Oprah’s Book Club announced the latest selection, From Here to the Great Unknown (Random House) a memoir from Lisa Marie Presley, who tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.
Oprah announced her latest Book Club selection on CBS Mornings, as she appeared in-studio with author Riley Keough to discuss the unique writing process for this deeply personal memoir. Watch the full CBS Mornings segment here.
“I have great love and admiration for Lisa Marie Presley, and was so moved that her daughter Riley, through her grief, was able to help her finish a beautifully touching memoir that allows us to see her mother at her most honest and vulnerable,” said Oprah Winfrey. “This is an intimate look at what it was like growing up as heir to one of America’s most famous families.”
“When Oprah called to tell me that she was selecting my mom’s memoir for her book club, all I could think about was how proud my mom would have been to know her story was going to be read and discussed with such empathy, thought and grace,” said Riley Keough. “She would have felt incredibly vulnerable, but profoundly grateful for the chance to really reach people.”
In support of the memoir, Oprah Winfrey traveled to the historic Graceland Mansion in Memphis, TN, to sit down with Riley Keough, Elvis Presley’s first-born grandchild, for Riley’s first in-depth interview since her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died unexpectedly in 2023, in an exclusive interview “An Oprah Special: The Presleys — Elvis, Lisa Maria and Riley” which will air tonight on CBS at 8 pm/ET. Watch a clip of the interview here.
Before her death, Lisa Marie had recorded hours and hours of stories, from her remarkable, one-of-a-kind life. These tapes — intimate and raw, painful and beautiful — were to be the foundation for a memoir she wanted to write. A month before she passed, she asked Riley to help her do just that, to make sure that her life story was shared with the world.
In this exclusive interview for the book, Riley shares what that writing process was like and the stories and remembrances of her mother. The special will feature never-before-seen family photos and home videos as well as selections of Lisa Marie’s personal audio recordings of her life, including memories of her father Elvis Presley — about whom Lisa Marie opens the book by writing: “I felt my father could change the weather. He was a god to me. A chosen human being.”
After Lisa Marie passed, Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, lay in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them.
About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran toward his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they had in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief.
Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world. To make her mother — the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and now grieved — known. This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating — from this world to the one beyond — as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other — the last words of the only child of an American icon.
The audiobook is now available. Julia Roberts will narrate Lisa Marie’s sections in the audiobook alongside Riley Keough, who narrates her own sections. In addition, the audiobook will also feature never-before-heard selections from the personal tapes Presley recorded as she prepared to write the book.
Read more about the announcement and Oprah’s Book Club
Lisa Marie Presley was a singer and songwriter who was born in Memphis and raised at Graceland as the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. She released three studio albums throughout her music career — To Whom It May Concern, Now What, and Storm & Grace, the first of which was certified gold. Lisa Marie passed away in January 2023.
Riley Keough is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Award-nominated actress. She is known for her work in Daisy Jones & the Six, Zola, and more. She also co-directed War Pony (2022), which won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at Cannes, and co-founded the production company Felix Culpa with Gina Gammell. She is the eldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and sole trustee of Graceland.
(Oprah Photo Credit: Harpo, Inc./Huy Doan)
