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My Life with Elvis: The Fond Memories of a Fan Who Became Elvis' Private Secretary
Becky Yancey shares her first-hand story of life and activity at Graceland.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 4, 2015
This is a great book if you want to read about how Elvis and his friends were grossly disrespectful, treated people like shit, and abused animals. Can you tell I'm not the biggest Elvis fan? I read this book because it was free and I wanted to hear about Priscilla from a Graceland insider. This book was released long before hers so there wasn't much. I'm sure that a lot of things she reveled in her book were still considered hush hush to the Graceland insiders at this time and therefor left out of this book. Most the book talks about Elvis's disgusting behavior and treatment of other people. I don't care if he gave away cars and jewelry, that doesn't make up for degrading the people around him including his servants.
Also at one point the author mentions yoga as a religion/occult which is pretty funny. At the time this book was written that was a pretty common misconception but it's still laughably stupid.
At the end she talks about the speculation on Elvis's weight gain and how it was said he was taking diet pills and other medical drugs. She says he didn't use any of that stuff she talks about never having seen him take it and how he detested people who used it and street drugs. Later Priscilla's book came out and talks openly about Elvis's dependance on diet pills, sleeping pills, uppers, as well as their multiple experiments with marijuana and one try of LSD which she claimed he enjoyed. Clearly Yancey didn't know as much as she thought she did. She also says his weight gain must have been medical or genetic even though she mentions multiple times that he ate insane amounts of junk food. Priscilla book says he ate a pound of bacon every morning for breakfast. That's bound to catch up with you when you get older, exactly like Elvis was.
She likes to say that she 'dated' Elvis but the situations she describes aren't dates. They're her and her girlfriends invited to to movie nights with him, the boys, and literally anyone else who wanted to go along.
To sum up, this book sucked and not just because I don't like who it was about. It's really set up like you're getting the deep insider information but once you get into it you realize she wasn't privy to a lot of information at all. The cover says she was his 'private secretary' which leads you to think she was working very close to him but all she really did was answer fan mail and write checks. Because she wrote checks there's a lot of numbers given for how much things cost but that's really the most intimate info in this book. Also this was written the same year he passed away which makes it feel like she was trying to cash in on his name.
Also at one point the author mentions yoga as a religion/occult which is pretty funny. At the time this book was written that was a pretty common misconception but it's still laughably stupid.
At the end she talks about the speculation on Elvis's weight gain and how it was said he was taking diet pills and other medical drugs. She says he didn't use any of that stuff she talks about never having seen him take it and how he detested people who used it and street drugs. Later Priscilla's book came out and talks openly about Elvis's dependance on diet pills, sleeping pills, uppers, as well as their multiple experiments with marijuana and one try of LSD which she claimed he enjoyed. Clearly Yancey didn't know as much as she thought she did. She also says his weight gain must have been medical or genetic even though she mentions multiple times that he ate insane amounts of junk food. Priscilla book says he ate a pound of bacon every morning for breakfast. That's bound to catch up with you when you get older, exactly like Elvis was.
She likes to say that she 'dated' Elvis but the situations she describes aren't dates. They're her and her girlfriends invited to to movie nights with him, the boys, and literally anyone else who wanted to go along.
To sum up, this book sucked and not just because I don't like who it was about. It's really set up like you're getting the deep insider information but once you get into it you realize she wasn't privy to a lot of information at all. The cover says she was his 'private secretary' which leads you to think she was working very close to him but all she really did was answer fan mail and write checks. Because she wrote checks there's a lot of numbers given for how much things cost but that's really the most intimate info in this book. Also this was written the same year he passed away which makes it feel like she was trying to cash in on his name.
May 25, 2009
I found this book at the thrift store, It is my third Elvis bio I have read.. I learned a lot of interesting Elvis facts and I kinda feel sorry for the guy, he was so famous that he could not live a normal life..
June 4, 2012
I bought a copy of this book at a used bookstore. I wasn't expecting a lot from it, but since I am an Elvis fan and had never seen it before I thought i would give it a shot. I was really surprised. This turned out to be a very interesting book about one woman who met Elvis and eventually became his secretary. She tells a lot of interesting things that crossed her desk in the 13 years she worked at Graceland, as well as parties she attended and other events that Elvis held. If you are an Elvis fan I highly recommend this book. You learn a lot about the ins and outs of day to day life at Graceland, and about her friend Elvis. Enjoy!!
January 17, 2015
1st Read: March 5, 2015 - March 24, 2015
Initially, I thought this was going to be another book on Elvis that didn't reveal anything new. The more I read, the more I'd found it interesting and enjoyable. My only complaint is that it jumps around a lot.
Initially, I thought this was going to be another book on Elvis that didn't reveal anything new. The more I read, the more I'd found it interesting and enjoyable. My only complaint is that it jumps around a lot.
February 15, 2025
I absolutely loved hearing about all the stories from someone that was so close to him. For 13 years. She was his secretary. She met him when she was 14 years old and went on a date with him to Liberty Land and rode the Pippin roller coaster with him. Actually threw up on him and herself as well. What a way to meet the king of rock and roll LOL. The rest as they say is history. An amazing history about an amazing beloved human being. This is definitely one of the must-reads for any Elvis fan.
August 29, 2025
I read the French version of this book, translated by Jacqueline Lenclud. It’s very badly translated, the French is strange, sentences badly structured and the book is full of typos, errors and mistakes such as calling Dolores Hart (in a photograph with Elvis) Carolyn Jones!!?? The information about Elvis is nothing new, but fun to read. The translation and proofreading are horribly lacking. It’s somewhat of a pain to read. I give it 2 stars only because it’s about Elvis!
November 25, 2020
Much better than I expected. She obviously had respect for the man and didn't rake up too much dirt because she loved the Presley family. Elvis was really generous and looked after those who looked after him. He just comes across as a nice bloke who would have probably swapped all of the fame and money for a quiet happy family life.
April 22, 2023
mom bought this book years ago i dont know if she ever read it very interesting book written by his secretary who was friends with him and dated him and worked with him for most of his life pretty positive in general who comes across as a nice giving person in a strange predicament
July 7, 2025
Excellent book and a must read for any Elvis fan. It's a true account of Becky Yancey's time she worked for Elvis and his father from 1962-1975. Wonderful memories she has of her time at Graceland. I really enjoyed it.
October 29, 2023
Interesting enough read but absolutely riddled with factual errors. Also quite pro Priscilla, which puts me off.
August 25, 2026
I like this book.
October 26, 2016
Read this book a long time ago. Not amongst the best Elvis biographies, but still very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews