Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog
From Here to the Great Unknown (A Memoir)
By: Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough
Narrated By: Riley Keough, Julia Roberts
“From Here to the Great Unknown” begins rather shakily because it is unclear about who is narrating and being represented in the story. Listeners who stick with the story begin to see that Keough’s voice is of herself while the non-tape-recorded voice by Julia Roberts is Lisa Marie, telling and filling gaps in Danielle Riley’s story. The two photographs above are meant to show Lisa Marie in her prime and Riley in the present.
This memoir explains Danny Keough (Danielle’s father and Lisa Maries first husband) is an ever-present person in Riley Keough’s life.
The book reveals the thrills, fears, and tragedy of inheriting fame. Danielle Riley Keough assembles a memoir from tape recordings by her mother and recollections of Elvis Pressley’s only daughter, Lisa Marie Pressley. “From Here to the Great Uknown” infers genetics may have something to do with descendants’ lives but the consequence of fame magnifies life’s proclivities.
Lisa Marie is shown to idolize her father who loved her dearly.
As most know, Elvis descended into addiction. This is not a story about Elvis but about Lisa Marie who loved her father, struggled with her mother, and created a career for herself in the music industry. She never achieves the fame of her father but had some success with “Lights Out”, “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”, “Dirty Laundry”, “S.O.B”, and “Over Me”. Keough briefly talks about traveling with her mother on tour. Keogh explains her mother dabbled with drugs in earlier years but seemed to kick the habit as she began establishing her own career. Lisa Marie meets and marries Danny Keough, and has two children with her, Riley and a son named Benjamin. Despite a divorce in 1994, Riley Keough and even her mother remained close with Danny.
Lisa Marie’s divorce seems precipitated by a growing intimate relationship between Lisa Marie and the famous King of Pop, Michael Jackson. After divorce, Lisa Marie marries Jackson in 1994.
Keough mentions Jackson’s pedophilia accusations in 1993 that makes one wonder if the marriage had anything to do with the accusations of five boys. Lisa Marie and Jackson divorced in 1996. Riley suggests Jackson’s desire to be in control created friction between the couple that led to the divorce. Jackson was acquitted of any pedophilia charges in 2005.
Lisa Marie marries again in 2002 to the actor, Nicolas Cage, but they are divorced two years later.
Despite three failed marriages, Riley explains her mother wishes to have more children and decides to marry Michael Lockwood in 2006. Through invitro fertilization, Lisa Marie becomes pregnant with twins. She has a cesarian delivery that births Harper and Finley who become Riley’s sisters. Riley explains her mother had quit drugs which she had gone through in her younger years but recovering from the cesarian operation led her back to drugs. She separates from Lockwood in 2016, and they divorce in 2021.
One begins to think about the famous film “Alfie” that came out in 1966.
Michael Caine, who is Alfie, looks back on his life and his famous line in the film is “What’s it all about Alfie?” Riley suggests Lisa Marie was a great mother because she had an instinct for caring about her children. Riley believes her mother slipped back into drugs because of the pain killers she took from the cesarean delivery of her twins.
Living a life of fame has consequences. One can argue that no singer in modern times has exceeded the fame of Elvis Pressley. Maybe Taylor Swift is nearing Elvis’s fame. Time will tell.
The price of fame is loss of privacy, mental strain to maintain an image, isolation, hangers-on self-interests, constant public exposure, and personal security concerns. Riley’s memoir of her mother’s life suggests fame influences Elvis’s, Lisa Marie Pressley’s, and Ben’s lives and deaths. All three had problems with drug use, but Elvis had a heart attack and Lisa Marie had a bowel obstruction thought to have caused excessive weight-loss and death.
With the death of Riley’s brother from suicide, a spiraling downward seems inevitable for Lisa Marie Pressley.
Surprisingly, Lisa Marie rallies after the suicide of her son, but the negative consequence of fame remain. The pressure of fame, like poverty, are equal opportunity killers.
REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE 