Official Review: Performing Memories of Elvis an autobiog...

[Tessab00]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Performing Memories of Elvis an autobiography" by Mike DiDio Sr.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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The book Performing Memories of Elvis by Mike Didio Sr. is an autobiography by a man who has been through a lot in his life, including performing as an Elvis impersonator for a few years. He has 3 children and has been married for over 40 years. It was an interesting read, and I really enjoyed learning about a life very different from my own. I also felt it helped me understand my brother a little better, who has gone through similar life experiences as Mike.

Because of the title I had expected more of the focus to revolve around Mike's days impersonating Elvis. However, that was only a very small part of the story. When he does talk about his time as an Elvis impersonator, he gives more of an overview rather than his actual memories and experiences. The book covers everything from Mike’s childhood to the present day. His struggle with drug addiction and his wife’s commitment to him and their marriage. It also gives a few glimpses into his brothers’ and children's lives. Both as they relate and don’t relate to his own.

I did not like how Mike would jump around a lot as he was telling certain stories. Sometimes he was talking about a specific year but would jump back in time and start discussing something else that happened many years prior before he returned to the original date he was discussing. There were many times I couldn’t figure out the connection to the story he had begun with. He also did this with different people as he told a story that involved them. He’d mention a family member, then tell a whole story about that family member’s life, before he eventually got back on the topic he’d been discussing. It made it hard to follow and stay immersed in the book.

There were also many typos, spelling errors and missing punctuation throughout the book. The errors seemed to get worse about halfway through. There were a lot of typos in the beginning, but they were mostly small things that I could understand missing while proofreading. However, about halfway through the book the errors started getting worse, and by the end it seemed like he gave up on proofreading entirely.

If you want a quick read, and enjoy learning about other people and their life stories, I think you may enjoy this book. But if drugs are a trigger for you it would probably be best to skip this one. There was a lot of drug use mentioned throughout the book. Overall, I give Performing Memories of Elvis 1 out of 4 stars. It wasn’t a terrible book, and I was intrigued and wanted to know how things turned out with his life. However, due to the number of errors, the inconsistent timelines and the fact the title doesn’t fit the majority of the book I have trouble giving it a higher score.

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Performing Memories of Elvis an autobiography
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[Dayodiola]

The ultimate of any author should be the assimilation by his reader, do many still care. Great review

[Elvis Best]

You mentioned that by the end it looked as though he gave up on proofreading entirely. I found that observation very hilarious. I enjoyed reading this review. Also, it seems this book is an unfinished product and needs to go through several rounds of editing to fix both the errors and focus of the book.

[Gift Nwagu]

That's very sad. This book had all the makings of a great read. I can completely relate to your frustrations trying to understand the storyline as too many distracting deviations were made. In all the book still seems like it has potential and probably could become something with many rounds of corrections by professional editors.

[electricapple]

The title of the book had me really intrigued! According to your review however, the actual book doesn’t live up to the title. How disappointing. I laughed out loud when you said it’s like he gave up halfway with the editing

[Carennkemdiala]

I totally agree with your elaborate review. The title of the book is really catchy with tendencies of having a lot of potentials.

However, the part where you said that the author deviates by mentioning a certain family member, then tell a whole story about that family member’s life before eventually going back to the initial topic of discussion is a way authors let you in on the background of a person so that you wouldn’t encounter difficulty in understanding the role he/she plays in the book.

As for the plethora of errors in spelling and punctuations, I strongly believe that the book certainly need some professional touch of editing.

Great review!!! Thumbs up!!!

[kljrox]

That's very sad. This book had all the makings of a great read. I can completely relate to your frustrations trying to understand the storyline as too many distracting deviations were made. In all the book still seems like it has potential and probably could become something with many rounds of corrections by professional editors.

Beautifully said. It’s a shame really, that this person’s life was probably as disorganized as his writing. I sincerely hope that the “giving up” part of the end of his book doesn’t reflect in his life. Very nice review.