cover image Don't Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis: A Washington Woman's Secret Years with Elvis Presle

Don't Ask Forever: My Love Affair with Elvis: A Washington Woman's Secret Years with Elvis Presle

Joyce Bova. Zebra, $20 (386pp) ISBN 978-0-8217-4616-5

Bova supplies a new perspective on Elvis. No Graceland groupie she, the author was a Capitol Hill staffer on the Armed Services Committee when she met Presley in 1969 in Las Vegas during her vacation. She was unprepared for ``how beautiful he was.'' The fraught and erratic love affair that followed lasted till 1972. Bova, writing with freelancer Nowels, draws a portrait of this larger-than-life star, surrounded by sycophants, drifting into drug abuse and yet still sensitive to his fans. Also intriguing is the fact that Bova struggled to stand up to the ``King,'' to keep her job and her independence. Looking back she sees the star in a softer light than many tale tellers, stressing that he was ``devoutly religious and believed in family values.'' But she also details how Elvis pressured her to take narcotics until she in turn became addicted. It all makes seductive reading, although one questions Bova's 100% recall of conversations and passing thoughts after more than two decades. Even taken with the obligatory grain of salt, this is a piquant and smoothly written addition to the Elvis canon. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to National Star; Doubleday Book Club featured alternate; Literary Guild alternate. (July)