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Category:
Humor
Publisher: Booksurge
Type: Fiction
. Elvis Presley and the Wizard of Oz strike up a friendship in the Flint Hills of Kansas, admiring each other's zoot suits, trading barbs about the weather and the economy, and ultimately deciding that Kansas could never support anything fun and frivolous like the famous 1939 movie.
Bringing Elvis to Kansas
Placing Elvis Presley in Kansas seems absurd. His rich lifestyle and flamboyant clothing would be sinful in Kansas’ small towns and small town thinking would keep him so oppressed. He’d have to escape to avoid being stunted and runted.
But Kansas still dreams about Elvis, longs to hear his voice, longs to touch him and hug him.
In spite of this longing, the myth of Kansas being the home of the Wizard of Oz also seems mistaken.
The Wizard’s home, so glorious and shining, can’t be here. Such magic belongs elsewhere. One real-life attempt to bring the Wizard to Kansas as a theme park ended when the land to be purchased turned out to be a weapons range, much too cruel and expensive for the Wizard.
And the bleak Kansas plains seem bereft of support for the adventures of the lion, the tin man and the straw man. Elvis himself, with all his powers, could not find a yellow brick road here; the Kansas legislature would be too cheap to build one.
Excerpt
WHAT IF ELVIS VISITED KANSAS?
Leaving Memphis, Elvis flies into Topeka, Kansas, hoping to meet the Wizard of Oz. Fascinated by that movie, the King hopes to relive its excitement.
And, initially, he has a great time: singing at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, meeting some young coeds on campus, flying in showgirls and his entourage from Vegas.
But then things get cloudy and storm warnings go up. Twisters snake down from the black-green sky, and Elvis makes his escape.
Author Larry Rochelle poses an interesting juxtaposition: Elvis next to the dry, religious folk of rural Kansas. He wonders if these stolid, red-state conservatives will warm up to Elvis' gyrations. What he finds will give you a kick in the ribs and a shock to your soul.
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