"Presleystroika" is an essay about the effect of pop culture on the development of a person, as well as the development of a generation. The Elvis threesome represented the ideal world, in which life was enjoyable, in which women no longer had to be subject to the injustices and expectations of reality.
             By using the troika, the real Elvis and Vlado as the Leningrad and Moscow Elvis, the narrator seems to be making a comment on how one's social standing and culture shape our perception of entertainment. Whereas Brother Baker, as an American, considered Elvis a Communist, the Russians saw him as a change to their communist ways.
             She describes the real Elvis as the "Lenin of Lust", joining the different cultures and
             portraying their similar effects on the audiences. Whereas in America he was responsible for
             making girls realize that there was more to life than "Betty Crocker cake mixes and crying
             babies" (pg. 209), in Leningrad and in Moscow "Elvis" brought to them a sense of hope for
             change, where breadlines would not always be the reality. This icon, be it real or an impersonation, made them realize that they could break the cycle and not lead the lives their mothers had. Escape, even if short lived, gave them hope. And once hope was part of them, his fans, like the narrator, had the courage to change their lives and head to New Orleans at the young age of eighteen.
             The essay assumes that the readers will know that Elvis was a white man singing the blues and that he set himself apart from society's norms, just by being himself. The difference between the Elvis that appeared in Biloxi and the "Vegas Elvis" is not explained either, it is presumed that the readers are aware of his physical and behavioral changes. Certainly, the life of inspiring hope and lust in the hearts of young American women was not his mantra, just a result of his art; ironically,
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