117 pp, 8vo (8 1/2" H), hard cover in dust jacket. B&w cartoons. "A book as outrageously comic as the phenomenon it explores, 'Operation Elvis' offers a trenchant view of a modern cultural diaster: the mass hysteria that all but thwarted the trans formation of a million-dollar idol into an $83.20-a-month GI. On March 24, 1958, the United State Army undertook a mission as hazardous as Valley Forge, as complex as a D-Day invasion. The objective: to convert a controversial millionaire ( n o m e n c l ature: Elvis 'The Pelvis' Presley) into an army private and treat him 'just like everyone else'. Operation Elvis was staged before a grandstand many times larger than all the auditoriums Elvis Presley had ever filled. Tennagers twi tc he d, v et er an s and servicemen raised apprehensive eyes, and reporters raced for seats on the nearest aisle. Soon the dignitaries began to arrive. Chamber of Commerce groups, senators, and congressmen crowded toward the center of the stage, al l o f t hem of fer ing a dvice. The cast was swelled by Frauleins on both sides of the Elbe, by Russians, and by the State Department brass. The Army, scanning the terrain, discovered itself in a state of siege. By hewing to its original ba ttle lin e, i t ha d qu ickl y be en outflanked. Are the Selective Service and Celebrity systems truly compatible? Is the Mother of Democracy sturdy enough to support the unlikely marriage of the two? What did the active service duty of US533107 61 re veal about our Army? Abo ut ou r h ero? About ourselves? These are just a few of the questions raised in this wry and amusing book." Ligth wear at top/bottom of spine and at bottom rear corner. Dust jacket has very light edge wear/wrink ling, one t iny tr ar, v ery li ght ru bbing/ soil ing

Elvis  Presley,  Rock  'n'  Roll  Stars,  Singers,  Musicians,  GIs,  United  States  Army,  Germany,  Selective  Service,  Entertainers.