No One Here Gets Out Alive

I have not read any other bios on Jim although I know there are quite a few books on his life however, I believe this is probably the most accurate so far. I read this book a long time ago and I remember being mesmerized from the first to page to the last. Danny Sugerman (who worked for The Doors for a long time) was not an only an associate but a close friend to Jim and he was able to achieve what very few people ever could: Get to know who the real Jim Morrison was. This book not only talks about his life and career but also talks in great length of the human side of Morrison as well. NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE, is an almost day to day account of Jim's life from his birth to his untimely and very mysterious death in Paris in 1971. It also talks in great detail about his poetry and the things that interest him the most like films, psychology, philosophy, sex and death. This is a great read and is never dull or boring. The only downside to this book is that the print is too small. It would a good idea if they can publish the same book with a larger print. The book also includes several pages of photographs of Jim and the band and with the woman that he called his "muse" Pamela Courson who was Jim's girlfriend from the time that that the band was being formed right up till the end of his life. Again, I would like to say that this is a great book for anyone who has ever been interested in knowing about Jim Morrison, who he was and what he became and what most of all wanted to become. I highly recommended is a very good book about a man an artist who died way too young who lived life so on the edge that found life itself impossible to bare.

I wanted to give a shout out in the title of this review to Aldous Huxley "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." Since the Doors name was inspired by him "There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception"I first read this book when I was 17 and almost in one sitting. It is an adventure. If you are a fan of the band, the man and or the music this is the book to read.Since then I have made a pilgrimage to Jim's grave in Paris, consulted on the movie and met the remaining members. I never mention the book to them but on the way to a show in Los Angeles in a van full of friends and new acquaintances the subject did come up. One young guy around my age excitedly proclaimed "That book changed my life!"I replied "I know it is a really good book" "No you don't understand." he said. "That book changed my life. That book is the reason I moved to L.A., the reason I joined the CIA!" The van went dead silent. After a brief pause he went on to add "Yeah, I'm gonna change it from the inside!"The takeaway is not only is this a great book for fans, with a perfect title, but one could say it certainly has the potential to be influential as well. Going full circle back to the Huxley quote regarding "experience". [...]

I read this book for the first time when it first came out over 20 years ago. It still stands the test of time and was the start of my personal love affair with the Doors. This book introduced me to The Beat Poets, shamanism, and some of the greatest music ever created. The Doors were a rare band that comes along once in a generation (in fact they were one of the important fore runners to Punk rock as well as Grunge Rock). Jim Morrison was larger then Life and changed the face of rock and roll forever by how he lived his life. While others were singing about peace and love, Morrison took it a step further by breeding art as a driving force into rock Music. While using a mixture of visionary poetry and a flair for the dramic on the stage, he fused the power of dark imagery into a heroic tragidy that has been the blue print for rock stars and artists in their expression and delevery. Jim Morrison was step beyond the mythic in everything he did.No One Here Gets Out Alive is an important and powerful read and a great introduction to the life, death, and mind of a great man that lived his own idea of his own personal tragidy.