117 pp, 8vo (8 1/2" H). 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 transformation 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 (nomenclature: 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. Teenagers twitched, veterans 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, all of them offering advice. 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 battleline, it had quickly been 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 US53310761 reveal about our Army? About our hero? About ourselves? These are just a few of the questions raised in this wry and amusing book." Light wear at top/bottom of spine and at bottom rear corner, tiny dent at bottom of spine and on bottom of text block. Dust jacket has very light edge wear/wrinkling including a crease at bottom of spine, two very small edge tears, light rubbing/soiling, light toning to spine and flap-folds, light fading to title colour on spine.

Elvis  Presley,  Rock  'n'  Roll  Stars,  Singers,  Musicians,  GIs,  United  States  Army,  Germany,  Selective  Service,  Entertainers,  Celebrity  Culture,  Mid  20th  Century  America,  Post  World  War  II  America,  Teen  Idols,  Army  Privates,  Operation  Elvis,  State  Department.