Schmelvis by Max Wallace and Jonathan Goldstein, ECW Press

Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley’s Jewish Roots

Wallace, Max and Goldstein, Jonathan

$22.95
  • A Kaddish for Elvis Presley on the 25th anniversary of his death. It may sound crazy, but Elvis Presley — that God-fearing, gospel-singing American pop icon — was a Jew. Maverick journalists and filmmakers Max Wallace and Jonathan Goldstein have proven it. Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley’s Jewish Roots is a behind-the-scenes account of their irreverent and witty film documentary. With the help of a Hasidic Jewish Elvis impersonator and an eccentric Orthodox Rabbi, they trace Elvis’s Jewish roots, all the way to Israel. Next? Bring the good news back home to Graceland! This wacky crew pilots the “Winnebagel” on a pilgrimage down America’s legendary Highway 61 to’the home of the King, and along the way they share the startling truth with Elvis’ own disciples, rednecks, truckers, white trash and plain old unsuspecting Americans. Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley’s Jewish Roots compiles the hilarious journals of the filmmakers, production logs, selections from the film script, trivia, and a private investigator’s official report on Elvis’s Jewish roots. Finally, it has Aunty Pearly’s original recipe for kosher peanut butter and banana sandwiches: Elvis’s favourite.
  • Max Wallace is a veteran journalist and filmmaker based in Montreal, Canada. His previous books include the bestseller Who Killed Kurt Cobain? (1998) and Muhammed Ali’s Greatest Fight: Cassius Clay vs. the United States of America (2000). Wallace has contributed to the BBC, CBC, and Sunday New York Times. In 1985, he won the Rolling Stone Magazine Award for Investigative Journalism. Jonathan Goldstein is a producer with This American Life on WBEZ Radio in Chicago. His first novel, Lenny Bruce is Dead, was published in March 2001 by Coach House Books. He has contributed to CBC radio and written for Saturday Night, broken pencil, Exile, and blood and aphorisms.

  • Published: April 2002

    ISBN: 9781550224627

    Dimensions: 6 x 9 in.

    Pages: 208

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