Every Day I Write The Book - Elvis' writings

[Jack of All Parades]

Over the years as I have revisited these pieces in the individual Rhino releases I have come to marvel at his usage of the first person 'I' in the narrative. It provides him with a flexibility in his prose that allows for a beguiling movement in and out of time, in effect letting him critique and question his own narrative. That is a neat device and it has always made these essays a treasure trove of observation and history, personal and general historical reanalysis at the same time. Montaigne would have approved of that observational trick- as he was so fond of using it. Declan's self deprecating tone is a delight; he is 'seemingly' never too full of himself and quite capable at any moment of inserting a pin to deflate his own ego. To read as a person calls himself out is rare- it happens with regularity in these 'memoirs'.