Psychological Autopsy of Elvis Presley

Importantly, Ronan makes the salient point that a medical examiner essentially looks for one primary physical cause of a person’s death, while in reality the cumulative causative factors may be numerous and varied.

In Elvis’ case Ronan argues persuasively that his psychological make-up and life crises had a profound impact on his early death. Traversing a complex and strangely fascinating psychological landscape, Ronan uses case examples and Elvis’ life experiences to illuminate his arguments. In prosecuting his case Ronan draws on accounts by those who knew to support his analysis, including Priscilla Presley, Dee Presley, the Stanley brothers, Larry Geller and Marty Lacker.

In relation to the emotional and psychological impacts which influenced Elvis the major ones will be obvious to many readers, for instance the loss of his twin brother, Jesse Garon, the end of his marriage to Priscilla, and the seminal importance of the death of Elvis’ beloved mother, Gladys.         Ronan characterises the impact of the latter on Elvis as “the shock of his life” and a “psychological death”. Importantly, Ronan notes that:

“…the most important person in his life died at the very zenith of his success and at the threshold of his manhood, when he was in more of a position than ever before to take care of her and give her everything”.

“Gladys' death came only several months after Elvis received the very first good critical notices for his performance in King Creole.  The good reviews had filled him with a deep satisfaction and sense of accomplishment which stayed with him right up until his mother's sudden death.  The contrast of the happiness against the shattering tragedy only jarred him more.

“From that moment on Elvis Presley's entire life was shaded by an inconsolable grief. Grief would make itself felt in virtually everything that he did, in his greatest successes and most abysmal moments of despair.  Everything that he was to accomplish in the years to come would be fraught with a feeling that it was somehow transitory and fleeting, that it could just as easily be taken or thrown away.”

The loss of Jesse Garon issue is an interesting issue. Several biographies have suggested Elvis was consumed with guilt (“Elvis was plagued by the notion he had survived at the expense of his twin”) and thought/talked about Jesse regularly, while the formal accounts of those closest to Elvis say he rarely, if at all, mentioned Jesse.

There is a lot to digest in Psychological Autopsy of Elvis Presley. While similar in content to Peter Whitmer’s The Inner Elvis (published in 1996), Ronan’s book has a different emphasis and perspective. Whitmer’s examination is a broad and detailed psychological map of Elvis, while Ronan ‘s focus is on the impact of events which produced loss and emotional trauma and were likely contributing factors in Elvis’ death. The two authors are consistent on several issues - for instance, Ronan includes themes around Elvis' loss of his twin, Jesse Garon (Whitmer's “twinless twin”) and the closeness of Elvis and Gladys (Whitmer's "lethal enmeshment").

There are a small number of factual errors in the book including the longstanding and widely reported myth that both Elvis and Gladys died aged 42 (Gladys Presley having actually been 46 at the time of her death). Due to the techical nature of Psychological Autopsy of Elvis Presley, the inclusion of a glossary would have been beneficial, as would a bibliography/source list for events and accounts/quotations made in respect of Elvis' life.

Verdict: Psychological Autopsy of Elvis Presley is a technically challenging and thought provoking exploration of the psychological conditions and emotional vulnerabilities that shaped Elvis as a person, leading to his loneliness and dependency on prescription medication, and eventually his death. Some readers will find the book hard-going while others will probably dismiss it out of hand. However, its very different perspective to the majority of biographies published about Elvis will be welcomed by those wanting to consider Elvis' life and death in a new or different way. If read with an open mind, readers will find that, in the context of psychoanalysis, there is much to consider and reflect on in our understanding of why Elvis died at age 42.