: Thomas J. Vosper) The event received overwhelming interest from friends and followers, prompting Vosper to share his routes. What started as a personal tradition evolved into a viral sensation and the creation of the guidebook series. Thomas J. Vosper, a North West London native, spent over two decades in corporate tech before becoming a social media sensation. He is known for his eccentric style, including crazy trousers and yellow shoes, and his passion for pubs, history, and music. He began self-publishing his routes in 2023. Vosper has more than 210,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok and has sold over 8,500 copies of his books. He has received praise from celebrities, including Olympians, actors, heavyweight champions, and comedians. Kelly Ellis, publisher at Sphere Non-Fiction, said: "Thomas's pub crawls really are the dream day out. "He's supporting the pub trade in the most brilliantly charismatic way." Thomas J. Vosper said: "Now to be able to share them in my books is a dream come true." The series has received media coverage from BBC News, ITV News, The Sun, The Mirror, and local radio stations.
Irish Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Tracker by Alexis Wright; Pig by Matilde Pratesi; Taking Manhattan by Russell Shorto
Tracker by Alexis Wright (And Other Stories, £19.99) 'Am I Aboriginal, or how much of an Aboriginal am I?' This question, posed by Tracker Tilmouth, encapsulates the profound introspection at the heart of Tracker . More than a biography, Alexis Wright's work is a living, breathing testament to oral storytelling. Chronicling the extraordinary life of Aboriginal leader Tracker Tilmouth, she assembles a chorus of voices, refusing to smooth them into a singular narrative. The result is messy, brilliant, and deeply human. Tilmouth emerges as a fiercely intelligent, often mischievous visionary – someone who saw beyond political pragmatism to a radically different future for his people. Wright challenges western notions of biography, privileging contradiction and collective memory over linear storytelling. It demands patience, but the reward is immense: a portrait not just of a man but of history in motion. Storytelling here is resistance – complex, unfiltered, and utterly compelling. – Adam Wyeth Pig by Matilde Pratesi (Little Brown, £20) This debut novel, shortlisted in 2023 for the Caledonia Novel Award, addresses the topics of neurodiversity and coercive relationships. However, the author's naive understanding of these subjects makes for an uncomfortable read. Vale, our pig-obsessed protagonist and narrator, is inconsistent as a character. The young Italian woman displays a lack of self-awareness when such is required of the plot and ample self-awareness when that is required of the plot. Vale's world, viewpoint and experience of a coercive relationship with her childhood friend challenge credibility. Pratesi may be well intentioned, but this is not matched by a knowledge base worthy of the neurodiverse community. Moreover, this lack of rigour does an injustice to Pratesi's characters and her readers. – Brigid O'Dea Taking Manhattan: The extraordinary events that created New York and shaped America by Russell Shorto (Swift Press, £20) New York was not named twice because it was 'so good', as the song says, but because two European imperial powers successively ruled and developed it on land that they annexed from the indigenous inhabitants. New Amsterdam, on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, was created 400 years ago, in 1625, by the Dutch West India Company. It was renamed 40 years later following a 10-day siege by four gunboats sent by Britain's Duke of York, who had been gifted its contiguous lands by his brother, King Charles II. A bloodless Anglo-Dutch 'corporate merger' then begat the 'hybrid colony', this scholarly and engaging history shows. – Ray Burke
