5 comments about No One Here Gets Out Alive.

1. If you like the doors, if you are interested in Jim Morrison , this is the definitive biography. Heavily researched, readable, a little sick, its a rock and roll reading classic. Get it.



2. This book helped fuel a serious revival of interest in the music of the Doors and the late Jim Morrison, the band's lead singer. One of the coauthors, the late Danny Sugerman, was a long time employee of the band.
   
   Almost simultaneous with the release of this biography in paperback, director Francis Ford Coppola made extensive use of the Doors' song "The End" for the soundtrack of the Viet Nam war film "Apocalypse Now." Rolling Stone magazine took notice of the trend and putting Morrison on the cover of an issue with a reminder to its readers that he was dead. In a few years time, director Oliver Stone adapted the same story for his feature film "The Doors." It should be noted that Stone's screenplay credited drummer John Densmore's book, "Riders on the Storm," as his source material rather than this title.
   
   Morrison and his band mates, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore, made some interesting music that combined lyrics adapted from the poetry of William Blake, the classic Greek tragedy of Oedipus Rex and, seemingly, from the labels of countless empty bottles of whisky.
   
   For myself, it was a heady time, playing Doors records on a college radio station, watching "Apocalypse Now" in its original theatrical release, and hearing Manzarek's keyboard synthezier and Krieger's guitar in the dormitories. The title of the book is, of course, taken from the song "Five to One." This is an extraordinary account of a significant band and the decline and fall of their lead singer.



3. I'm no expert on The Doors or Jim Morrison, but this was an engaging read that tried to show a softer side of a man who lived to life's extremes.
   
   I also realize that I am reading this biography 20 years after the fact and that the book was written 15+ years after his death, but to gain a general understanding of who Jim Morrison was this book did the job.
   
   I wouldn't have paid more than the $5.00 I did for it, but if you can find it cheap, pick it up.



4. I loved this book! To me Jim Morrison was a great poet ahead of his time. This book shared great stories of his drug and alcohol induced debaucheries.



5. When "No One Here Gets Out Alive" (the first of what by now are at least half a dozen biographies of Doors poet and singer Jim Morrison) was first published in 1980, it was a huge best-seller and very popular amongst my crowd of friends. I was urged to read the book by many of them, but, despite being a Doors fan then and to this day, I suppose my head was somewhere else back then, and I never did. Flash forward 28 years, and I am replacing all six of my weathered Doors studio LPs with 40th anniversary deluxe CDs (and it really is remarkable how well those old albums hold up today!) and getting very much into a Morrison frame of mind. So I just picked up and finally read Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman's biography, and can now see what my buddies and buddyettes were raving about almost three decades ago. This is indeed a very well written, impeccably researched and compulsively readable look at the life of the so-called Lizard King. Though only 27 when he died, Morrison's short life was jam packed with truly remarkable incidents, providing the book's authors with more than ample material for their biography. Impressively, according to the book, Hopkins interviewed almost 200 of Jim's friends, relatives and associates before writing began, and Sugerman worked in the Doors' office.
   
   The book takes us from Morrison's childhood as a "Navy brat," being shuttled by his family from homes in Florida to Virginia and California, to his student days at the UCLA film school, and on to his first meetings with Ray Manzarek and the rest of his band members. We learn of the Doors' meteoric ascent into rock superstardom, and then of the crash and burn following arrests in New Haven, Arizona and Miami. One of my favorite tales in the book, which I'd never heard before, concerns how Morrison, tripping on 10,000 "mikes" (!) of LSD, performed the so-called "Oedipal section" of "The End" in public for the first time, thus getting the nascent band banned from the Whiskey A Go Go for perpetuity! Readers of this biography will probably be struck with the thought that it is incredible that Morrison managed to last until the age of 27. The life he lived was truly--and sometimes literally--on the edge; besides the massive quantities of drugs and booze he consumed, a favorite hobby of his was, apparently, hanging off of hotel balconies by his fingertips! And while one of my fellow reviewers has accused this book of being mere "hagiography," the Morrison presented here is anything but a saint. The authors do take pains to show what an "alcohol-soaked, self-indulgent jerk" he could be, as well as his other, better side; that of a highly intelligent, sensitive, questing, and extremely ambitious poet, musician and filmmaker. Mixed in with the remarkable stories are a few that made me really laugh out loud, such as the one where Morrison tries to do a PSA against speed, and the one in which Jim goes to the Fillmore East to see Jefferson Airplane (another of my favorite bands) and proclaims them "the most boring band I have ever heard in my whole life." I also got a good chuckle from the authors referring to Morrison as a "sexual philanthropist"! Startling--for me, anyway--was the realization that "Mr. Mojo Risin'" is not just a nickname for Jim Morrison, but an anagram! Somehow, I'd never realized that before. The book is full of interesting tidbits like that, and to its credit, when the authors come to an area that is unclear to them (oh, such as the events surrounding their subject's death), they give us what is known or suspected and let it stand at that. The authors clearly think the world of Morrison, but still take the trouble to show the less savory side of his character (as when the young Jim makes fun of a paraplegic in a wheelchair) and to tell us what areas remain cloaked in mystery.
   
   Having said all that, I must also report some small problems that a close reading of the book reveals. There appear hundreds of quoted conversations between Morrison and others that have to be approximated, at best, from much later interviews. There are also some statements that would seem to be factual errors. Nico is said to have appeared in the 1958 Fellini film "La Dolce Vita," whereas any film buff could tell you that the film dates from 1960. Two "midgets" are said to appear on the front cover of "Strange Days," when a close look will reveal only one. The authors tell us that the Doors appeared at the Fillmore West in early January '67, and that is true, but then go on to say that the band played at the theatre again three weeks later. In actuality, the Doors were at the Fillmore West on January 6-8, 1967 and then a mere ONE week later, from January 13-15. Other factual glitches that crop up may be due to typographical errors: Clark boots are referred to as "Clarke boots"; the date of the band's New Haven bust is given as "December 9, 1968" instead of December 9, 1967 (that's a BAD typo!); Morrison's wife, Patricia Kennealy, is repeatedly and consistently referred to as "Patricia Kennely"; and the Pere La Chaise Cimetiere, where Morrison was buried, is referred to as the "Pere La Chaise Cemetiere." Still, these are mere quibbles. "No One Here Gets Out Alive" is a fine tribute to a great artist, and I predict that once any reader turns open that by-now-classic front cover, he/she will feel compelled to "break on through to the other side." Yes, indeed, this is a book that will keep you reading till the "end of the night"....

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5 comments about Eva Peron: A Biography.

1. EVA PERON by Alicia Dujovne Ortiz is not a good book. It is not helped by the fact that, as others have noted, it was originally written in another language. As is often the case, something was lost in the translation. In addition to being overly dramatic, at times tabloid-ishly so, it is plagued with historical inaccuracies: it uses the terms "dictator" and "fascist" to refer to Peron. Such accusations are by now passe to the serious biographer of Peron and Evita. As Robert D. Crassweller points out in PERON AND THE ENIGMAS OF ARGENTINA, "Peronism was not fascism ... (it was) an authoritarian populist movement, strongly colored by Catholic social thought (and) by nationalism [pp. 220-223]."

   After reading EVA PERON by Alicia Dujovne Ortiz, I was left wondering what the point of it was. Why was this book published? It really has nothing of substance to offer. Obviously, it was published to coincide with the release of Madonna's movie EVITA and to capitalize on the renewed interest in the historical Eva Peron.

   For a serious biography of Evita, I recommend EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON. For an interesting anthropological study of Evita's importance to Argentine society, I would recommend EVA PERON: THE MYTHS OF A WOMAN.




2. I have yet to find an entirely satisfactory biography of Argentina's controversial first lady once widely revered as a saintly Madonna. This book is written chronologically, from the subject's birth in an unremarkable Argentinean provincial town, to her death and the return of her body to Argentina in 1974. It strives to be balanced and to summarize the evidence around various controversial points regarding the life of Eva Peron.

   Unfortunately, this book, written by a Paris-based Argentinean-born journalist, while thoroughly entertaining, can hardly qualify as a serious historical or political analysis of Eva Peron and her times. Having only read the English version, it is hard to judge whether the translation is awkward is some places, or whether the original prose also lapses into a saccharine style of romantic best sellers. Even as a journalistic book on this subject, you might find a better, more articulate, and shorter account (which does draw from this book by Ortiz) in Looking for History: Dispatches from Latin America, by Alma Guillermoprieto (which I have also reviewed of this website).

   There are some interesting photos in this book, but if it is photos of Evita and her times which interest you, I would recommend Evita: An Intimate Portrait of Eva Peron, by Tomas De Elia, which I have also reviewed on this site.




3. The dark myth of the white Santa Evita whose legacy as the patron saint of Argentina's poor. Ortiz paints a raw, compelling, and ruthless drive of one woman whose innate desire to rise above her shameful beginnings is riveting and profoundly sorrowful despite Eva's scliptic rise to power.



4. Alicia Dujovne Ortiz's major biography of Eva Peron is an interesting book chronicling the rise and fall of Argentina's most famous First-Lady.
   
   Out of the many biographies written about Eva Peron, this is one of the better-researched interpretations so I definitely recommend it over the many other more sensationalized accounts. However, this is far from being the best of the lot. In my opinion, Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro's book "Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron" is the best written in the English language even though it's over 20 years old. Julie M Taylor's "Eva Peron: The Myths of a Woman" is also excellent and insightful, especially in getting a better understanding of the many myths this legendary woman inspired. Robert Crassweller's "Peron and the Enigmas of Argentina" also deserves mention because it is an excellent book, not just about Eva but of Peron and Peronism in general.
   
   Ortiz's book is well researched but sometimes her personal opinion of Eva gets in the way. I guess it's to be expected when you have a woman analyze another woman who is renowned for her glamour and personal style. Ortiz does a good job laying out Eva's life from her humble beginnings to her amazing transformation into "Evita", the imposing and elegant blonde crusader of the less-fortunate. Ortiz uses a lot of witness testimony and she goes into detail when covering Eva's charitable work and Social Aid Foundation however it's nowhere near as detailed or as enlightening as the Spanish edition of her book which is disappointing and I will get into it a little later. Like Fraser/Navarro, Taylor, Crassweller and the several other historians/scholars who have researched Eva Peron and have written well-documented accounts, Ortiz also tries to separate myth from fact. Although at times, she is a bit rough towards the legend she is writing about, the author treats her sympathetically and portrays the mysterious Eva as a flawed but exceptional woman.
   
   Eva's detractor's, on the other hand, have portrayed her as a one-dimensional caricature devoid of any human emotion and morals. Evita, in the eyes of Anti-Peronist biographers such as Mary Main, WA Harbinson, Paul L Montgomery etc, was a beautiful, murderous monster who was smarter than every single person alive in Argentina at the time and anyone who crossed her path fell victim to her dark, sinister charms. These writers dissect and bring to light every single negative character flaw, real or imagined, this woman may have possessed. They choose to ignore the 1000+ schools, 100+ hospitals and the thousands of other establishments such as homes, hostels and orphanages that Eva through her foundation built between 1948-1952. They hardly pay any attention to the food, medicine and money Eva personally handed out from her desk at the Evita Foundation or when she traveled to shanty-towns or remote, country villages. They may mention that through Eva's foundation several malnourished children finally received health care and food; they may hint at the fact that because of her several thousand impoverished country folk finally received running water and electricity; they may mention as a footnote that Eva sent First-Aid and food to countries outside of Argentina's borders such as Colombia, Ecuador, Turkey, Israel and the US but they will cite exploitation and self-aggrandizement as Eva's principal motive. But no matter how much they try to condemn her, the result is always the same, unintentional glorification. They loathe this bejeweled beauty but can't help love her all the same. The musical "Evita" is a perfect example of this. No matter how much it tries to discredit her, Eva's poetic image is what hovers in most people's mind long after the curtain descends. Most will remember an impeccably dressed blonde clutching a microphone and the famous taglines such as "She Seduced a Nation" or "EVITA IS IMMORTAL" or "EVITA will stir you to your very soul". These are hardly ways to represent such an amoral, corrupt megalomaniac who slept her way to fame.
   
   This major biography of Eva Duarte de Peron was released around the same time as the film in 1996 (at least the English version was). It was originally written in French and later translated into several languages. It is very detailed and it held my interest throughout but having read the Spanish translation, this English version is a poor imitation. I'm not sure how close to the original the Spanish translation is but in comparing it to this, I noticed that the English edition is heavily edited and in some instances, very poorly translated. For those of you who can read Spanish, I recommend that version instead as it is far more complete. Having said that, Alicia Dujovne Ortiz treats Eva Duarte Peron as a flawed but extraordinary human being. After all that's exactly what Evita was, flawed but extraordinary? I guess that's how she should be remembered.



5. In English, this book often reads more like a romance novel than like a serious biography; I do not know whether it reads that way in the original language. It seems more like a work of poetry than a work of prose- not as many cold hard facts as I would have expected from a biography, but some vivid character portraits. Eva Peron comes across as a kind of overgrown child, alternatively desperate to be somebody, do good, and fulfill her whimsical desires for elegance and ego gratification. Her husband comes across as a cold fish, someone who would never have risen to the top in a bigger country with a larger talent pool.

1 comments about A Checkered Past: My 20 Years As Indy 500 Chief Steward.

1. I loved this audio version of the book. I had already read the book and learned so much about the Indy 500 as a result. The audio version is special because The introduction is read by Tony George, followed by a humerous foreward by Johnny Rutherford, and a portion is read by Tom Binford. It really brings the book to life.

5 comments about Geronimo His Own Story.

1. If you understand that Geronimo ( correctly pronounced "Herr-ON-EE-Mo") was a prisoner of war who expected to be shot or hung at any time while he was dictating this autobiography, it is well worth reading. To get the REAL STORY behind Geronimo's motivations for providing Barrett with what he did, read the excellent book "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" by Eve Ball. Indeh, along with his autobiography, allows Geronimo to become a real person in many respects - especially in terms of being qualified as a highly intelligent, astute, exceptionally "powerful" individual and probably the most outstanding warrior/leader the Apaches ever had bar none.
   This said, I urge the reader to reject any and all works done by Politically Correct Story Telling cranks such as Dan L. Thrapp, Edwin Sweeney, and ilk. Read this autobiography of Geronimo's along with Ball's "Indeh" and THEN read my reviews of Thrapp's preposterous drivel and nonsense and Sweeney's garbage on various Apache leaders. You'll then have a real idea of the difference between historically valuable information and mere fantasy-filled, sky-pie jibberish churned out by love-sick buffoons who neither lived at the time of the people they write about or have any intention of offering their readers ACCURATE information on anything.
   These days there is far too much insane and inacurate literature available on the American Indian of yesteryear, but this book and Ball's "Indeh" certainly deserve to be considered as far above and beyond the fiction-as-fact PC rubbish which comprises a trecherous information swamp that anyone interested in Frontier history must wade through to get to the truth and facts.
   If you want some truth about Apaches from Apaches, avoid books by Thrapp, Sweeney, Roberts, and ilk like the plague. Purchase this book and Ball's "Indeh". You won't be sorry you did.



2. This was a good book, but it said it was in a "like new" condition and it showed up with half the cover missing. But that's alright. Who needs covers, right?



3. IT IS ESSENTIAL TO REMEMBER THAT ALL THE COMMENTS ATTRIBUTED TO GERONIMO'S "DIPLOMACY" AND LACK OF ANIMUS TOWARDS WHITE PEOPLE EXPRESSED IN THE BOOK AND BY REVIEWERS HAD MORE TO DO WITH THE WORDS A MAN WHO EXPECTED TO BE ASSASINATED AT ANY MOMENT BY HIS CAPTORS. AS SUCH, HIS ANTIPATHY FOR THE WHITE MAN IS ATTENUATED BY A MAN LOOKING DEATH IN THE FACE FROM A CULTURAL TRADITION THAT ONE'S LAST MOMENTS SHOULD BE FREE OF HOSTITLITY.



4. The information is there but I would have prefered a narrator with a more native, ethnic storytelling flare.



5. You will want to read this book at least twice. It may be a hard read for some that don't enjoy reading native american dialogue in the white man's tongue. If this doesn't bring some shame to any whites that read this true account from Geronimo, you're heartless!

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