The book became one of the most controversial books in the history of America concerning Elvis Presley.  However, many people have the wrong idea as to why—Red West, Sonny West, and I—wrote the book.  Our intentions for writing the book were — 

1.     We hoped Elvis would see his drug abuse problem and get the help he so seriously needed. Foolish, yes, but we were terribly distressed at seeing Elvis in poor condition and wanted to wake him up to reality and seek professional help. We wanted to see if we could do something that would genuinely motivate him to seek help and reverse or greatly slow down his deteriorating health.

2.     We were fired prior to the book’s publication. It was sudden and with only one week’s pay.  An opportunity arose to make some money, and hopefully, to help Elvis in the process.  Unfortunately, both failed.

3.     Personally, I was angry and hurt in the way I was fired—by Vernon, not Elvis. I was very upset that Elvis didn’t fire me himself, but let his father do the task. Meanwhile, Elvis had left town and I felt letdown and abandoned. I felt I had done a lot for him—a lot more than any fan will ever know. So, when he didn’t want to confront the situation, it really didn’t sit too well with me.

 In the end, the book did not turn out as we had intended.  The Australian journalist, Steve Dunleavy (1938-2019), distorted the truth, twisted our account, and sensationalized the book. He wrote it from a tabloid perspective, which was not what we had proposed at all. The bottom line was that we had hoped it would have jolted Elvis into realizing that he had a drug problem and would have spurred him on to seeking professional help.