Book Description
Compiled from the literary estate of the singer who brought a wildly lyrical poetry of the damned to the world of rock 'n' roll. Includes unpublished poems, drawings, photos, and a candid self-interview.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Collection .......2007-05-17
This book is by far one of the best books of poetry I have had the pleasure of reading. Recommended to anyone that not only love's poetry but are interested in enter deeper into the mind of Jim Morrison.
I AM IN LOVE WITH JIM!.......2007-02-18
Jim Morrison is my favorite artist, idol, poet, male, and anything else. He is such an amazing person and his art is truly appreciated. Not only was he hot and sexy-he can actally write! Enclosed are his lyrics and deep emotions-a great read with a bunch of friends by a fire at night. You will love all these poems and the photos of the amazing beast himself-Jim Morrison himself revealed.
Strangely beautiful and mesmerizing...hypnotic.......2005-10-15
I love this book and you don't have to be a lover of poetry to admire and appreciate the poems contained in this book. Jim Morrison was a man who was deeply committed to his art. As the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors (one of the greatest rock bands of all time) he took special care that his lyrics as well as his poems aim to release people from the constraints of what is normal and that we as people should follow our own destiny and draw our own conclusions and live our life the way that we want it. Jim Morrison was a tortured, confused and misunderstood soul but nevertheless a genius. An enigma and legend that will live on forever. The lizard king, the electric poet cannot and will not be silenced ever... as long as his music and poetry continues to thrive in all who appreciate and love his unique and captavating artistry. Get this book and you will not disappointed.
Mesmerizing , Magical, Mystical Poetry.......2005-07-11
Jim Morrison was a poet far, far ahead of his time. His words evoke dancing, metaphorical images that bloom in your mind like rare hothouse flowers. You can feel the angst, pain and beauty of his soul in these poems.
If you love poetry, this book is a must-have. I keep it by my bed and read it every night. I've had some pretty awesome dreams, too!
Haunting.......2005-06-22
The words and images in this book have a way with your mind. They stick in your subconscious as if they are the stories your ancestors told around the campfire.
Jim Morrison's poetry is a mix of Greek mythology, and Shamanic mysticism. Throw in some books from long ago that are deep in the blood of mankind, and you end up with Morrison.
His poetry does not talk about himself. Instead he writes about archetypical themes in a modern setting. His setting was the 60's, which provided a lot of material: Vietnam, new drugs, the Women's Rights Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement.
All of these things were ripping at the fabric of America (and humanity). Morrison's poetry attacks these chaotic times head on. However, he writes as if he were a 19th century poet in the mold of Lord Byron, or Arthur Rimbaud. He achieved his goal, and a place in history.
Book Description
THE AMERICAN NIGHT presents Morrison's previously unpublished work in its truest form. WIth their nightmarish images, bold associative leaps, and volcanic power of emotion, these works are the unmistakable artifacts of a great, wild voice and heart.
Customer Reviews:
Revolutionary.......2005-06-22
These poems have been underated since they're release. If one considers the fact that Jim Morrison was protesting the Vietnam War while his father was an Admiral in the United States Navy; I think the reader will come to understand the value of Morrison's work. He's always been a poet first.
Volume II (2 of 2) of Jim Morrison's Poetry.......2005-05-17
A "Must Have" for any serious fan of Jim Morrison\The Doors. The original poems of Jim Morrison from which many of The Doors songs' lyrics were taken\based on. Provides additional insight into the works of Jim Morrison and The Doors.
This book is great.......2005-02-25
"The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison Volume 2" is a collection of short stories and poetry written by Jim Morrison. This book has interestingly diverse content. It includes lyrical verse of many musical styles, uncorrected journals, and pages of unconventional poetry. The stories and poems are very distinct and separate considering it is a compilation of work that spans many years. You may read autobiographies or descriptions of Jim Morrison and learn facts about the events of his life, but if you prefer to form your own opinions and make your own judgments, this book gives you insight into Jim Morrison through his writings.
The wild and charismatic Jim Morrison is revealed in his documents. Some of the writings may not be grammatically correct or traditionally written, since most of the work in this book was never revised. On the other hand, revisions may have tainted the overall impact of the work. The writing is so gripping and unique that it holds your interest from cover to cover. There is just enough reality in his writing to keep you engrossed and enables you to relate to the text. Jim Morrison was a great poet, songwriter, and author. Go ahead and pick up a copy of this intriguing book, it won't let you down.
Lizard King's poetry.......2004-07-14
This collection by Jim Morrison is deep and beautiful. I have found that alot of these poems on here are also on the American Prayer CD, so that is cool. If you like this, get any other book from Jim, you won't be disappionted. If you want to hear him read his work, get the American Prayer CD.
an american prayer in poetry.......2004-07-08
I must admit, I find Jim's poems very symbolic and understanding his meanings is sometimes like trying to crack open a hard nutshell. But his poems are highly intelligent, showing much knowledge and a strong command of language, an ability to use language creatively. Apart from poems culled from his notebooks after his death, this book also includes an intriguing and disturbing unfinished screenplay about a hitchhiker who commits murder, and includes the text to his more poetic song lyrics.
David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"
Product Description
The softcover edition examines the turbulent relationship between legendary Doors frontman Jim Morrison and his common-law wife, Pamela Courson, tracing the lives of Courson and Morrison before their fateful meeting in 1965, their lives together until Morrison\'s death in 1971, and Coursin\'s life without Morrison, including her fight to gain the rights to his estate until her death from a heroin overdose on April 25, 1974.
Customer Reviews:
Best Morrison book so far.......2007-08-06
It was heart-wrenching to read into the lives of these two beautiful people, outcasts since childhood. The book was well-researched and included fascinating interviews from family, friends, and classmates. The author was careful to decipher between fact and hearsay. I did find the occasional use of song lyrics and political sermons weak, but nothing is perfect. I loved reading details of Morrisons early life, that I have never heard before. This is the first book that details Pamela Courson's life. The media portrays her as a wallflower and trivial, but she was the most important person in Morrison's life.
a good read.......2007-05-18
i have always been intrigued by the life of jim and his so called cosmic wife pamela, they are the kind you knew would not make it pass 30, they lived a wild life , people loved them, hated them and criticized them , this book its entertaining as it talks about pamela like no other book, still i think she had something to do with his dead, perhaps she did not remenber been herself a heavy drug user..we will never know for sure what happened
but i still recomend this book.
Throws the Door open on the Lizard Queen and King..........2007-03-20
I'm a big fan of Jim and The Doors and have been for many years.
Although Pam is mentioned in almost every book on this subject and her romance with Jim is the stuff of legend, most books tell you little about her . And so she remains a shadowy figure in most peoples minds.This book painted a much fuller picture of Pam as a real person.
I found out many things about Pam and Jim that I didn't know and because of that I enjoyed the book very much.
I also was glad of the Author's attempt to paint a more positive picture of Pamela because sometimes I think she is unfairly blamed for things that were beyond her control, I do have to call into question some things in the book. Number 1 being that Pam didn't have a serious heroin problem before Jim died.
There is just too much evidence to the contrary and this has been confirmed by many people who knew Jim and most recently by Jim's bodyguard in 2006.
I think either the friends of Pamela who said this in the book were either unaware of how serious a problem she had or were trying to counter the image that people have of Pamela as just a junkie, which is something I cannot blame them for.
The book is well written and brings home again with a new freshness in spite of all of the years that have passed, just how tragic the deaths of these two young people in love really were.
You're lost, little girl.......2007-03-04
Butler set out to write a biography of Pamela Courson, but inevitably we end up viewing Pam primarily through the lens of her relationship with Jim Morrison. Butler dug deep while researching Pam's life, and does an admirable job of portraying a vulnerable girl who struggled to be seen as an individual. The charisma, ego and over-the-top substance abuse of Jim Morrison appeared to overwhelm Pam, who chose to escape through her own drug use. The book reveals Jim Morrison in a previously unexplored context. Reports of his rampant womanizing are legendary, yet there was a connection to Pam that could not be broken. Butler quotes several Doors insiders as stating that Jim kept returning to Pam because she was the only person, bandmates included, who stood up to him. I would have liked to see that aspect of Pam developed more thoroughly, rather than the emphasis on star-crossed lovers.
On first read I was disappointed that Pam was portrayed in the context of her relationship with Jim, but after re-reading and much thought, I realize that this is the only way we can attempt to know Pamela Courson. The 60s was the beginning of the feminist movement; in that era, band chicks were seen as an adjunct to the rock star. Agents and managers often encouraged the male stars to keep their significant relationships secret. Many women kept their personal aspirations hidden and basked in the reflected glory of their partner. Despite the tumult of her final years, Pam fought to be her own person and life life on her terms.
The romance of Pam and Jim wasn't what was tragic; the real tragedy was the excess which cut short their lives. Butler's book is a nice addition to a collection of Doors biographies.
Jim Loved Pam. Pam Loved Jim........2007-02-17
It's that simple. These two star-crossed 'Cosmic Mates' are among the most intriguing Rock couples of those long ago 1960's. I bought this book as a Doors fan. I would have enjoyed it anyhow. Patricia Butler adds some interesting previously unknown details about Pamela and Jim Morrison-especially Pam. She mentions in the book that she had received so much information-too much to include in the book. I was left wanting more and I hope she writes another one. I have to add that I would love to see that footage of Pam and Jim cavorting in a Moroccan (if memory serves) cemetery. I wish the executors of Jim and Pamela Morrison's estates would let their fans see it. As well as other footage. One day maybe. Anyway one thing is very clear to me. Jim loved Pam. Pam loved Jim. They were meant for each other and I like to think of them together forever in the 'ether' as Ray has phrased it. Heaven I mean. Peace and Love. :)
Book Description
Customer Reviews:
A drum roll for Densmore.......2007-06-24
Excellent work by Densmore in this candid biography. You not only gets under the skin of the author, but also gets an excellent account of the day-to-day ups and downs of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Densmore is as good a writer as he is a drummer. An important document that you can't do without, if you're into the life and times of The Doors.
The Lizard King as seen by the Everyman who played behind him.......2007-05-13
I feel sorry for John Densmore. Despite having been a rock star, the member of what was one of the world's top half dozen rock groups, with all the groupies and money and glamor that that entailed, he remains at this book's writing phenomenally insecure - a nebbish who never found himself despite immersing himself in the California human potential culture purported to deliver exactly that.
He's insecure about girls, insecure about who's his friend, insecure about his drab middle-class roots, insecure about his life prospects and failure to have accomplished much of anything until he became part of the Doors. Some of the introspection in here is so bare and revealing it's almost embarrassing to read. The picture of this naïve Everyman locked into a creative foursome with Jim Morrison, the quintessential dangerous and destructive rock star, is priceless.
America was transiting from harmless British Invasion into superficially benign Flower Power, but Morrison meanwhile was wearing black, singing about sex and death, leading concerts that were like dark seances with somber endings, and challenging bandmates and audiences alike to confront their darker selves and deeper fears. He scared the hell out of the likes of John Densmore.
Morrison, as we know from organist Ray Manzarek's book "Light My Fire", once demanded that Densmore be kicked out of the group; he was just too neurotic and got on Morrison's nerves. Densmore found Morrison, particularly as his alcoholism and erratic behavior grew, so disturbing that Densmore had chronic skin rashes from the stress.
Densmore represents a certain sad byway of that era - people whose pursuit of peace and love, meditation and marijuana, sought to cover or compensate for intense feelings of inadequacy. Many young people who haven't quite found their way in life can feel lost in this way. Marijuana seducing them into compulsive introspection certainly couldn't have helped much. But accomplishing something - like, say, being a pretty fine jazz-rock drummer as Densmore was and putting out a unique body of work like the Doors' music - ought to have helped someone get past that. Densmore doesn't seem to have done so, remaining both lost and searching well into middle-age, and failing to see that maturity required moving beyond that. (Although later chapters touching on his men's movement involvement with Robert Bly suggest that perhaps he was getting a clue about this.)
Densmore's insecurity notwithstanding, this is still a worthwhile book. His painful honesty renders his memoir less varnished than Manzarek's and occasionally more convincing. Densmore gets us a little closer to what really happened with Morrison's death. Most signs point to an accidental heroin overdose, with the heroin provided by girlfriend Pam Courson, who later OD'ed herself, and who was being pursued by a French count who also used and also died of it. Densmore also gets us closer than Manzarek to the tragic sense Morrison projected and held of himself, that he told people he didn't think he'd live beyond youth, that he started every day rebelling against the universe before breakfast. Densmore found playing live behind him "intoxicating ... my new religion," but saw what a price Morrison paid for the edge-living that fed his fire, too brightly and too quickly consumed. A Doors concert, Densmore says, left "everyone in attendance ... cleansed - security guards included. What a show. A truly religious experience. Much better than church. Almost as good as sex! Better! A communion with twenty thousand people."
Densmore loved him as well as fearing him; some passages of the book are written as the letters Densmore would be writing him, if he could. Densmore finds common themes in Morrison's self-destruction and the suicide of Densmore's own mentally ill brother, including his own survivor's guilt and wondering if he could have done more to have saved either - concluding, ultimately, that no, he couldn't. Morrison in a later age might have gone through rehab, but at that time his associates had no clue about what he was doing or how to deal with it. A pity. There have been many dead rock musicians but few took so much potential with them when they went.
Long Live John Densmore!.......2007-03-17
This book is phenomenal. I wish I could thank John Densmore in person! If I could meet him, I would thank him for all the work he did and all the junk he put up with while he was with the Doors. What a legacy! I never even liked the Doors before I read this book, and I never knew that they were that popular (not far behind the Stones and the Beatles). Now I consider myself to be a super-fan, and I have to be honest and say that it is more because of this book than the actual music!
I love that I was able to learn about THE DOORS from this book, NOT JUST Jim Morrison. There are so many books out there on Jim, who was only one quarter of the group. He provided the charisma and many of the lyrics, but he had almost nothing to do with the actual arrangement of the songs musically. The other three band members are extremely talented musicians and they should be recognized for that. Instead, when most people think of the Doors, they only think of Jim... the very one who caused the band's downfall in the media and ultimately their early cessation. Finally, we get an inside look at the OTHER three members and their invaluable contribution to a rock legend that will never die.
John, I hope you check this page once in a while to see the reviews of your book. I was born in the middle of your heyday (1969) and I grew up probably able to name only a handful of Doors songs. Now I practically feel like an expert thanks to your book. You are absolutely right that new fans keep cropping up even after all these years. Would you believe that three of my favorite tunes are not even from among your mega hits? (Soul Kitchen ROCKS) Thank you for what you taught us about Jim. But more than that, thank you for teaching us about ALL of the Doors members. Thank you for all the details you provided about the messages behind the songs and the unique instrumentation and the reactions by the fans and events in your private life - the list is endless. I find myself wanting more because your story is so fascinating. Your book is filled with passion - and most compelling, is your MEMORY. I was riveted by your detailed accounts of specific conversations and impressions that you had. I am so glad you put it down on paper before it was lost forever. Your book is very COMPLETE, HONEST, humorous, tear-jerking, well-written and damn hard to put down. A+++
Sterile Bio On The Doors.......2007-02-17
This book does not offer any great insight to The Doors or Jim Morrison. John Densmore was in the Doors, he hated working with Jim and that's all your really find out from the book. The book is boring. It was not until much later in Densmore's life does he realize that for all Jim's problems he was a songwritting genius.
John Signed mine in person! weeeeeeeeeeeee.......2007-02-04
I was just flipping around in Amazon here and came into this. It's been since 1991? Man I am getting Old! But not as old as John haha. The news hit that he was coming to town, before the net and cell phones, drew a line of people must have been 1/4 mile long, not kidding, to our Tower Records store. I Must of waited 2 hours to say hi and get mine signed. Glad I was not in the back of that line ha. John has got to be one of the best drummers ever. So under rated, never comes up on peoples all time list. Weird. not kidding what I am about to say, back then I had just about the same hair as Jim and was in my prime 20's and long before this day of visit people would tell me I sorta pass for looking like Jim, face and all. I am 6 foot was about 180 then. The hair has gone and the weight is up but what the hey. anyhoo
I was wondering if he would notice as I walked up, he doesn't see anyone really till they are right up on you, as people after people moving thru like cattle. Sure enough he took a double take on me! ha! One of my greatest stories ever! He actually stood back and gave me a quick up and down and just peered into my eyes, yes they are close to the same. Like I said it was a cattle push thru so we just said hi and thanks for coming out and pumped hands. I didn't say anything; I just knew what he was thinking. I should of entered into look a like shows back them. Oh well. Water under a bridge!
Heck, I was so stuned the way he looked at me, I just couldnt say anything, my brain frooze. You think your alright, then you meet such a person and its like DUH UH UH
To bad John didn't play with the 21st C Doors, I knew Ian could only do so much as Jim, but the real deal for me to go was if John was going to be there, for most bands once they change time keepers it just all sounds dif. In Ray's book Ray said Jim wanted to get rid of John, and Ray said he flipped on Jim and said NO! We can't! Ray pleaded with Jim on how good he was and it would mess everything up. And Ray was the man who put it all together and pretty much ran the band. Jim just partied and went along with it all. I still play all this music after 25 years. John really pops in the ipod. 25 years?! Man I am getting Old! But not as old as John!! HA
anyhoo. John, you're the man! I still have the book on my shelf haha.
Book Description
Thirty-five years after his death in Paris at age twenty-seven, Jim Morrison's iconic legend remains as powerful as ever, swathed in the mists of mystery. There have been numerous biographies about the self-proclaimed "Lizard King's" life and career. But none have examined his roots and childhood, the intellectual foundations of his music, his wild days with the Doors, and his enigmatic early death as completely and insightfully as Break On Through.
More than simply a fascinating look at a rock legend whose cult following never stops growing, here is the definitive Morrison biography: his angry relationship with his father; the early tragedies and terrible events responsible for the darkness of his artistic vision; his private life and legal trials, including his infamous Miami obscenity bust; and the truth about his final hours. Based on extensive research and featuring dozens of rarely published photographs, this is the authoritative portrait of the poet, the grim visionary, the haunted man, and his haunting music.
Customer Reviews:
Mr. Mojo Risen!.......2007-09-21
I am very interested in Jim Morrison, which has lead me to read many books about him. Break on Through, is by far, the most detailed and most entertaining book about The Lizard King I have read. James Riordan searched deep and far to find these very detailed accounts of Jim, and brings him back to life through this book. If you want to learn more about the Lizard King, this is the book I suggest.
Thoughtful accurate and involving story of Morrison/The Doors.......2006-10-31
This is THE book to read for the rise and fall story of Jim Morrison/the Doors.Researched by a life-long Doors fan and a co-authored with a credible writer,this book tells the straighforward truth.Worthwhile and essential.
Very thorough and well researched book.......2006-09-07
I have been fascinated with The Doors music for more than 25 years when a friend of mine in school got me into them. Jim Morrison has been and continues to be a subject of deep interest and fascination for me as for countless of other Doors fans. I have read just about every book written on Jim and the band and this by far is the most accurate I believe. The authors did extensive research on Morrison and spent several years writing and perfecting this biography. This is an excellent book and makes a wonderful read not only for Doors fan but for people that enjoy reading about the excesses of rock and roll and the music industry. Jim Morrison was a man ahead of his time, extremely gifted and talented perhaps the most well read of all rock stars. He was an intellectual who possessed a brilliant mind but by the same token he was deeply misunderstood by society and by the authorities which he despised so much. Morrison was a brilliant scholar, an amazing poet, a soulful singer with a clear and very distinctive voice and a fantastic songwriter. He was a genius no doubt and his demise on July 3, 1971,in Paris is still mourned by the legions of fans that the mercurial and ecletic singer left behind. BREAK ON THROUGH:THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JIM MORRISON, is a must read for any admirer of this brilliant artist and renaissance man. The book is 544 pages long and it traces Jim's life from the beginning in Melbourne Florida where he was born to his sad and untimely death in Paris. Read this book and find out what the real Jim Morrison was all about. This book will probably shock and confuse a lot of people but it is an excellent biography of a man that 35 after his death still continues to fascinate and spark the interest of people all over the world.
The erotic politician.......2005-08-10
Mad poet. Adored icon. Wild rocker. Alcoholic genius. Brilliant musician. Jim Morrison died in 1971, but his legend still sits among us.
With people who are brilliant and badly-behaved, as Morrison was, it's difficult to get a balanced view that seems like an actual person. But James Riordan's "Break On Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison" manages to do just that.
James Douglas Morrison was an army brat, intelligent and well-read, who began to blossom into a poet and musician in college. He went on to become the singer/frontman of the band "The Doors," adding his outstanding poetry-like songwriting to his bandmates' equally outstanding musical skills. Soon they were a massively popular rock band.
But Morrison had other facets as well: He was attracted to the bizarre, and could be cruel, sweet, loving, strange, and often drunken and loutish. He was also contradictory: He sought notice as a poet, but was still mainly known as a rock star; he slept around and handfasted a rock critic, but always stayed with girlfriend Pamela Courson. After living on the edge for years, Jim passed away in Paris, under strange circumstances.
Most biographies of Jim Morrison err on one side or another. Either they portray him as a sadistic, drunken lout, or they show him as a transcendent gentleman. The truth isn't usually that simple, and neither was Morrison. And Riordan shows us the different sides of Morrison's personality -- good and bad, together.
Like Morrison himself, the book has its contradictions: There is a somewhat fannish tone to the some of the writing. On the other hand, it's willing to acknowledge that Morrison could be lewd, weird, obnoxious and drunken. Riordan also shows us Jim's gradual flowering into a poet, his literary influences such as Nietszche, and the relationships between the Doors.
Riordan also courts controversy by studying and dissecting the various theories about Morrison's death. Don't expect wacked out conspiracy theories, or medical improbabilities -- Riordan stays calm and rational throughout the whole thing, and reveals the most likely scenarios. He also avoids outright judgements on controversial figures like Patricia Kennealy.
As the book draws to a close, Riordan keeps things dignified. He devotes the final chapters to studying the lives of Pamela Courson and the other Doors in the years following Morrison's death, as well as the creation of the "American Prayer" album. The only flaw is Kennealy's bizarre description of Morrison's "fetch," which seems more fiction than fact.
Jim Morrison's wild life and mysterious death are the stuff of which tabloid biographies are made. But James Riordan keeps things simple and smart in "Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison."
Last Words Out?.......2005-06-01
This book has been criticized for its "fan club" style, but it actually delves into subject matter that the more star-struck authors neglect regarding Jim Morrison: shamanism, surrealism, theater...the real sources of his inspiration. Shows that there was actual substance behind the myth, and real insight and vision beneath all that self-destruction.
Average customer rating:
- Fun to read.
- READ IT OVER AGAIN
- No One Here Gets Out Alive
- The best doors book ever written
- Fluffiest Rock Biography of All-Time-Jim Morrison's Memory Deserves Justice.
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No One Here Gets Out Alive
Danny Sugerman , and
Jerry Hopkins
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
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ASIN: 0446602280 |
Customer Reviews:
Fun to read........2007-07-25
This book shouldn't be over analyzed. It's not a Dickens novel, it's a cheap paperback about a dead rock star. Some of the stories might be hear-say, and the book is blantant hero worship. When I was a teenager, Jim Morrison was my hero. There were so many other teenagers I knew who felt the same. We idolized this rebellious, charasmatic man who sang catchy lyrics. We also admired his bad behavior, which is wrong, but common with teenagers. Fortunately, most of us grew out of it. The author, Danny Sugarman, had a serious case of hero worship. In his early teens, Danny was allowed to hang out with Jim Morrison regularly. That is a teenager's dream, I can imagine that would be a powerful experience for a young person. Unfornately, Danny never grew out of the hero worship stage. Well into adulthood, he was obsessed with Morrison. He would even try to look like Morrison, wearing the same hairstyle, etc. I don't think this was healthy behavior. It is sad to see an adult who cannot move on from a normal childhood process. His resulting books are perfect for juveniles who are still in their hero worship phase. This book is fun to read. I highly recommend it to a teenage rock fan, but I recommend against the idolization of Jim's drug use and sexual battery.
READ IT OVER AGAIN.......2007-05-21
I bought this book at a Tag Sale years back, and read it twice. It's a great book, well-written about Jim and the doors that you could read over and over again. This is one of the best books that I read about Jim Morrison, and if you are a DOORS fan you will enjoy this book.
No One Here Gets Out Alive.......2007-03-09
One of, if not the best books about the life & death if Jim Morrison. It captures the time (the 60's) & the other members of the Doors.
The best doors book ever written.......2007-01-26
I have read this book over and over and have never been bored with reading it.It really puts you in the 60's it really puts you there with the doors from the beginning to the end.Danny Sugerman was there and he has written this book with great intergrity.Danny was a huge fan and whether or not he has made out to make Morrison out to be God is just justification because he was and always will be a rock n roll God.I suggest whether your a Doors fan or not go and buy this book its a great read.
Fluffiest Rock Biography of All-Time-Jim Morrison's Memory Deserves Justice........2006-10-12
As a young teenager,i enjoyed the Doors' philosophical pop-tunes on birth,life and death.In 1998,i was departing a flight ,from Munich to O'Hare,and noticed a passanger's rucksack ,on the strap-handle.It was signed by Robby Krieger.Their influence is global and contemporary.All their albums are still great.Back in 1985,i had discovered this paperback on Jim and the Doors.I think the authors were trying to tap into the spirit of JM and relay it to the reading public.The writing is rather weak and puerile.Well,i felt that a media-shaped picture was presented,and not the overall real portrait of Jim and Pamela.It gives no solid historical background,no psychological insight or current info ,on the whole rock group either.It's a flippy,dippy,hippie look at the whole experience. What did amaze me,was that Jim was able to take a novelist's or philosopher's thoughts ,and channel their energies and writings into some rather catchy top-ten rock songs.Eventhough Jim,like so many other young 60's people,was just vocally responding to the swift social changes occuring before their very eyes.There is no discussion about Jim being a modern shaman,trapped in the Western Christian world.This is sadly considered thee definitive book on the Morrison & the Doors.I love Oliver Stone's movies,except one. Oliver Stone's 'Doors' flick ,shows a flippy-dippy drunken-sailor Morrison ,meandering the stygian flow of the music and a ridiculous view of the wiccan hand-fasting.Everyone who knew Jim personally ,panned the film. A better book and an even better movie can still be produced.
Update:Check out the book,"The Doors by the Doors",by Ben Fong Torres.
Book Description
.THE LIZARD KING WAS HERE is an in-depth study of a greatly overlooked period in the mercurial life of Jim Morrison, the late poet and lyricist-vocalist of the rock and roll band ¿The Doors¿ who died at the age of 27 in 1971. Examining Morrison¿s life from January 1959 to August 1961 - the years he resided in Alexandria, Virginia and attended George Washington High School - author Mark Opsasnick reveals a wealth of experiences that served to influence the singer¿s poetry, lyrics, and work as a performing artist with the Doors. The end result is a fresh look at a formative period in the life of one of rock and roll¿s greatest superstars. Dedicated fans of Jim Morrison will be enthralled with THE LIZARD KING WAS HERE.
Customer Reviews:
High School Years.......2007-06-26
I've read a number of Doors books and whenever they talk about his school yrs I often wondered if anyone would investigate it. This book covers Jim's High School yrs from 1959 to 61 graduation. Some of these stories make sense to a number of antics Jim has later done as a rock star. I remember reading that Jim would just leave The Doors for days & no one would know where he ventured. Jim as a 17 yr old done this as well. Plus talking to his high school friends about faking his death. No one ever remembers Jim even talking about forming a band or shown any interest in rock music. Besides influences of philosopher Nietzsche, French poet Rimbaud, British Poet/artist William Blake I liked the chapter that talks about Jim's books and favorite authors like Kafka, James Joyce, Camus, and the Beat Generation Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg to name a few. They also list some the of titles w/ a brief discription. Very interesting to see where Jim got his influences.
The Most Scholarly and Erudite Book on Jim Morrison Yet!.......2007-03-13
WOW! Mark Opsasnick's new book "The Lizard King Was Here..." is by far the
most scholarly and erudite book on Jim Morrison yet! So much factual
never before released information on Jim's life and times in Alexandria,
Virginia that it boggles the reader's mind. One on one interviews with
dozens of Jim's former high school classmates and exhaustive research has
opened a whole new wonderful vista on Jim Morrison's life before he turned
his attention to the west and LA and his cofounding The Doors in 1965.
If you are a Doors fan or not this book is required reading! Puts to shame
all the other efforts by dubious authors to get to the psyche of The
REAL Jim Morrison. If you read this book you will come away knowing a lot
more about Jim than you ever thought you would. The book is packed full of
details about Jim and his Alexandria milieu that will keep you turning the
pages for more and more. This is a FUN book! Rare photos too! Add it to
your library today! This IS the real deal!! I'm on my 3rd reading!!
-Richard Castleton,VA.
An exceptional book that is not just for Doors fans.......2006-12-03
Many of Jim Morrison's influences have been well documented: the French symbolists, James Joyce, the Beat writers, and the 1960s Los Angeles scene. Still, there are gaps in understanding his terrifying genius and talented rage.
Mark Opsasnick highlights the influences of one of the most misunderstood periods in Morrison's brief life, his high school years in the once-sleepy town of Alexandria, Virginia--right outside of Washington, DC. Opsasnick documents these influences with plenty of cultural history and numerous, skillful interviews with people who knew Morrison, or perhaps knew him as well as anyone did.
Unlike some other accounts of the band, the author's scholarship and attention to historical detail are simply exceptional. He is thorough, though never pedantic. Opsasnick, a talented cultural historian, makes these languid years return, alive again in all of their strangling proventialism. Yet he does this without bowing to cheap nostalgia or contemporary cultural haughtiness. He writes like someone who is intensely interested in his topic, the times, and his town. Maybe this is why this book book is so hard to put down.
Opsanick does not try to solve the mystery of who Jim Morrison "really was". (In fact, he lets the reader ponder a delightful new enigma as an epilogue.) Instead, he describes a key developmental period of a petulant introvert, who would later reinvent himself and shock the world. And in doing so, the author wrote an immensely enjoyable book for anyone with even a casual interest in the Doors, the DC area, or the cultural hollowness of the late 1950s.
Exhaustively researched and very illuminating.......2006-11-21
First, I echo the comments from all the other 5-star reviews; they put it best.
Second, I have lived in Arlington/Alexandria since 1989 (with a short detour in the Army) and I am amazed to find that I have been to some of the same places that Jim inhabited while he was here. I never realized that I used to live just a few blocks from his high school, and used to walk through the same tunnel that was shot in his "PINMAN" movie.
More than just a story about Jim Morrison, the book is a story of DC/Northern Virginia in the 60s, and would give anyone (even a non-Doors fan) an informative cultural history of how our hometown has changed in the last 40 years. How did teens and young adults live before the Metro? What did they do for fun before they had the City Paper and the Internet to tell them what to do?
Some of the places described in the book (Harrigans Restaurant for example) sound like such treasured venues it's a shame that they're gone. I almost wish I never learned they existed, because DC lacks the lustre it once had.
If you are a Doors fan, you should buy this book. If you are a Doors fan from DC, you MUST buy this book.
'The Lizard King Was Here' by Mark Opsasnick.......2006-08-07
'The Lizard King Was Here'is a thorougly documented account of Jim Morrison's years spent at George Washington High School in Alexandria, VA.
THE AUTHOR: I was amazed how author, Mark Opsasnick, was able to locate those who interacted with Morrison and assemble a never-before-published composite of Morrison's high school years. Opsasnick interviewed sixty (60) people who attended GW High when Morrison did.
THE READ: Even though I never was a Doors music fan, I read 'The Lizard King Was Here' because I knew I'd be getting the most researched and fact-checked account of this glanced-over period of Morrison's life.
The author brings to light what Morrison was like during his formative years and fills the void created by all previous books about Morrison
We now learn how Morrison spent his time, where he visited during his bus trips into Washington DC and how he would surprise his school peers by instantly asserting his personality, thus momentarily breaking from his 'in the background, loner' mold.
Another highlight was learning about the clubs downtown (Wash DC) where Morrison actually read his poetry to a live audience.
The author lists 14 other books written on The Doors/Jim Morrison and corrects some basic information woven throughout many of the books, as these books seem to draw on a handful of original sources with mistakes, unfounded claims and exaggerations.
If you have any interest to learn what made Morrison tick, what influences helped shape his adolescent mind, this book is for you. Mr. Opsasnick seems to have it all covered. Some of the influential factors the author investigates are: childhood friends and acquaintences, literature Morrison read for pleasure, the then media, school curricula, films, art and even Virginia's social and political history.
FAVORITE PHOTO: Photo of 'Ronnie and the Offbeats' at Club Log Cabin, where Jim Morrison allegedly would frequent, sit and write poetry. The picture shows a young Danny Gatton on the band (considered by many to be one of the best guitar players...ever).
FAVORITE CHAPTER: Chapter 14. This chapter details a few nightclubs in Alexandria, VA where Jim Morrison would visit and listen to the local bands. No one knows just how directly Morrison was influenced by the mixture of music he exposed himself to).
Thanks Mr. Opsasnick...very entertaining and informative.
Book Description
Intense, erotic, and enigmatic, Jim Morrison's persona is as riveting now as the lead singer/composer "Lizard King" was during The Doors' peak in the late sixties. His fast life and mysterious death remain controversial more than twenty years later.
The Lords and the New Creatures, Morrison's first published volume of poetry, is an uninhibited exploration of society's dark side -- drugs, sex, fame, and death -- captured in sensual, seething images. Here, Morrison gives a revealing glimpse at an era and at the man whose songs and savage performances have left their indelible impression on our culture.
Customer Reviews:
strange but decent .......2007-07-10
this is for a die hard fan of the jim he was the poet song writer and ppl just don get what hes saying half the time this book is styrange the poems are sshort alot of space all in all this book is good
A political magnum opus of lexicon splendor:.......2007-02-26
Morrison was indeed the William Blake of his day. His poems come across like the proverbial Quodlibet; promulgating a cognitive catharsis with visceral overtones that in many ways has an affect on the soul. Like many other poets such as Langston Hughes, Morrison goes for the jugular, and holds back nothing. His commentaries on sex, politics, and social injustice are on par with today's civil rights movement and conspiracy theories abound.
A case in point: On page 19 Jim writes:
Modern circles of Hell: Oswald (?) kills President.
Oswald enters taxi. Oswald stops at rooming house.
Oswald leaves taxi. Oswald kills Officer Tippitt.
Oswald shed jacket. Oswald is captured.
He escaped into a movie house.
Reading into this it's plain to see that Jim thought the Kennedy assassination was an inside job. What Jim was saying was that the official story didn't add up. Take a look at the question mark after Lee Harvey Oswald's name.
Furthermore, on page 123 Jim writes:
The Assassin's bullet
Marries the King
Dissembling miles of air
To kiss the crown.
The Prince rambles in blood.
Ode to the neck
That was groomed
For rape's gown.
If you start reading from pages 116 to 123 it becomes painfully obvious that Jim was writing about the Watt's riot of August 13, 1965 and the black civil rights movement. The poem on page 123 seems to be in reference to the Martin Luther King Assassination.
There is one more passage that needs to be sighted.
On page 112 Jim writes:
Fear the Lords who are secret among us.
The Lords are w/ in us.
Born of sloth & cowardice.
Question?
Could Jim have been referring to the New World Order? It's something to think about, but I will say this; "The Lords and the New Creatures" is the most thought provoking collection of poems you'll ever read. Jim's lexicon about the world we live in is extremely oblique, but in the last page Jim ends his cri de coeur on a quixotic yet hopeful note.
Some of the Most Brilliant Poems Ever Written.......2005-10-19
Jim Morrison's "The Lords and New Creatures" is the first book of poetry I have read by Morrison and it amazed me. First off, his poems are a lot different from his lyrics. His lyrics were occasionally upbeat (Hello, I Love You) and politically charged (The Unknown Soldier); his poems however are rather dark and are more about things around him. Morrison, a lot of you may know, originally went to UCLA to study film but got kicked out and met Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore. Well, in this book there's quite a few poems about movies and film (Films are collections of dead pictures given artifical insemination). There's also a poem; a theory about Lee Harvey Oswald. Poems about voyeurs (The voyeur is mastur**tor, the mirror his badge, the window his prey.) Some really trippy $hit...(Nothing. The air outside burns my eyes. I'll pull them out and get rid of the burning.) These poems are amazing, some of the most brilliant things I've ever read lie in this book. A+
A little update..........2005-03-18
The original cover of this book was actually a purplish fabric, no pictures, just plain with the title on the cover and binder.
It's also above the heads of some readers.
I've read it many times, and still say to myself, "My I've never looked at it like that before."
Definately mind expanding. Read it.
early poems.......2004-07-08
This collection was privately published while Morrison was still alive. It contains his early poetry, full of epigrams and philosophical fragments of observation on film, sex, mysticism, night-life, and society, among other things. I think it's his best and most readable poetry.
David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"
Customer Reviews:
New insights will always spark creativity.......2002-03-10
I have read many books on the doors and Jim and have been drawn into their world since 1995. During that time I read voraciously about the Doors and even took it a step farther to read Blake, Kerouac, Castaneda, Nietzsche, Rimbaud and other literary influences of Jim's. In order to know anyone you have to know what they know. I have tried to figure out what made Jim tick as best as I could and looked for books that showed this. This book peeled back the layers and showed Jim in the most real sense without sensationalizing the myth like Bonehead Stone did in the Doors movie. The book is a an account by all kinds of people that were close or not so close to Jim. The author was one of Jim's friends from UCLA before the fame gave him too many so called friends. Frank has done an exellent job of getting the people he interviewed to say something meaningful about Jim and this goes along with many great photos too. Many Doors books have come and gone over the years but this one I have had since 1996 and have read dozens of times over the years because the information contained in it is so good you can gain new insights as you figure out more things about Jim. The book is genuine and honest with no motives other than really trying to capture what Jim was like for people who have never had the chance to meet him. I can't believe the book is out of print but if you happen across it get it, it will be worth it...
Book Description
"The poet makes himself into a visionary by a long derangement of all the senses."âRimbaud
In 1968 Jim Morrison, founder and lead singer of the rock band the Doors, wrote to Wallace Fowlie, a scholar of French literature and a professor at Duke University. Morrison thanked Fowlie for producing an English translation of the complete poems of Rimbaud. He needed the translation, he said, because, "I don’t read French that easily. . . . I am a rock singer and your book travels around with me." Fourteen years later, when Fowlie first heard the music of the Doors, he recognized the influence of Rimbaud in Morrison’s lyrics.
In Rimbaud and Jim Morrison Fowlie, a master of the form of the memoir, reconstructs the lives of the two youthful poets from a personal perspective. In their twinned stories he discovers an uncanny symmetry, a pattern far richer than the simple truth that both led lives full of adventure and both made poetry of their thirst for the liberation of the self. The result is an engaging account of the connections between an exceptional French symbolist who gave up writing poetry at the age of twenty, died young, and whose poems are still avidly read to this day, and an American rock musician whose brief career ignited an entire generation and has continued to fascinate millions around the world in the twenty years since his death in Paris. In this dual portrait, Fowlie gives us a glimpse of the affinities and resemblances between European literary traditions and American rock music and youth culture in the late twentieth century.
A personal meditation on two unusual, yet emblematic, cultural figures, this book also stands as a summary of a noted scholar’s lifelong reflections on creative artists.
Customer Reviews:
Beyond the legend of the Lizard King.......2006-11-13
Wallace Fowlie gives us a fascinating comparison of the life and writing of Jim Morrison to Rimbaud. In 1968 Fowlie, a college professor of French literature, received a letter from Jim Morrison thanking him for his translation of Rimbaud. Morrison's name was meaningless to Fowlie, who was not familiar with the music of the Doors. After a student gave him a copy of No One Here Gets Out Alive, Fowlie noticed the references to Morrison's interest in Rimbaud, and recalling the letter, he started researching Morrison's life and his writing. He discovered many instances where lyrics were obviously influenced by Rimbaud. Using the mythical Jim Morrison as lure, Fowlie made French symbolist poetry come alive with his innovative lectures. By exploring the social and political conditions leading to the powerful poetry of both writers, Fowlie perpetuates their legacy of protest and rebellion.
As a teenager in the 60s, the music of the Doors slammed into my soul. Morrison's lyrics defined many of my generation as we deciphered and discussed them for countless hours. It has been well documented that Morrison wanted to be known as a poet rather than a singer/lyricist. He seemed to view poetry as the more intellectual pursuit. He is certainly correct in his belief that poetry can bear witness to the ills of society as well as the pain of an individual. Morrison is granted the credibility he craved in Fowlie's carefully researched and richly detailed analysis. The scholarly tone makes this book a welcome addition to the bookshelf of those who believe in the transformative power of poetry and music.
A Nice Introduction to Rimaud.......2006-02-25
This book is a nice way to introduce the younger Morrison fan not already familiar with Rimbaud to his work, life and times. Someone already well acquainted with both poets will probably be disappointed. I applaud Mr. Fowlie's efforts, however, and the parallels drawn between the 2 men are well presented.
An Interesting Memoir Padded With Derivative Commentary.......2002-04-13
Wallace Fowlie, a French scholar, translator and commentator on many French poets, has written this short book on the connections between the lives and writings of Rimbaud and Morrison, two symbols of youthful, creative rebellion who lived more than a century apart. Unfortunately, while the short memoir of how Fowlie first came to connect these two figures is interesting and worthy of a short journalistic piece, the bulk of this book contains nothing more than truncated and regurgitated biographical sketches of Rimbaud and Morrison and disparate commentary on some of their writing.
Fowlie, who published an English translation of Rimbaud's collected poems in 1966, first heard of Morrison when he received a letter from him in 1968 thanking him for the English translation. Morrison implied that Rimbaud was an important writer for him: "I don't read French that easily . . . I am a rock singer and your book travels around with me." Fowlie didn't know of Morrison until, many years later, he heard some of the music and lyrics of The Doors and recognized the influence of Rimbaud on the writing of Morrison. Fowlie's memoir relates how his discovery of these connections led to a series of lectures on Rimbaud and Morrison, lectures which were (not surprisingly!) received with enthusiasm and interest by his young college students at Duke and elsewhere.
Fowlie's discussion of Rimbaud's poetry, in addition to being cursory, can only be understood with a copy of his poems close at hand; without reading the poems in their entirety, Fowlie's commentary is largely unintelligible. With respect to Morrison, Fowlie does nothing more than regurgitate biographical details gleaned from other authors and discuss a few of Morrison's poems. Again, understanding the discussion of the poems suffers if you don't have the texts of Morrison's poems available.
While Fowlie's prose is wonderful and his brief anecdote of the way that Morrison and Rimbaud connected in Fowlie's own life interesting, the bulk of the book in unremarkable and derivative.
an interesting novelty, but nothing special.......2001-11-05
if wallace fowlie was going to write a book about the similarities between arthur rimbaud and jim morrison, couldn't he have at the very least learned just a few things about morrison and wrote some new thoughts or little known facts about rimbaud, rather than just cutting and pasting from his old study of the surrealist legend? anyone who is even mildly acquainted with his work on the adolescent rimbaud will have at first a strange but strong sensation of deja vu while reading this book, and if they have a decent memory, will realize that most of the passages in this book were lifted from his earlier work. some people will see this as acceptable because most of the info and commentary is poignant and accurate (if not very penetrating and a tad superficial), but i find it a little disrespectful to the reader. as if we're not going to notice it when he rewrites, word by word, his previous work. it does have it's merits, and it is fairly entertaining to read his accounts of college lectures given on the two poets of youthful rebellion and the ideological similarities between the 60's counterculture and the philosophy of the surrealists, but there simply isn't enough substantial, original stuff in the book to make it truly memorable. it is worth reading, but only just.
Uncanny similarities.......2001-04-03
Not only do Jim and Arthur have unbelivable talent, but thier lives are practicaly parallel. Startng from the lack of a father as children these men have lived similar lives. A well written book, "Rebel as Poet" displays this fact very well.
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The Doors Collection (Collector's Edition)
