Book info card From The Holy Land To Graceland: Sacred People, Places and Things In Our Lives

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From The Holy Land To Graceland: Sacred People, Places and Things In Our Lives
Vikan, Gary (2013)

Globe Pequot Publishing Group Inc /The AAM Press
paperback , 202 pages , 26.2 x 18.4 x 2.9 cm , 0.658 kg
ISBN-10: 1-933253-72-X , ISBN-13: 978-1-933253-72-5

Category:	Graceland
Language:	English
Description:	According to medievalist Gary Vikan, Graceland is much more than a wildly popular tourist destination associated with a famous entertainer, and Elvis Presley is much more than the King of Rock 'n' Roll. In this fascinating new book, Vikan posits that Graceland, the second-most visited historic house in the United States, is a locus sanctus-a holy place-and Elvis is its resident saint. Thus the hordes of fans that crowd Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis are modern day pilgrims, connected in spirit and practice to their early Christian counterparts, sharing a fascination for icons and iconography, relics, souvenirs, votives, and even a belief in miracles. Vikan goes on to explore many other loci sancti around the world, including Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, the Grassy Knoll in Dallas, and the Place de l'Alma in Paris. From the Holy Land to Gracelandexplores the role of our "martyred" secular saints today from John F. Kennedy to Michael Jackson. The author served as director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore from 1994 to 2012. An internationally known Byzantinist and scholar of medieval art, he has published and lectured extensively on topics as varied as early Christian pilgrimage, medicine and magic, icons, the Shroud of Turin, neuroscience and aesthetics, and Elvis Presley. He is adjunct professor of art history at the Johns Hopkins University and a faculty member in the Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Studies. Source: Amazon
Review(s):	Review by Nigel Patterson on The Elvis Information Network ... (January 2013) (External reviews are copyright of the reviewer/website owner. Inclusion of a link does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.)
Interview(s):	Interview with the author by Nigel Patterson on The Elvis Information Network ... (January 2013) (External interviews are copyright of the interviewer/website owner.)
Source(s):	Cover, info and description : various sources