From Here to the Great Unknown

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains repeated references to addiction and suicide.

From Here to the Great Unknown emphasizes the struggles of celebrity and living in proximity to “godlike fame.” As Elvis Presley’s only daughter, Lisa’s life was defined by her father’s notoriety, even years after his death. The public scrutiny and judgment she faced as the unwilling “princess of America” created a constant environment of anxiety and distrust that often adversely affected her health and well-being.

The pressure of living in the public eye began affecting Lisa even before she was born. When Priscilla Presley became pregnant, she considered falling off a horse to cause a miscarriage and ate nothing but apples and eggs through the first part of her pregnancy. She worried that gaining pregnancy weight “wouldn’t be a good look for her as Elvis’s wife” (7). Lisa believed that she absorbed some of this energy while in her mother’s womb and “always felt [her mother] didn’t want [her]” (7). From her own perspective, Lisa lived beholden to her father’s fame and the public scrutiny that came with it from the moment she was born.