She Played Elvis: A Pilgrimage to Graceland

After many years in Australia, a young American sets out to rediscover her homeland in this quirky, funny, quietly moving memoir of a cross-country pilgrimage to Graceland, traveling by Greyhound bus and busking Elvis songs along the way When Shady Cosgrove, a young American immigrant to Australia, realizes that America doesn't necessarily feel like "home" anymore, she sets out with her Australian boyfriend to rediscover her homeland. As part of the journey, the pair decide to make a pilgrimage across America to get to Graceland for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, with Shady busking and singing Elvis songs at cities and towns along the way. As they travel across the U.S., memories of her past begin to surface, and Shady realizes that while she is coming to understand the meaning of "home," she is also untangling the knotted threads of her difficult relationship with her estranged, erratic, unreliable, and often violent father. A moving, witty, and original meditation on the idea of pilgrimage, family, home, and loss, this classic road story details a journey of self-discovery set to an Elvis soundtrack and told with a clear-eyed, intelligent, unforgettable, grace. Read more